Текст книги "Revealed"

Автор книги: P. C. Cast

Соавторы: Kristin Cast,P. C. Cast
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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Zoey

It wasn’t hard to slide Stark’s arm off me and sneak out of bed. Stark was totally passed out. I didn’t think an exploding bomb would wake him up. Still, I meditated on how sparkly my new phone cover was as I got dressed and tiptoed from the room.

A bomb might not wake Stark up, but my emotions going crazy probably would.

Thankfully, no one was around. Even though it was midmorning the sky was the color of a bruise and it smelled like spring thunderstorms. On the way to the field house I noticed the wisteria planted along parts of the school wall was budding up with big purple bunches of blossoms. Then I sneezed. Yep, thunderstorms, flowers, and allergies. Spring had to be coming to Oklahoma.

I went into the field house through the stables and paused in the hall between buildings, breathing deeply of horse and hay and trying to keep my emotions calm.

I’m just going to be honest. It’ll hurt his feelings more if I stretch this out and avoid him. Heath would understand.

I snorted a laugh at myself. No, Heath would not understand. Heath would tell me, “We belong together, babe!” and ignore the fact that I was breaking up with him. Again.

Kalona was standing by himself in the hallway outside the entrance to the basement.

“Zoey, you’re up late,” he said as he fisted his hand over his heart and gave me a little bow.

I hadn’t seen him since he’d cut Dallas’s head off and flown away with two fledglings struggling under his arms. He didn’t look any different. I suppose I shouldn’t expect him to. Still, I couldn’t help being morbidly curious. “Hi,” I said. “So, how’d things go with the two fledglings?”

“As they were meant to go.”

“Are they, you know, dead?”

Kalona shrugged, causing his massive wings to rustle. “I left them in the middle of the Tall Grass Prairie. With the storms covering the sun they might last the day, but they certainly will not last another.”

“Are you going to take care of their bodies?”

He shook his head. “Coyotes will do that job for me.”

“That’s really cold,” I said.

“Justice often seems cold. That is not a trait Thanatos and I originated. Judging, condemning, and carrying out justice is not pleasant. Is it not this country whose symbol for justice is a blind maiden holding scales of judgment?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s because she’s cold. I think that’s because justice shouldn’t be based on the way a person looks or who he or she is—it should be based on the facts.”

“I do not understand the distinction you are making.”

“Nevermind.” I gave up. “I’m looking for Aurox. Have you seen him?”

“It was his turn to patrol the school perimeter. If you go out the front entrance to the field house, he should be circling back around shortly.”

“Okay, great. Uh, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention to anyone that I was looking for—”

Kalona held up a hand, cutting me off. “I will not tell tales to your Warrior.”

I thought about correcting him and saying that wasn’t it at all, that I just didn’t want fledglings to be gossiping about Aurox and me, but my mouth wouldn’t form the lie, so I sighed and said, “Yeah, thanks.” And then I scurried away.

No one was out in the front side of the school, either, and I found a bench not far from the field house door. While I sat and waited for Aurox, I watched the thunderclouds get closer and thought about what Kalona had said.

Maybe he was right. Judging others wasn’t pleasant. There was a time when I would have also thought judging others was wrong, but I’d agreed with Thanatos in her condemnation. I suppose I even agreed with her penalty. So, did that make me a hypocrite when, afterward, I felt all squeamish and disgusted? Or did that make me humane? Or did it make me too damn dense to ever be a decent High Priestess?

“Zoey? Is everything okay?”

I hadn’t heard Aurox approach, so it was a shock to look from the thunderclouds to his moonbeam eyes. I blinked and shook myself, trying to refocus and at least do this one thing right.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just needed to talk to you. Is now a good time?”

“Of course.” He gestured toward the bench beside me and nodded, “Oh, yeah, go ahead and sit down.”

He sat and I tried not to fidget or pick at my fingernail polish.

“It looks like it’s going to rain,” I said. “And I think I just heard thunder off in the distance.”

