House of Night 09 - Destined

our Sword Master. Maybe that’s how he rationalizes being able to kill Rephaim.”
    “All that sounds logical, but there’s still a piece missing. That’s what my gut says. I just can’t see that piece. Everything except Dragon kept fading in and out of my vision, mostly because Rephaim was super focused on Stevie Rae, who was super focused on the ritual she was performing.”
    “Ritual? Was I there?”
    “Yeah, the whole nerd herd was there. A circle was cast. You were leading things, but the ritual itself was earth centered, so Stevie Rae was playing the major part.” She sucked in a breath. “Holy shit, I just realized where we were—at your grandma’s lavender farm.”
    “Ah, hell! The cleansing ritual I’m supposed to do in a couple days. Or maybe not. Thanatos was calling Grandma about us doing something early—something that might reveal what actually happened to Mom.” I paused, feeling overwhelmed by the thought of the dead white thing, the blood, and the boobs, all in the context of my mom’s murder. “Does this mean I wasn’t meant to find out and I shouldn’t do anything at all?”
    Aphrodite shrugged. “Z, I know you’ll find this hard to believe because you’ve been Miss Front and Center in a bunch of my visions, but in this one you barely made an appearance. I just don’t think this is about you at all.”
    “But it’s at Grandma’s farm.”
    “Yeah, but it’s Rephaim getting carved up this time and not you,” she said.
    “Wait, isn’t this good news?” Stark said, coming up to me and taking my hand.
    Aphrodite snorted. “Sure, unless you’re Rephaim.”
    Stark ignored her comment and continued, “You’ve seen Rephaim killed. You know where and you know who has to be there. So what if we’re sure those elements don’t all come together? That’ll stop the death, won’t it?”
    “Maybe,” Aphrodite said.
    “Hopefully,” I said.
    “We need to be sure Dragon stays away from Rephaim,” Darius said. “Even if he didn’t actually kill him, you know for a certainty that he was present when Rephaim was killed.”
    “That much I do know,” Aphrodite said.
    “Then that’s it. We keep Dragon and Rephaim separate, even if that means Rephaim doesn’t come with the rest of us when we go to Grandma’s farm.”
    “If I go, Rephaim goes.”
    Stark, Darius, and I turned to see Stevie Rae and Rephaim ducking under the blanket and coming into the room. Aphrodite frowned, but kept the washcloth on her eyes.
    “Her vision was about Rephaim.” Stevie Rae didn’t say it like a question, but I answered her anyway. “Yeah. He dies.”
    “How? Who does it?” Stevie Rae’s voice was hard. She looked ready to take on the world.
    “Not sure,” Aphrodite spoke up. “It was from birdboy’s point of view, which means the whole damn thing was confusing.”
    “But we know it happens at Grandma’s farm and that Dragon is there,” I said. “Which is why we were saying Rephaim should stay here when we all go out there, if we all still go out there.”
    “We will,” Stark said. “You can’t let this stop the ritual you were going to do for your mom.”
    “It’s not for her,” I said miserably. “She’s dead. That won’t change.”
    “That’s right,” he said. “It’s for you and your grandma, which is more important than doing something for a dead woman.” He glanced at Rephaim and Stevie Rae. “The ritual needs to happen, but Rephaim doesn’t need to be there and be in danger. It would be smartest if, like Z was saying, he stayed here.”
    “So that someone, like Dragon, can sneak up on him when he’s all alone? I don’t think so,” Stevie Rae said.
    “I do not understand,” Rephaim said.
    I sighed. “Aphrodite gets visions of deaths. Sometimes they’re real clear and easy to keep from happening. Sometimes they’re confusing.”
    “Because I’m inside the person who’s getting killed. That’s how it was with you. And, speaking of, flying seems scary. No matter what your birdbrain thinks.”
    “It is not scary when you have wings,” Rephaim said, sounding matter-of-fact.
    “Huh,” I said.
    “No,” Stevie Rae spoke up. “Keep whatever you found inside his head to yourself. It’s not anyone’s business.”
    “She was inside my head?” Rephaim was obviously confused squared.
    “In a vision I was. It won’t happen again. I hope. And there was something else hanging around the vision besides Dragon. It was a bull, or at least the