Текст книги "Redeemed"

Автор книги: P. C. Cast

Соавторы: Kristin Cast,P. C. Cast
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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Zoey

“That is one ginormous tree! I’m glad the stupid icepocylapse didn’t kill it. I saw somethin’ online about how many Bradford pear trees were killed this winter in T-Town, and it was a crazily high number,” Stevie Rae said. She was huddled next to me in the van looking like a bad Halloween ghost costume with a white blanket covering her except for where she’d poked two little eyeholes. The sun had almost set, and the van was windowless, but Thanatos said we weren’t going to take any chances. Stevie Rae and Shaylin were totally covered up, and they were the only red vampyre and fledgling allowed to go with us—much to the pissed-off-ness of Stark.

“We cannot take chances with our most powerful assets,” Thanatos had told Stark when he’d protested that he damn sure was coming with me. “And you, young Warrior, have proved yourself to be powerful and an asset.”

I would rather have had Stark with me, but I’d agreed with Thanatos. Plus, I’d said, we wouldn’t be far from the school. As soon as the sun had set, he could come to us.

Thanatos had totally messed that plan up by deciding no, Stark didn’t need to come to us. It was more reasonable that Stark and Aurox would change positions for a little while. Stark was going to protect the school. Aurox was going to protect the circle—and me.

I would have protested and overridden Thanatos’s command. I mean, Stark was my Warrior. Not even the school’s High Priestess could boss him around. But Kalona had to be at the Mayo while Thanatos was casting the spell to be sure that if, for some horrible reason, it didn’t work as well as she’d planned, he’d be there to battle whatever awful things Neferet did. So Thanatos was sending away her Warrior because that was what was best for everyone. It would be childish and selfish of me not to do the same.

Stark knew that—I could see it in his eyes as we drove away from the school, leaving him behind. And that didn’t make any of it even one tiny bit easier.

“Z, you’re not even listenin’ to me,” Stevie Rae said, butting against me when she’d failed to get my attention.

“Yeah, I’m listening to you. The tree’s big.”

I could see her frown through her eye peepholes. “I said way more than that, but never mind, now you’re listenin’. Have you ever been here before? It’s way cooler than I thought it was gonna be.”

“I’ve been here before with Grandma,” I said, trying to shake off the unease I felt at leaving Stark behind. “She likes to come for the New Year’s Busk, even though that’s a Creek ceremony, not Cherokee. Grandma says the tribe doesn’t matter as much as the positive energy.”

“Your grandmother is a wise woman,” Thanatos said.

“What is a Busk?” Shaylin asked from where she was hunkered down next to Stevie Rae. She was holding as tightly to her blue water element candle as she was to the blanket that protected her from the setting sun. I didn’t blame her for being nervous. I had practically picked off all my fingernails because of my nerves.

“I looked it up,” Damien answered her because I was busy inner-babbling. “It’s a sacred and lovely ritual—the most important yearly ritual of the ancient Creek peoples. Tribes would come together to do everything from cleansing themselves to settling disputes and debts. It was established here in Tulsa in 1836 by the Loachapoka clan of the Alabama Creek Nation. They had been forced to leave their homes. It was a terrible ordeal for them, not unlike the tragic Trail of Tears. The survivors held a Busk Ceremony around the tree where they deposited ashes from their home fires in Alabama, proclaiming that they were Tulsa-Loachapoka, and this was their new home.”

We were all quiet, peering through the front window of the van, studying the tree and thinking about what Damien had said. I’d known the story. Grandma had told it to me the first time I’d come to the little park that now surrounded the Council Oak Tree.

“Sounds like a place filled with energy,” Aurox said from behind me.

“Yes, and let’s be certain that energy is positive,” Thanatos said.