“The scent of lightning is in the air,” he agreed.

I relaxed a little. That was definitely not something Heath would have said. “I never thought about lightning smelling like anything, but you’re probably right. Thunder and lightning go together.”

“Zo, what’s up?”

My eyes went to his. Yep. Heath was definitely in there. “I can’t drink your blood again.”

“But you want to,” he said.

“Aurox, no one gets everything they want.”

“But this isn’t everything, it’s just a small part of everything.”

“If I really drank your blood, we’d make love. We’d probably Imprint. That wouldn’t be a small thing to me or you or Stark.”

“It’s Stark, then. He’s the reason why you won’t be with me,” Aurox said.

“No. It’s me. I can’t be with two guys at the same time.”

“And you will not choose me over Stark because I am not Heath.”

“I won’t choose you over Stark because I’m already committed to Stark,” I said firmly.

“It’s because I’m not good enough for you—because of how I was made—what I can be.”

I put my hand over his. “No, Aurox. Please don’t think that. You’re not to blame for any of that, and I don’t think about that when I’m with you.”

“What do you think about?”

I smiled, even though I felt sad, and continued to tell him the truth. “I think about how glad I am that you’re here. I also think you and Heath make a really good team.”

“You know we love you,” he said.

“I know.” I spoke softly, and pulled my hand from his. “I’m sorry.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“I want to be friends,” I said.

“Friends.” The word sounded so flat when he repeated it.

“Yeah, and Stark’s not going to act crazy around you anymore,” I said.

“Zo, that’s because he doesn’t have any reason to.” Aurox leaned over, kissed my cheek, and then sounding completely defeated, said, “Would you let Kalona know I am going to check the perimeter again?”

“Yeah, sure…” I said to his back as he sprinted away toward the school’s stone wall.

I stood, feeling heavy and super, super tired. Well I told him the truth, but it definitely sucked. Trying not to think about anything but sleep, because the last thing I needed was for Stark to be awake and asking where I’d been and what had made me feel so crappy. I retraced my way into the field house and down the hallway that led to the entrance of the basement. Kalona wasn’t standing there. I sighed and stuck my head into the field house. He wasn’t there, either. Guessing that he was in the basement doing a quick check on the sleeping kids, I padded back toward the stairway.

“Yes, I’ve been watching Zoey like I said I would.”

At first when I heard my name I stopped because I was surprised. The voice drifted from the stable area, coming from the half-opened door that separated the hallway between the field house and the barn.

“And? For shit’s sake, do I have to ask you everything?”

Then I realized who was talking about me, and I crept closer, listening in disbelief.

“And her colors got super crazy during the funeral. But I think I know why, and it doesn’t have anything to do with her losing control of her temper or her powers.”

“Shaylin, you’re making my ass hurt. Just tell me what you saw.”

There was a long pause. I heard Shaylin blow out a long breath and then my insides went cold as the Prophetess told Aphrodite, “I saw her looking at Aurox. A lot. Her colors were crazy. That made me think—so when she and Aurox went to the cafeteria together after the circle casting, I followed them.”

“Shit, Shaylin! You’re not a Prophetess, you’re a super spy!” Aphrodite said, laughing. “Tell me that Z and Bull Boy did the nasty.”

I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

“Almost. The two of them are definitely all into each other. She sucked blood from his finger.”

“That’s practically doing it for Zoey, and oh crap. That’s too fucking close to what I saw. Then, let me guess, her colors went crazy? All confused and frustrated and pissed?”

“Totally. Especially after she—”

I’d heard enough.

“Shut up!” I yelled. My chest was burning as hot as my face as I slapped my hand against the door, making it fly open and smack against the wall.

“Uh-oh,” Aphrodite said.

“Zoey! This isn’t what you think!” Shaylin said, backing away from me as I came into the room.

