"Okay, no problem. I trust your judgment on whether you decide to come and if you decide to bring the fledglings."

She grinned at me. "It's really good to hear you say that, Z."

"I mean it, too." Then--because even though she'd grinned at me, she still looked so worried and undecided about what to do--I temporarily changed the subject while she thought about it. "Hey, want to know some more of my new-and-improved stress?" "Definitely."

"When we're done here, I have to go back to class, and since my schedule is changed around this semester, I get still get to go to drama class today, which will be taught by the ever-popular, ever-hating-my-guts, newest professor at the House of Night: Erik Night."

"Uh-oh," Stevie Rae said.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly expecting an A."

"There's one way he might give you an A, though," she said, grinning mischievously.

"Don't even start. I'm done with sex. Finished. Through. I've totally learned my lesson. Plus, it's really nasty of you to say I'd trade sex for an A."

"No, Z. I wasn't talkin' 'bout Erik givin' you an A for sex. I was talkin' 'bout him givin' you a big ol' embroidered scarlet A for your shirt."

"Huh?" I said, clueless as usual.

She sighed. "As in The Scarlet Letter. The heroine had to wear it on her shirt 'cause she messed up and slept around. You really need to read more, Zoey."

"Oh, yeah. And thanks for that lovely analogy. Makes me feel oh-so-better."

"Don't get mad." She threw a feathery cat toy at me. "I was just kiddin'."

I was still frowning at her when her cell phone rang. Stevie Rae looked at the number and sighed. She glanced quickly over at Sister Mary Angela, whose head was squarely in front of her computer, and then answered. "Hey there, Venus, what's up?" She sounded purposefully perky. There was a pause while she listened, during which her perkiness faded. "No! I told you I'd be back soon and then we'd all get somethin' to eat." Another pause--more frowning--and she said, half turning away from me and lowering her voice, "No! I said we'd get something to eat and not someone to eat. Y'all just be good. I'm gonna head back in a little while. Bye-bye."

Stevie Rae turned back to me with a fake smile plastered on her worried face. "So, what were we sayin'?"

"Stevie Rae, please tell me those kids are not eating people."

Chapter Seventeen

"Of course they aren't eatin' people!" Stevie Rae put an appropriate amount of shock in her voice--so much so that we saw Sister Mary Angela's wimple lift from the computer and she turned a frown in our direction.

We waved and smiled and held up cat toys. She gave us a long look, but pretty soon her face softened into her warm smile, and she turned her attention back to the computer screen.

"Stevie Rae, what is really going on with those kids?" I whispered as I zapped more purple-feathered monstrosities into the inventory.

She shrugged way too nonchalantly. "They're just kinda hungry. That's all. You know kids--they're always hungry."

"Which means they're getting dinner from where?"

"Pizza delivery guys mostly," she said.

"They're eating pizza delivery guys?" I whispered frantically.

"No! We call on a cell and give the address of one of the downtown buildings close to the depot and the entrance to our tunnels. Mostly we say we're workin' overtime at the PAC or that we live in the Tribune Lofts, and then we wait for the pizza guy to deliver." She hesitated.

"And?" I prompted impatiently.

"And then we meet the delivery guy on his way into the building and take the pizzas and I make him forget he saw us and then he goes on about his business and we eat the pizza not the guy," she said all in one long rush.

"You're stealing pizzas?"

"Well, yeah, but it's better than eating the delivery guys, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, rolling my eyes at her. "And you're also stealing blood from the downtown blood bank?"

"Again, better than eating the delivery guys," she said.

"See, these are just more reasons why we have to out you."

" 'Cause we're stealing pizzas and blood? Do we really have to tell the vamps? I mean, I think we'll have enough issues to deal with without bringing up those little minor indiscretions."

"No, not 'cause you're stealing, 'cause you guys don't have money or any way to legally," I said, giving her a hard look, "take care of yourselves."