“You’re going to have to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do,” Detective Marx said. He’d driven us. Thanatos had decided that he and Aurox would be the perfect guardians for this ritual. The detective could deal with any problems with the locals, and Aurox could deal with anything supernatural. Neither of them looked particularly frightening. Marx was tall and in good shape. Actually, he kinda reminded me of John Reese from Person of Interest. (All he needed was the black suit!) And Aurox, well, Aurox looked like a cute boy. Tall, blond, built. The only weird thing about him, unless he morphed into a hideous beast, was his eyes, and they weren’t that bad. Unless you really stared at him, they just looked baby blue and—

“Zoey Redbird! You must focus!”

Thanatos’s voice cut through my mental fog and I jumped. “I am focusing,” I said automatically.

“Then what did I just tell Detective Marx?” she asked, turning around in her seat to give me a stern look.

I sighed. “Sorry. You’re right. I wasn’t focusing. I’ll try harder.”

“Don’t try! Do!” she commanded.

Damien lightened the mood when his whispered, “Yoda?” carried through the Hummer. Stevie Rae giggled and Shaylin whispered back, “You’re such a nerd!”

Thanatos sighed deeply and her expression relaxed. “We are all nervous. We are all on edge, and it does no good for any of us to snap at one another. I apologize for my harsh words. So, let me begin anew.”

“Thank you,” I said. “You have all of my attention.”

“Mine as well,” Damien said.

“Yep, I’m listenin’,” Stevie Rae said.

“Me, too!” Shaunee and Shaylin said together.

Aurox and Marx didn’t say anything, their attention had been focused on Thanatos the entire ride.

“Well done, all of you,” Thanatos said. “As I was saying to Detective Marx, I appreciate that he visited the site earlier to unlock the gate so that we can access the sacred tree.”

“You’re welcome,” Marx said. “I also brought the wrought-iron table you asked for. I placed it under the tree, a few paces south of its base, like you said. Does it look good to you?”

We’d parked where the sidewalk fed into stairs leading up to the little Council Oak Park. The plot of land the tree sat on was a raised knoll, now in the middle of a neighborhood. It had been fenced in for protection but the gate was open and there was a finely built wrought-iron table placed under the tree.

“It looks excellent,” Thanatos said. She lifted the basket she’d brought with her and continued to explain. “Beginning at this moment, it is of the utmost importance that each of you focus on what it is you wish to protect—Tulsa from Neferet’s Darkness. And why it is you wish to protect it—because you want to restore the balance of Light and Darkness.”

“Even Aurox and me?” the detective asked.

“Absolutely,” Thanatos said. “You will not be within the circle, but your energy will affect it. Why do you think I chose the two of you as our Guardians?”

Aurox spoke up, “You’re using us because we’re expendable.”

Marx’s brows shot up. He started to speak, but Thanatos responded too quickly. “You are not expendable,” she said sternly. “I chose the two of you because your ethos is one of guardianship. That is exactly the energy this ritual needs surrounding it. And, young Aurox, let me assure you—I do not use people.”

Aurox nodded slowly. “Thank you for explaining that to me, High Priestess.”

“Yeah, it’s good to know,” Marx said.

“Now, Shaunee, as you know, the element that is most important in this ritual is fire.”

“Yes,” Shaunee said.

“I would ask that you carry the sacred chalice, the ritual matches, and the oil-and-cinnamon mixture I’ve brought in this bull bladder to the iron table.” Thanatos passed a large crystal chalice, beautifully made with the image of Nyx etched around it, a floppy brown bag-thing full of sloshy liquid, and a long box of ritual matches to Shaunee. “Before you take your place in the south, pour the cinnamon oil into the chalice and leave the matches on the table.”

“I can do that,” Shaunee said. “And I reread the ritual in my Fledgling Handbook. I’m ready to do the rest of my part, too.”

“Good. I am counting on the support of you and your element.”

“You’ll have it. I promise.”

“Thank you, daughter,” Thanatos said. “Other than that, I ask only that the five of you set and keep your intention strong, no matter what happens outside—or inside—the circle. I shall do the rest.”