“Really? How is this not what I think it is when I hear you telling Aphrodite that you’ve been spying on me!” I didn’t think. I reacted. Fisting my hand around the burning Seer Stone, I lifted my other hand and thought about how badly I wanted to knock Shaylin on her butt.

A ball of blue fire burst from my hand, knocking Shaylin off her feet. She landed on her back, out of breath, gasping and crying.

I didn’t care about her bawling. It felt good to put her on her butt. Shaylin deserved it.

“Stop it. Now!” Aphrodite stepped in front of me.

I narrowed my eyes. “You were talking about me behind my back!”

“And I’ll tell you why in a second. First, you need to check yourself. Get control of whatever crazy bullshit you’ve got going on and calm it down, right now.” She glanced over her shoulder at Shaylin. “You go back to the basement, right now.”

Still crying, Shaylin scrambled to her feet and ran past me.

“So, what is she, your own little private Prophetess?”

Instead of answering me, Aphrodite watched Shaylin go, and then she planted her hands on her hips and faced me. “Seriously? You’re trying to talk shit to me after you used that fucking stone to hurt Shaylin? You have lost your damn mind.”

“Stone?” I blinked at her, and then looked down at my chest, realizing I had been holding the Seer Stone so tightly that it had pressed painfully into my palm. As soon as I felt the pain the stone went cold. I dropped it. Feeling disoriented, I tried to keep my focus on what had pissed me off—Shaylin spying on Aurox and me. “I’m not talking about the stone, and I’m not talking shit. I want to know what the hell you think you’re doing having me followed around.”

“I had a vision. It was from your point of view. You were doing some of what Shaylin saw you doing with Aurox.”

“When did you have this vision?”

“A couple of days ago. That doesn’t matter. What’s important is—”

“It doesn’t matter that you kept a vision about me from me for days?”

“No, what’s important is why. Why is because I also saw you losing your fucking temper and not able to control that fucking stone. Which is exactly what just happened.”

“No, that’s not what just happened. I controlled the fucking stone. I wanted to knock Shaylin on her butt, and it did exactly what I wanted.”

Aphrodite shook her head back and forth. “Are you even listening to yourself? Yeah, you should be pissed about what you overheard. But Normal Zoey would never have wanted to hurt Shaylin. And, by the way, Normal Zoey wouldn’t have said ‘fucking,’ either.”

“Normal Zoey wouldn’t have thought one of her best friends was talking behind her back and having her spied on!”

“I was going to tell you about the vision. I was going to tell you about Shaylin. I just needed to wait until the right time,” Aphrodite said.

“You know what, Aphrodite? The right time wasn’t after you talked about me and spied on me. Oh, to hell with this. I’m out of here.” I started to walk away from her, but Aphrodite stepped in front of me again.

“Z, there’s more going on here than just you being pissed at me. I think Old Magick is affecting you, and not in a good way. We need to talk about this. You have to let me tell you about the rest of my vision.”

“I am so damn sick of hearing about what I have to do. Back off, Aphrodite.” My chest was blazing when I pushed past her. She stumbled away from me, making a shocked noise. I didn’t care. I’d had it with her.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I had to go. If I’d had the keys to my Bug I would’ve driven to Grandma’s house, but my keys were up in my room and I didn’t want to see Stark right now and tell him why I was so upset. Hell, if it hadn’t been during the day, I would’ve already run into Stark, thanks to the stupid bond we shared.

I needed time. I needed space. I felt like anger was crawling under my skin. I couldn’t get away from it because I couldn’t get away from everyone pissing me off and telling me what to do. I needed to think without being pecked to death by ducks!

I changed direction, walking away from the dorms, until I came to the wall that enclosed the school. The wall Aurox patrolled. Damn! I didn’t want to see him, either.

That’s when I decided to hell with the cops and their house arrest crap. I hadn’t killed the mayor, and if I needed to go for a walk off campus, I was going to go for a walk off campus! I started jogging for the easternmost part of the wall, and the hidden door I knew was not far from there.

