I turned to the tall thin man and held out my hand. "I'm Zoey."

He took it and shook hands with me solemnly. His grip was firm, and his hands were strong and smooth. "I'm Dr. Ruffing.

I've been taking care of your grandmother."

"How is she?" I was surprised I sounded so normal, because my throat felt like it was completely clogged with fear.

"Let's have a seat over here," he said.

"I'd rather stand," I said. Then I tried to give him an apologetic smile. "I'm too nervous to sit."

His smile was more successful, and I was glad to see such kindness in his face. "Very well. Your grandmother has been in a serious accident. She sustained head injuries, and her right arm is broken in three places. The seat belt bruised her chest, and the airbags deploying burned her face, but both saved her life."

"Is she going to be okay?" I was finding it hard to speak above a whisper.

"Her chances are good, but we'll know more after the next twenty-four hours," Dr. Ruffing said.

"Is she awake?"

"No. I've induced a coma so that-"

"A coma!" I felt myself sway. I was suddenly flushed and hot, and there were bright little specks around the edges of my vision. Then Darius's hand was under my elbow, and he was guiding me to a seat.

"Just breathe slowly. Concentrate on catching your breath." Dr. Ruffing was crouched in front of me, and he had my wrist between his large fingers, taking my pulse.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm okay," I said, wiping the sweat that was beading my forehead. "It's just that a coma sounds so terrible."

"It's actually not so bad. I've induced the coma to give her brain a chance to heal itself," Dr. Ruffing said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to control the swelling that way."

"And if you can't control the swelling?"

He patted my knee before he stood up. "Let's just take this one step at a time-one problem at a time."

"Can I see her?"

"Yes, but she needs to be kept quiet." He started leading me toward the patients' rooms.

"Can Aphrodite come with me?"

"Just one at a time right now," he said.

"It's okay," Aphrodite said. "We'll be right here waiting for you. Remember-don't be scared. No matter what, she's still your grandma."

I nodded, biting the side of my cheek so that I didn't cry.

I followed Dr. Ruffing to a gla.s.s room not far away from the nurses' station. We paused outside the door. The doctor looked down at me. "She's going to be hooked up to a lot of machines and tubes. They look worse than they are."

"Is she breathing on her own?"

"Yes, and her heartbeat is good and steady. Are you ready?"

I nodded, and he opened the door for me. As I entered the room, I heard the distinctly frightening sound of bird wings.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered to the doctor.

"Hear what?"

I looked into his completely guileless eyes and knew beyond any doubt that he had not heard the sound of the Raven Mockers' wings.

"Nothing, I'm sorry."He touched my shoulder. "It's a lot to take in, but your grandmother is healthy and strong. She has an excellent chance."

I walked slowly over to the side of her bed. Grandma looked so small and frail that I couldn't keep the tears from slipping from my eyes and washing down my cheeks. Her face was terribly bruised and burned. Her lip was torn, and she had st.i.tches in it and in another place on her chin. Most of her head was covered by bandages. Her right arm was completely swathed in a thick cast that had weird metal screw things sticking out of it.

"Do you have any questions I can answer?" Dr. Ruffing asked softly.

"Yes," I said without hesitating and without taking my eyes from Grandma's face. "My grandma is a Cherokee, and I know she'd feel better if I called in a Medicine Man." I did pull my gaze from Grandma's broken face to look up at the doctor then. "I don't mean to be disrespectful to you, and it's not for the medicine part. It's for the spiritual part."

"Well, I suppose you could, but not until later, when she's out of intensive care."

I had to stifle the urge to scream at him, It's while she's in intensive care that she needs the Medicine Man!

Dr. Ruffing was continuing to speak quietly, but he sounded very sincere. "You have to understand that this is a Catholic hospital, and we really only allow those-"

"Catholic?" I interrupted, feeling a flood of relief. "So you'd allow a nun to sit with Grandma."

"Well, yes, of course. Nuns and priests often visit our patients."

I smiled. "Excellent. I know the perfect nun."

"Good, well, are there any other questions I can answer for you?"

"Yeah, could you point me to a phone book?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I don't know how many hours pa.s.sed. I'd sent Darius and Aphrodite back to school-under protest-but Aphrodite knew I needed her to be sure everything was okay there, so I didn't have to worry about it while I was here, worrying about Grandma, and reminding her of that was how I finally got her to leave. And I promised Darius I wouldn't leave the hospital unless I called him for a ride, even though the school was less than a mile down the street, and it would be mega-easy for me to walk back.

Time pa.s.sed weirdly in ICU. There were no outside windows and, except for the sci-fi thrums and beats and clicks of the hospital machinery, the rooms were dark and quiet. I imagined it was a kind of waiting room for death, which completely creeped me out. But I couldn't leave Grandma. I wouldn't leave her, not unless someone ready to battle demons would take my place. So I sat and I waited and I kept watch over her sleeping body as it fought to heal itself.

I was sitting there, just holding her hand and softly singing the words of one of the Cherokee lullabies she liked to sing me to sleep with when Sister Mary Angela finally breezed into the room.

She took one look at me, one look at my grandma, and then she opened her arms. I hurled myself into her arms, stifling my sobs against the smooth material of her habit.