My intuition was like an itch I couldn’t scratch, and I couldn’t help asking, “Is something weird going to happen inside the circle?”

“Weird, no? It isn’t weird for a Major Ritual to drain the High Priestess casting the spell. But you should be prepared for what might happen to me.”

“You’re gonna be okay, right?” Stevie Rae said.

“I believe I will be, but perhaps not until after I no longer need to maintain the spell.”

“Until then, what can we expect?” Damien asked. “I’ve studied Cleopatra’s protective spell. Nothing happened to her when she cast it.”

“Cleopatra had time to fast and prepare. I do not have that luxury. Just know that even after I tell you to close the circle, you cannot move me. I must remain at this place of power, channeling protective energy from the land, if the spell is to remain effective.”

“But we can’t just leave you here by yourself,” Damien said.

A movement outside the van caught my gaze, and my eyes widened in happy surprise. “I don’t think Thanatos is going to be all by herself,” I said, pointing to my little blue Bug that had just pulled up across the street from us. While we watched, Grandma, Sister Mary Angela, Rabbi Margaret Bernstein and Suzanne Grimms piled out of my car.

Grandma led them to the passenger’s side of the van, where she waited, patiently, for Thanatos to crack the window.

“Merry meet, High Priestess,” Grandma said, smiling broadly.

“Sylvia? Whatever are you and these ladies doing here?” Thanatos asked.

“My spirit told me you would need to be watched over. We are here to do so,” Grandma said simply. “I have smudged each of us and set our intent to protect Tulsa. We are ready to proceed when you are.”

Thanatos reached through the open window to grasp Grandma’s hand. “Thank you, my friend—my friends,” she said, her voice husky with emotion.

“The sun just set!” Stevie Rae said, pulling off her blanket.

“Perfectly timed now that we are all here,” said Sister Mary Angela.

“Then let us proceed,” Thanatos said. “Zoey, as spirit, please lead your elements into the space around the tree. Position yourself at the head of the table, facing away from Stevie Rae. You will turn with me as I invoke each element.”

“Okay, I got it,” I said.

“Does everyone have their candles?” The five of us held up our ritual pillars. Thanatos smiled. “I see my circle is ready. Zoey, proceed, and may Nyx be with us.”

Automatically, I whispered, “May Nyx be with us” in response—and so did every person gathered there, so that the blessing seemed to echo around and through us with magickal intensity.

That’s good, I thought. That’s really good.

I drew a deep breath and slid open the van door. I waited on the sidewalk until my five friends fell into step behind me, and then, like a Pied Piper, I led them up the stairs and through the gate to the tree.

The ancient burr oak seemed to grow bigger as I approached it. Its branches spread high, wide, and low. I could see that it was budding up, but no leaves had formed yet. Even so, some of its massive boughs brushed the ground. I moved around them, making my way to the iron table placed beneath it. Shaunee stayed with me, but Damien, Shaylin, and Stevie Rae silently took their places, forming a circle around me. I could see that Grandma and the other ladies came inside the fence but were careful to stay outside the circumference of the circle Thanatos would soon cast. Detective Marx and Aurox remained outside the fence. Keeping their attention turned outward, they began walking around the area, vigilant and ready to act.

Shaunee poured the thick liquid into the crystal chalice. I inhaled deeply the familiar scent of cinnamon. She met my gaze briefly when she was done.

“Blessed be,” I said softly.

“And blessed be to thee,” she responded before moving to her position at the southernmost part of the circle.

A movement by the gate caught my attention. Thanatos was taking off the cloak she’d been wearing. My breath caught as she stepped forward. The High Priestess was dressed in a long scarlet dress that seemed alive. As she moved, the silk train of the dress lifted and rippled. Except for that train, the dress was formfitting—high necked and long sleeved—so that it looked as if she had been dipped in fresh, shining blood. She wore no jewelry. The only adornment on her was a slender woven leather belt that wrapped low around her hips. From it hung a sheath. The hilt of the athame, a ritual dagger, that rested there was covered with rubies that twinkled even in the fading light.