Shaylin

Shaylin tried to stop bawling. She wasn’t usually a crier. She was used to not feeling sorry for herself. But this was different. First there was the horrible thing that had happened with Dallas and the two fledglings. She’d known about it. Shaylin had seen their deaths in Thanatos’s colors. And she’d shut her mouth and believed Thanatos was doing the right thing.

Then Shaylin had done the exact opposite—she’d opened her mouth and blabbed Zoey’s personal business because she felt like she was doing the right thing. Well, Shaylin had also felt like she was fitting in at the House of Night and doing a good job using her gift.

But that couldn’t be true because she’d felt absolutely terrible after Dallas had been killed, and the most powerful fledgling in the world had just knocked her on her ass.

She’d totally messed up. Twice.

Shaylin curled up in the dark corner of the basement where she’d made a little pallet for herself. She sat with her legs pulled up and her pillow on her lap. She pressed her face into the soft pillowcase to muffle her sobs. She shouldn’t have bothered, though. Most red fledglings slept during the day like they were dead.

That’s what I should have been doing, too, she chided herself. I should have been sleeping and not talking to Aphrodite about Zoey. Now they’re mad at each other, and at me! I’m never going to figure out this Prophetess thing.

Shaylin didn’t think about the fact that Aphrodite had, apparently, been right about Zoey’s anger and control problem. At that moment Aphrodite being right didn’t matter to her. At that moment all that mattered was that it felt like her world—and her friends—were falling apart.

“Hey, Shaylin, what’s wrong?”

Stifling a sob, Shaylin looked up to see Nicole standing above her, rubbing her eyes and looking tousled, like she was sleepwalking.

“N-nothing. I—I’m f-fine,” she whispered, then wiped her face on the pillowcase and forced herself to stop crying.

Nicole sat beside her. “No, you’re not. You’re bawling your eyes out.”

“Shhh,” Shaylin hushed her, looking around to be sure everyone else was still sleeping. “I’m f-fine.

Nicole scooted over closer to her, so that their shoulders were touching, and whispered. “It’s okay. They won’t hear. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Shaylin wiped her eyes again, and then spoke softly. “I think I messed up using my Sight.”

“Hey, you’re good at using your Sight. You saw that I’d changed.” Nicole smiled at her. “You should have more confidence in yourself.”

“I should learn when to open my stupid mouth, and when to keep my stupid mouth shut,” Shaylin said. She fished around inside her purse and found a wadded-up tissue, and blew her nose.

“You’re not stupid.”

“If you had known Thanatos was going to tell Kalona to cut off Dallas’s head, would you have said something?”

Nicole grimaced. “You can’t ask me that. I’m not objective about Dallas.”

“Are you still in love with him?”

Nicole shook her head quickly. “No, that’s the point. I never really loved him, and I knew how dangerous he was. So I can’t be objective about his death.”

Listening to her, Shaylin hiccupped a little sob. Nicole put her arm around her.

“If you’re upset because of what happened to Dallas, don’t be.”

“It’s not just him, even though that was bad. I talked to Aphrodite about someone else’s colors, and I should have stayed out of it.”

“But Aphrodite’s a Prophetess, too. She’s kinda mean and crazy, but still, a Prophetess. I’m thinking it’s okay for one Prophetess to talk to another about stuff like your True Sight.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Now I’m not so sure. I wish I knew the exact right thing to do.”

“I think there are a lot of times when there isn’t one exact right thing to do in a situation.”

Shaylin looked up at Nicole. “You’re really smart.”

“Nah, I’ve just made a ton of mistakes.” Nicole smiled at her. “But I’m not making one right now. I got you to quit crying.”

Shaylin’s smile was tentative. “I guess you did. Thank you. And, by the way, your colors have really turned pretty.”

“See, if you think my colors are pretty that proves what a great Prophetess you are.”

