"I agree, Zoey. Aphrodite is a vessel of Nyx, and the Goddess is clearly warning you."

"She also clearly wants you to help us," Aphrodite said. "It was you who I saw reading the poem." She hesitated, looked at me, and I nodded, understanding what else she wanted to say to Grandma. "When I copied the poem, it came out in your handwriting."

I heard Grandma's small gasp of surprise. "You're quite sure of that?"

"Yeah," I said. "I even got one of your letters and double-checked. It's definitely your handwriting."

"Then I must agree that Nyx wants me to play a part in this," Grandma said.

"That's not surprising," I said. "You're the only Ghigua Woman we know."

"Oh, sweetheart! I'm not a Ghigua Woman. That's something an entire tribe votes on, and besides, there hasn't been an official Ghigua Woman for generations."

"Well, you've got my vote," Aphrodite said.

"And mine," I said. "And I'll bet Damien's and the Twins', too. Plus, we're kinda a tribe all our own."

Grandma laughed. "Well, I wouldn't think of arguing with the will of the tribe."

"You should come here," Aphrodite said suddenly.

I looked at her in surprise, and she nodded her head slowly, deadly serious. I listened to my gut instinct and knew with a sickening thud of my heart that Aphrodite was right.

"Oh, Aphrodite, thank you, but no. I really don't like to leave my lavender farm. We'll just talk on the phone or instant-message each other and figure this out."

"Grandma, do you trust me?" I said.

"Of course I trust you, daughter," came her unhesitating reply.

"You need to come here," I said simply. The phone was silent, and I could almost see Grandma thinking. "I'll pack just a few things," she finally said.

"Bring some of those feathers," Aphrodite said. "I'm betting we're going to have to do more smudging."

"I will, child," Grandma said.

"Come now, Grandma." I hated the sense of urgency I was feeling.

"Tonight, Zoeybird? I can't wait a few hours until morning?"

"Tonight." As if to punctuate my request through the phone, Aphrodite and I heard the chilling sound of a raven's deep, creepy, croaking cry. It was so loud, it could have been in her warm, tidy living room with her. "Grandma! Are you okay?"

"They're spirit creatures, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. They can cause me real harm only if I am near death, and I can assure you--I am nowhere near death," she said firmly.

I remembered the freezing fear they'd brought with them and the stinging welt that had risen on my hand, and wasn't convinced she was one hundred percent right about that. "Just hurry, Grandma. I'll feel a lot better when you're here," I said.

"Me, too," Aphrodite said.

"I'll be there within two hours. I love you, Zoeybird."

"I love you, too," Grandma.

I was just getting ready to click the phone closed when Grandma added, "And I love you, too, Aphrodite. This might very well be twice that you are responsible for saving my life."

"Bye. See you soon," Aphrodite said.

I did click the phone closed then and was surprised to see that Aphrodite's eyes, which were now almost entirely clear blue again, had filled with tears and she was pink- cheeked. She felt me watching her and shrugged one shoulder and wiped at her eyes, looking totally uncomfortable. "What? So I kinda like your Grandma. Is that a crime?"

"You know, I'm beginning to think that somewhere inside you there's a nice Aphrodite hiding."

"Well, don't get all warm and tingly. As soon as I find her, I'm going to drown her in the bathtub."

I just laughed at her.

"Don't you think you should get going? You have a lot to do."

"Huh?" I said.

She sighed. "You have to round up the nerd herd, brief them on the poem and whatnot, and figure out where your grandma's staying, which means you'll probably have to okay something with Shekinah, since I'll bet you don't want to have a cozy one-on-one with Neferet, and there's still the nanny cam you have to have Jack set up in the morgue. Good luck with all of that."

"Crap, you're right. While I'm doing all of that, what are you gonna be doing?"

"I am going to be resting so I can be refreshed and ready to put the scarily awesome powers of my brain to work on the poem puzzle."