She began immediately, picking up the box of ritual matches and going to Damien. I faced east with her. Thanatos lit the candle and touched the flame to Damien’s yellow air candle. “Air, in Nyx’s name I summon thee to this circle.”

Damien’s hair lifted as his element rushed to join him.

Thanatos moved deosil to where Shaunee waited expectantly with her red candle raised.

“Fire, in Nyx’s name I summon thee to this circle.”

Thanatos didn’t even have to touch the match to Shaunee’s candle. It burst into flame all on its own and Shaunee’s smile was as bright as her element.

Thanatos continued to the west and Shaylin. “Water, in Nyx’s name I summon thee to this circle.”

I smelled the salt of the ocean on the fire-lit breeze that swirled around the circle.

The High Priestess moved to stand in front of Stevie Rae, touching her green candle with her match and saying, “Earth, in Nyx’s name I summon thee to this circle.”

The scent of Grandma’s lavender field drifted through the circle. I heard Grandma’s joyous laughter, and I knew our elements were filling the sacred space.

Then Thanatos was standing before me.

“Spirit, in Nyx’s name I summon thee to this circle.” She lit my purple candle and I felt a rush of happiness as spirit completed the casting.

“Oh, that’s so beautiful!” Rabbi Bernstein exclaimed, and I looked up from my candle to see that a shining silver thread floated around the circumference of the circle, connecting each of the elements.

“Thank you, Goddess. Please continue to be with me and to strengthen me. Whatever comes, I accept it willingly as my fate. So I have spoken; so mote it be,” Thanatos spoke softly, reverently. She closed her eyes and drew in and let out three deep breaths. Then with no further hesitation, she took the sacred chalice in her left hand and, scooping the liquid with her right hand, she moved to Damien and began walking slowly around the circle, sprinkling the oil onto the ground. As she moved, she cast the spell:

I call upon the element fire to watch, bless, and guide this Ritual. To honor fire I anoint the circle with cinnamon oil poured into the goblet by the fledgling Shaunee, beloved of the fire element. I proclaim my Intent to seek fire’s protection over Tulsa. To show my Intent is pure, I proclaim these ancient truths first spoken long ago when Cleopatra, another child of Nyx, called upon you.

In a loud, clear, power-filled voice, Thanatos cried out the ancient Egyptian proclamation:

Hail, Nyx-Strider! Coming forth to cast this spell I do no wrong!

Hail, She-Whose-Two-Eyes-Are-on-Fire! I have not defiled the things of the Goddess in thought or deed!

Hail, Disposer-of-False-Speech! I have not inflamed myself with rage!

Hail, All-Seeing-Goddess-Provider-of-Her-Children! I have not cursed using Your name!

By this time Thanatos was back in the center of the circle, which was filled with the scent of cinnamon and the wonderful, electric sense I’d learned that powerful magick brought with it.

Thanatos lit the oil that was left in the chalice, and it blazed with a bright flame as red as her dress—as red as Shaunee’s candle. She lifted the flaming chalice over her head, saying:

With pure Ritual Intent I hold fire to this oath of protection. Its strength is in me, and through me its flame will be lasting, consuming with fierceness any who wish ill or violence to Tulsa. I ask especially that flame protect the heart of the city, where Darkness dwells. Entomb all there with ill intent and do not allow evil to escape this flame!