Shaylin was grinning up at Nicole when the fledgling bent and slowly, gently, kissed her on the lips. When Shaylin froze, eyes wide in shock, Nicole leaned away from her and quickly took her arm from around her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Nicole whispered. Even in the darkness of the basement, Shaylin could see Nicole’s cheeks had turned red. “I don’t know why I did that. I’m really sorry,” she repeated.

Shaylin kept staring at her, seeing the soft beauty of her colors and feeling the soft, lingering warmth of her lips.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not.” Then she put her arms around Nicole’s slender waist, rested her head on her shoulder, and said, “Would you stay with me and hold me?”

Nicole’s arm slid back around her shoulder. “Shaylin, sweetie, I’ll stay with you forever if you want me to.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Kalona

TEN MINUTES EARLIER

Kalona was standing by the basement entrance waiting for Aurox to return, and thinking the boy might be a while since Zoey had gone to look for him, when a familiar hot, itchy feeling lodged under his skin.

“Erebus…” he grumbled.

“Did you say something?”

Kalona’s gaze darted down the hallway. “Aphrodite, what may I do for you?” He didn’t fist his hand over his heart or bow. Yes, this girl was a Prophetess of Nyx, but she was also the most annoying human he’d ever known. And Kalona had known many humans.

“I need to talk to Shaylin. She’s in the basement, right?”

“All of the red fledglings are,” he said.

“Except the two you dropped off in the wilderness to die.”

“Is there a point you wish to make?”

“Nope, just stating the obvious. I’m gonna go wake up Shaylin. I’d appreciate it if you’d give us some privacy to talk.”

“As you wish, Prophetess. Is your Warrior within screaming distance in case trouble breaks out below?”

“I don’t need Darius to deal with red fledglings. I have this.” She patted her purse.

“You think to break up a fight with a handbag?” She almost made him laugh.

“No, I think to break up a fight with this.” Aphrodite flipped open her leather bag. Kalona peered within to see a small black cylinder.

“You’re going to throw your perfume container at someone?”

“Oh, please, get with this century. It’s pepper spray, not perfume. I’ve been living under a basement in tunnels downtown. The Brady district and Greenwood and such are undergoing a lovely renovation, but I’ve learned it pays to be protected and prepared.”

“Then I will give you your privacy.” He did bow to her then. Aphrodite was so annoying that he tended to forget how amusing she could be as well. She made a shooing gesture at him with her pink painted fingertips before she ducked down into the basement.

He considered calling after her and telling her Zoey was just outside with Aurox, and then he reconsidered. It really would be amusing to see what would happen if Aphrodite discovered Zoey in Aurox’s arms.

Kalona was chuckling as he left the field house, exiting through the stables. He stood outside, collecting himself, and tried to ascertain from which direction his bastard of a brother would be arriving. It did not take him long to figure it out. Dreading the encounter, but resigned to its inevitability, Kalona headed for Nyx’s Temple.

He didn’t attempt to enter. Truthfully, he averted his eyes as he passed the wide wooden doorway and followed the stone building around to the rear of the temple, hoping that when his brother manifested, in his typically garish fashion, he’d do so wherever Kalona stood and the building would block enough of his light to keep from bringing the entire faculty down upon them.

Kalona did not have to wait long. The ball of sunlight that materialized above the ground was, indeed, garish, but Kalona did not give in to the urge to shield his eyes. Erebus stepped from the blinding rays, nodding and smiling wryly.

“Excellent job coming when I summoned you, brother,” Erebus said.

“It baffles me how you pretend that I want anything to do with you. You have been coming to me. I have existed for centuries without, as they would say in the modern world, giving you a call—or a thought.”

“Or a thought? Really? I believe your thoughts have often turned to the Otherworld since your Fall.”

“You are not Nyx, brother. It also baffles me how you mistake interest in the Goddess for interest in yourself.”

Erebus smiled. “I can end your bafflement with that. Nyx and I are inseparable. Her interests are mine, just as mine are hers.”