"Shh, now. All will be well, child. She is in Our Lady's hands now," she murmured while she patted my back.

When I could finally talk, I looked up at her and thought I'd never been so happy to see anyone in my life. "Thank you so much for coming, Sister."

"I was honored that you called me, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. I had a lot of fires to put out before I could get away from the abbey," she said. Still keeping an arm around me, she walked back to Grandma's bedside.

"That's okay. I'm just glad you're here now. Sister Mary Angela, this is my grandma, Sylvia Redbird," I said in a choked little voice. "She's been my mother and my father. I love her very much."

"She must be quite a special woman to have the devotion of such a grandchild."

I looked quickly up at Sister Mary Angela. "The hospital doesn't know I'm a fledgling."

"It shouldn't matter what you are," the nun said firmly. "If you or your family needs succor and care, they should provide it."

"It doesn't always work out that way," I said.

Her wise eyes studied me. "Unfortunately, I must agree with you."

"Then you'll help me without telling them who I am?"

"I will," she said.

"Good, because Grandma and I need your help."

"What can I do?"

I glanced at Grandma. She seemed to be resting as peacefully as she had been ever since I sat down next to her. I'd heard no more bird wings, and felt no premonitions of evil. And yet I was reluctant to leave her alone, even if it was for just a few minutes.

"Zoey?"

I looked into the wise, kind eyes of this amazing nun and told her the utter truth. "I need to talk to you, and I don't want to do it in here, where we could be interrupted or overheard, but I'm scared to leave Grandma alone and unprotected."

She gazed back at me calmly, not at all perturbed by my weirdness. Then she reached into one of the front pockets of her voluminous black habit and drew out a small but beautifully detailed statue of the Virgin Mary.

"Would it ease your mind if I left Our Lady here with your grandmother while you and I speak?"

I nodded. "I think it would, Sister," I said, not trying to a.n.a.lyze why I should be so rea.s.sured by an icon of the mother of Christianity that a nun had brought with her. I was just grateful my gut was saying that I could trust this nun and the "magic" she carried.

Sister Mary Angela put the little statue of Mary on Grandma's bedside table. Then she bowed her head and clasped her hands. I could see her lips moving, but her words were so soft that I could not hear them. The nun crossed herself, kissed her fingers, and touched the statue lightly, and then she and I left Grandma's room.

"Is it still daylight outside?" I asked.

She looked at me with surprise. "It hasn't been daylight for hours, Zoey. It's after ten o'clock at night."

I rubbed at my face. I was utterly exhausted. "Do you mind if we walk outside for just a little while? I have to tell you a lot of hard stuff, and it'll be easier if I can feel the night air surrounding me."

"It's a lovely, cool night. I'd be happy to walk in it with you."

We wound our way out of the maze of St. John's and finally exited on its west side, facing Utica Street and the beautiful fountain that cascaded across the street from the hospital at the corner of Twenty-first and Utica.

"Wanta walk over by the fountain?" I asked.

"Lead the way, Zoey," Sister Mary Angela said with a smile.

We didn't talk while we walked. I looked all around us, watching for twisted bird images hiding in shadows, listening for the mocking sound that pa.s.sed too easily for simple ravens. But there was nothing. The only thing I sensed in the night around us was waiting. And I didn't know if that was a good or bad sign.

There was a handy bench not far from the fountain. It faced the white marble statue of Mary surrounded by lambs and shepherd boys that decorated the southwest corner of the hospital. There was also a really pretty statue of Mary in full color, wearing her famous blue shawl, right inside the door to the ER. Strange how I'd never noticed how many statues there were of Mary around here before now.

We'd been sitting on the bench for a little while, just resting in the cool silence of the night, when I drew a deep breath and turned on the bench so that I could face Sister Mary Angela.

"Sister, do you believe in demons?" I decided to go right for the jugular. There was just no point in messing around. Plus, I really didn't have the time or patience for it.

She raised her gray brows. "Demons? Well, yes, I do. Demons and the Catholic church have a long and turbulent history."

Then she just looked steadily at me, waiting like it was my turn. This is one of the things I liked best about Sister Mary Angela. She wasn't one of those adults who felt like it was their job to finish a sentence for you. She also wasn't one of those adults who couldn't stand to be quiet and wait while a kid got her thoughts in order.

"Have you ever known any personally?"

"Not any real ones, no. I've had some close calls, but all of them turned out to be either very sick people or very dishonest people."

"How about angels?"

"Do I believe in them or do I know any?"

"Both," I said.

"Yes and no, in that order. Although I'd much rather meet an angel than a demon, should I get the choice."

"Don't be so sure."

"Zoey?"

"Does the word Nephilim sound familiar to you?"

"Yes, they're referenced in the Old Testament. Some theologians surmise that Goliath was either a nephilium, or the offspring of one."

"And Goliath wasn't a good guy, right?"

"Not according to the Old Testament."

"Okay, well, I need to tell you a story about another Nephilim. He wasn't a good guy, either. It's a story that comes from my grandma's people."

"Her people?"

"She's Cherokee.""Oh, then proceed, Zoey. I enjoy Native American tales."