While Thanatos’s words still echoed around us, she grasped the hilt of her athame, pulling it free of its sheath. Still holding the flaming chalice, she approached Shaunee, who offered her pillar to the High Priestess. Thanatos bowed her head respectfully, saying, “I thank you, Child of Fire, for the gift of your element.” Then she took the pillar from Shaunee and dropped it into the chalice. As the flame ate the candle, growing higher and hotter, Thanatos didn’t flinch. She held the chalice up and slowly passed the blade of the dagger through the flame three times, speaking power-filled words:

I am one with the flame. Even in the midst of sunshine, I enter into the protective fire. I come forth from the fire, the sunshine has not pierced me, thou who knows my pure intent has not burned me, but thy fire will keep this city safe, cutting like this knife through wax any who dare defile this Ritual!

With the blade of the athame hot and glowing, Thanatos carved TULSA into the skin of the flaming red candle. Then she walked to me. She glistened with sweat. Her long silver-streaked hair was slick with it. She was breathing heavily, but she didn’t look burned—she just looked hot and tired.

“Thank you, spirit, you may depart. Blessed be,” she said, and I blew out my candle, sad, as always, to say good-bye to my favorite element.

Thanatos then went to Stevie Rae, Shaylin, Shaunee, and Damien—thanking and blessing each element, until the silver thread disappeared in a poof of glitter. Thanatos rejoined me at the table at the center of the circle, placing the still flaming chalice on the table, watching it carefully until the entire candle was consumed by fire. As the flame went out, Thanatos lifted her athame and drove it into the earth at her feet, crying, “And so I have set the protective spell for thee, what Nyx decrees next, so mote it be!”

As the dagger buried itself to its hilt, the sky north of us, in the heart of downtown Tulsa, flashed red with an explosion of blood-colored light. It was followed by a shriek filled with madness and rage that echoed across the night sky.

“Oh, blessed Goddess, thank you. The spell is set,” Thanatos said, and then she collapsed, falling lifelessly to the ground.

“Thanatos!” I meant to hurry to her, but all of a sudden my legs wouldn’t work. In one step they turned to jelly and I dropped to my knees. Dazed, I could see that Shaunee had toppled over, too. I turned to call out to Damien in time to see his eyes roll in the back of his head as he fainted. And then the power-filled earth beneath me seemed to spin, and somehow I was flat on my back with a weird ringing sound in my ears, looking up through the limbs of the Council Oak at the clear night sky. I saw specks of light as my vision tunneled, and then everything went silent and black.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Neferet

“Lynette, my dear, you look lovely in black, and the classic lines of those slacks suit you. I think slacks are so much more feminine and attractive than jeans, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Wearing jeans denigrates women’s fashion.” Lynette shuddered. “I especially dislike the so-called boyfriend jean. Do those girls not own mirrors? Where are their mothers? It’s shameful.”

Neferet beamed at her supplicant. It was this frankness and bigotry toward her own kind that the Goddess found so refreshing about Lynette. Even now, when Neferet could feel the waves of fear and nervousness flowing through the woman, Lynette was able to engage in an honest, interesting conversation with her.

“When I was a girl, it was unheard of for women to wear them. There were many things that needed to change as we entered the twentieth century, but the acceptance of those horrid waist overalls as fashion for women was not one of them,” Neferet said.

“I could not agree with you more. I’m not a goddess, so I wasn’t alive in the 1800s”—Lynette paused to curtsy gracefully to Neferet, which never failed to please the Goddess—“but I know the fashion was more appropriate then.”

“You are so wise, my dear. And that is why I look forward to beholding the spectacular worship event you will produce after you return with the new costumes. Are you prepared for your adventure?”

Lynette paled just a little, but she bowed her head slightly and said exactly what Neferet wanted to hear: “If you believe I am prepared, then I am prepared.”

“Judson, be sure you take good care of Lynette. She is my favorite supplicant and I would be highly displeased if anything untoward happened to her.”

“Yes, Goddess,” Judson responded automatically.

Her command to Judson was for Lynette’s benefit alone. Neferet expected no other reply from the possessed bellman. The tendril of Darkness that nested within him would ensure his complete cooperation and loyalty, but dear Lynette needed to be reminded that, even though she was out of Neferet’s eyesight, she was not out of her control. The Goddess adored her human pet; that did not mean she trusted her.

