Linda and John Heffer

Linda Heffer is Zoey Redbird's mother, and John Heffer is her husband, therefore he is Zoey's stepfather. Zoey nicknames him "The Step-Loser. Zoey's grandmother calls him a "turd monkey. Linda has been married to John for three years, after divorcing from her first husband. Linda was implied to be a kind, caring, free-spirited mother until she remarried, when John started to dictate her clothes, hobbies, friends and did not allow her her to read romance novels or to wear makeup. Yet she seems to believe he loves her and follows whatever he says, usually putting his wants over Zoey's needs. John is an arrogant and controlling man who hates Zoey and her grandma. He belongs to the People of Faith; a religious group strongly opposed to the existence of vampyres. Zoey considers him a suspect for the murders of Professor Nolan and Loren Blake. Linda constantly chooses her husband over her daughter, thus causing hurt and tension between her and her daughter as well as with her grandmother, who supports Zoey's position as a student at the House of Night. They seem to worry what people will think of them; thus not drinking any alcohol in public and worry what the neighbors would say when they found out Zoey was marked. In Betrayed, they are banished from the House of Night by Neferet. John also thinks that when Zoey first got Marked, it was because the devil was in her. They also made Zoey stay at home instead of letting her go to the House of Night. The longer Zoey didn't go, the closer to death she would have been, causing Zoey to escape out of her bedroom window and drive to her grandmother's. In Chosen, Linda interrupts Zoey's birthday outing with her grandmother on John's orders in order to try to change Zoey's mind about her life. As a result, Zoey and her grandmother swear never to speak to Linda again, unless she can accept them for who they are.