“Inseparable? Truly?” Kalona made a big show of searching around his brother. “Is the Goddess hiding in your sun ball? Oh, no. She wouldn’t be. I seem to recall the Goddess prefers the cool, soft touch of moonlight to the vulgar light of the sun.”

“Nyx sent me here!”

Kalona’s smile was slow and satisfied. “Then I welcome you, brother, as the Goddess’s errand boy.”

Erebus unfurled his wings. They spread around him and shimmered like sunlight on gold bullion.

“I come not as a boy, but as an immortal, Consort to the Goddess of Night, and I come with her warning!”

“Impressive,” Kalona said dryly. “But if you don’t stop sparkling and shouting, your warning will be witnessed by all of midtown Tulsa.”

Erebus’s wings folded along his back. His voice lost its Otherworldly volume, but his expression lost none of its immortal self-importance.

“Have you captured Neferet yet?”

“Surely you watch me enough to already know the answer to that question.”

“So, you have ignored Nyx’s edict.”

“I have not ignored anything. I’ve been busy fulfilling my oath bound duties to this House of Night’s High Priestess,” Kalona said.

“You’re out of practice if executing three children can distract you so much that you ignore Nyx’s command and fail to notice that Old Magick is manifesting in the modern world.”

Kalona refused to rise to Erebus’s bait. He didn’t address his remark about Nyx, and only said blandly, “Sgiach has been wielding Old Magick for centuries.”

“Yes, Kalona, but Sgiach is an ancient queen who has been wielding Old Magick for all those centuries on the Isle of Skye, a place that has long been devoted to preserving Old Magick. Tulsa, Oklahoma, is not the Isle of Skye, and there is no ancient vampyre queen here experienced in the use of Old Magick.” Erebus spoke in a patronizing tone as if he lectured the empty-headed village idiot.

“I know exactly where I am and who is with me. My facts are correct, unlike yours. I beheaded a vampyre who had been condemned for attempted murder by my High Priestess. She did not wield Old Magick. She simply invoked ancient law. And the vampyre I executed was not a child,” Kalona added, as usual not appreciating his brother’s tone.

“The boy was barely eighteen.”

“If you wish to take issue with the execution of a confessed murderer, then take issue with Thanatos, the school’s Council, two Prophetesses of Nyx, and Zoey Redbird.”

“Yet none of them lifted the sword that severed the vampyre’s head, just as none of them left two fledglings to certain death,” Erebus said.

“I am sworn Warrior to Thanatos. If she commands something of me I am bound to obey.”

“It is sad, for you, that you did not show Nyx that type of blind loyalty while you were her sworn Warrior,” Erebus said.

Kalona met his brother’s amber gaze steadily. “I have learned from the mistakes in my past. Have you?”

Erebus looked away.

“Pass along the warning you were sent here to deliver and begone. You bore me,” Kalona said.

“Very well, you are warned that by invoking ancient laws Old Magick has been awakened. Nyx cautions that you are playing with forces you may not be able to control.”

“Shouldn’t Nyx be telling this to Thanatos? It is her High Priestess who has begun trafficking with those forces.”

“And yet it is you who can tip the scales in a battle between Light and Darkness. The Goddess has seen it happen before near you. Raven Mockers were fashioned from Old Magick.”

Kalona felt a terrible stab of guilt, but still he said, “My sons were fashioned from rape and rage.”

Erebus nodded solemnly. “Yes. Old Magick.”

“Nyx wields Old Magick!” Kalona said.

“Have you become so delusional, so arrogant, that you believe you can wield the same power as the Goddess?”

“I harbor no delusions! My mind has not been so clear since I Fell.” Kalona advanced on Erebus. “And my arrogance is nothing compared to yours, little brother. Without me to provide balance, it is you who believes he is as mighty as Nyx.”

“Balance is exactly my point, brother. The bulls are Old Magick, and should be eternally locked in combat,” Erebus said.

“I have naught to do with the white and black bulls.”

