House of Night 09 - Destined

today. If Neferet is immortal and can only be destroyed by herself, then we definitely need help in figuring out how to push her in that direction.” I paused and then added, “I also think we can trust Rephaim, even though he loves his dad.”
    “Kalona is a ticking time bomb,” Stark said.
    “So once were you. So once was I,” Rephaim said.
    Stevie Rae unwrapped her arms from around herself and took Rephaim’s hand. “I was a time bomb, too, Rephaim, just like you guys. But all three of us made the choice for Light. Your daddy hasn’t. Please, you gotta remember that.”
    “Again, I agree with the bumpkin,” Aphrodite said.
    “So do I,” Erin said.
    There was an obvious pause where Erin looked at Shaunee, who didn’t echo her in Twin-like fashion and didn’t meet her gaze.
    “Well, that’s a miracle. Someone call the Vatican,” Aphrodite said dryly.
    With the hand Stevie Rae wasn’t holding, Rephaim reached out and pulled Kramisha’s poem across the table. He glanced down and then read, “‘Darkness does not always equate to evil. Light does not always bring good.’ Maybe things aren’t exactly as they appear.”
    “I know one thing that is for sure and exactly as it appears,” I said. “I was there in the Otherworld when Kalona asked Nyx if she would forgive him. The Goddess said only after he earned the right to ask. He hasn’t earned it, Rephaim.”
    “Yet,” Shaunee said softly.
    “Yet,” Rephaim echoed.
    “Yet?” Erin said, shaking her head.
    “All right, here’s the deal: until Kalona earns the right to ask for Nyx’s forgiveness, we do not trust him. We can truce with him, but it’s under the heading of my enemy’s enemy is my friend.” I said, hoping I’d gotten that quote right. “Period, the end.”
    “But not trusting him doesn’t mean not hoping,” Shaunee said.
    “No, it doesn’t mean that,” I said slowly, hating the resigned, sad look in my BFF’s eyes as she stared at Rephaim.
    “I won’t let you down.” Rephaim spoke first to Stevie Rae, then his gaze moved to the rest of us. “It’s like Shaunee said—I can hope, but I won’t trust.”
    “He’s going to break your heart,” Stevie Rae said.
    “Too late to worry about that,” he said. “He already did.” And then a shudder rippled through Rephaim’s body. I swear I saw his skin twitch. “Dawn.” He stood, kissed Stevie Rae gently. “I must go. I love you.”
    “I’ll go with—” Stevie Rae began, but then stopped herself. “No, you don’t want me to. It’s okay. I know it’s something you have to do alone.” She tiptoed and kissed him quickly. “Go on before you get caught down here.”
    Rephaim nodded and then sprinted from the room.
    “Huh. So, he turns into a bird? Just like that?” Aphrodite said.
    “Besides the fact that it hurts him and humiliates him, yeah, just like that,” Stevie Rae said and, with a little sob, she bolted from the kitchen.
    “Oh, for shit’s sake, I was just asking. She doesn’t need to be so sensitive about it.”
    “How would you feel if Darius turned into a bird every day?” I asked her, trying (futilely) to get her to empathize with Stevie Rae.
    “Annoyed,” she said. “I like to cuddle.” Aphrodite seemed to be considering something, and then she added, “You know, she might try sticking him in a really, really big cage just before dawn. Maybe she could tame him.”
    We all gawked at her.
    “What? It’s an idea.”
    “One best kept to yourself,” Damien said.
    “So that means I should or shouldn’t add it to the long shopping list I’m making for home improvements this weekend?”
    “I say add it if you let me in on making the rest of the list,” Kramisha said.
    “I’m gonna go talk to my BFF,” I said. “You two shop, but don’t shop mean.”
    “Hey, if it’s okay I’m going to bed,” Stark said. “I can feel the sun dragging me down.”
    I forced a smile on my face and kissed him. “Sure, I’ll be there in just a little while.”
    “Take your time. Be sure Stevie Rae’s okay.” With barely a glance at me he waved at the rest of the kids and walked heavily from the room.
    He’d be asleep when I got to our bed. It made me feel weird, like I was suddenly having a relationship with an old man who couldn’t stay awake. But I shook off the feeling, said bye to the group, and hurried to Stevie Rae’s neat little room.
    She was sitting on the bed bawling her eyes out and hugging Nala.
    “Hey, baby girl,”