“Do you truly believe that? You were by her side long enough to know that Old Magick is as tricky as it is powerful. Be wise! Be thoughtful! Have a care for the powers you are awakening before it is too late. That is the Goddess’s warning!”

Kalona squinted and looked away as the ball of sunlight engulfed Erebus and then disappeared, leaving annoying gold glitter that the immortal had to brush from his own wings.

“Nyx!” Kalona spoke to the sky. “He calls me arrogant, and yet he disappears in a sunburst of golden glitter. I do not understand how you continue to bear his foppish presence!”

Familiar laughter that had always reminded the immortal of a full harvest moon echoed around Kalona. He closed his eyes against the pain of her absence, even as hope increased his heartbeat.

“You watch me. I know you do,” Kalona whispered.

The laughter faded. Kalona opened his eyes. Feeling as if he carried a great weight, he started walking. He needed to get back to watch over the fledglings. That one thing he could do, and do well.

“No other fledgling will be allowed to do anything stupid enough to be condemned for—not as long as I watch over them,” he spoke his thoughts aloud. What Kalona didn’t say, didn’t even like to admit silently to himself, was how he could not get the two fledglings’ cries for mercy from his mind. Beheading the vampyre hadn’t been difficult. Dallas had attempted to murder a vampyre and had been justly condemned. It was the two fledglings who haunted him. They had been boys who had simply chosen unwisely and followed the wrong leader, he thought.

“Compassion.”

The whispered word halted Kalona’s. “Nyx?”

“Compassion.”

The word was repeated. It was spoken too softly for Kalona to be certain, but the warmth, the infinite love in it, had to be Nyx. And then Kalona realized where he had stopped. He was standing before the wooden door to Nyx’s Temple.

The door that turned from wood to stone under his touch as his Goddess denied him entrance.

Slowly, as if moving up through the centuries of longing for her, Kalona lifted his hand. He pressed his palm against the door and waited for it to turn to unyielding stone.

It remained wood.

Kalona’s hand trembled when it touched the door handle. He turned it and pushed, and with the sound of a woman’s sigh, the wooden door opened.

Kalona stepped into the foyer of Nyx’s Temple. He heard running water, though he hardly glanced at the glistening amethyst fountain that was recessed into the niche in the thick stone wall. He passed beneath an arched doorway and entered the heart of the Goddess’s temple.

Vanilla and lavender scented candles filled the room with sweet, heady fragrance. They were suspended from the ceiling in iron chandeliers. Freestanding tree-shaped chandeliers along the wall held more scented candles. Sconces shaped like a woman’s graceful hand were lit in the corners of the room. An open flame burned from a recess in the stone floor. Kalona barely noticed any of that. His sole focus was on the ancient wooden table in the center of the temple. It held an exquisite marble statue of Nyx. Kalona stumbled forward and knelt before the statue. He stared up at her. She seemed to glisten, and Kalona realized his eyes had filled with tears.

In a voice choked with those tears, he spoke to her. “Thank you. I know I do not deserve to kneel at your feet yet. I may never deserve it. Not after what I have done to us both. But thank you for allowing me entrance to your temple.” Then Kalona bowed his head and, for a very long time, knelt before his Goddess and wept.

Neferet

Neferet curled in upon herself, hugging the threads of Darkness that still covered her, and she relived the end of her journey.

Cascia Hall was what the humans had called the preparatory school that had been built in the heart of midtown Tulsa on the land that so called to Neferet. All male, of course, the human school had been newly founded by an Augustinian branch of the People of Faith. In the year 1927 it was not for sale. That fact had not troubled Neferet. The High Council was not ready to purchase another school in America—at least not in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, that existed in 1927.

Neferet had known that time was in her favor. In the seventy-five years it took for her to manipulate, intimidate, guide, and bribe the High Council into making the Augustine monks an offer they could not refuse, and appointing her High Priestess of the newly acquired House of Night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Neferet discovered her true nature.