Neferet looked down at the threads of Darkness that writhed in constant motion around her. “You, you, and you.” She stroked three of the thickest, longest tendrils with her finger, appreciating the cold, pliant feel of their flesh. “I command you to accompany Lynette and Judson. Remain hidden from human eyes. You may each consume one human apiece as sacrifice, after Lynette makes her purchases and is safely out of the costume store. And if you eat the cabdriver, be sure he has driven Lynette and Judson back to the library. Then, this is my demand: With night and mist and magick made real, Lynette and Judson you shall conceal. Return them to me, whole and safely, then I shall welcome you joyously!”

The tendrils she’d chosen quivered with pleasure as she stroked them and spoke the rhythmic words that made her command into a binding spell. Neferet felt Lynette’s fear and disgust. The Goddess knew her children repulsed the human, and that Lynette’s greatest terror was not about her death but about being possessed by one of them. But the human never allowed her revulsion to show. She wore a pleasing mask at all times, and Neferet appreciated the talent and tenacity it took Lynette to do so.

She also appreciated the fact that Lynette would do anything for Neferet so that she would not be possessed. That was the kind of loyalty Neferet understood and could control. She smiled at her favorite supplicant. “Lynette, to show my appreciation for you, I have decided to cloak you myself as you leave my Temple. I have considered it carefully, and it is simply not right that you should have to scramble over rubbish and slink about to do my bidding.”

“Why, thank you, Goddess,” Lynette said, with true surprise.

Neferet laughed and gestured for Lynette to accompany her through the ballroom to the grand foyer and the glass and brass front doors.

“Shouldn’t we wait a little longer?” Lynette said, trying valiantly to mask her fear. “The sun just set a little while ago. It doesn’t even look like it’s fully dark outside yet.”

“That is nothing for you to worry over,” Neferet assured her, draping her arm familiarly around Lynette’s shoulders. “It does not need to be fully dark for me to call the powers of night to cloak you.” She paused as they passed the receptionist’s desk. Kylee was, of course, alert and at her station. “Are there any humans lurking outside my Temple?”

“Not that I have seen, Goddess. Even the police are keeping their distance.”

“Excellent, though I only ask for amusement’s sake. Lynette, be assured I can hide you so fully that the entire police force could be watching and they would see nothing but shadows and mist.”

“That’s good to know,” Lynette said.

“Kylee, call Lynette and Judson a cab. Tell the driver to meet this lovely couple at the Central Library’s main entrance.”

“Yes, Goddess.”

“Now, Lynette, I need you join me at the doors. I will call mist and shadows from within, and when I motion to you thus”—Neferet swept her hand regally toward the doors—“then you and Judson may exit. Make your way quickly to Denver Street. We wouldn’t want the cab to leave and have you stranded there, alone with my hungry children.”

“No, we wouldn’t want that,” Lynette agreed hastily. Then she added, “Goddess, may I ask a question?”

“Of course, my dear.”

“How am I going to walk through your…” The human hesitated, obviously struggling to find the correct word. “Your protective curtain?” she finally settled on.

“It will part easily with my command.” Neferet could see that Lynette was still struggling with a question. “If something is worrying you, simply tell me and I will see to it that it is a worry no more.”

“It’s the blood and the stench. I’m worried about it getting on my clothes,” Lynette said quickly.

“Of course that would worry you. That would be so inappropriate as you’re shopping, and draw entirely too much attention your direction. Worry no more, my dear. You and Judson shall pass through my barrier untouched.”

“Thank you, Goddess,” she said with genuine relief.

“You are most welcome. And now, I will send you off to do my bidding.” Neferet faced the doors and raised her arms, looking through the Darkness-covered glass to the night beyond.

Hear me, shadows and Darkness beyond,

to my command you must respond.

Cloak my servants with blackness and night

Hidden by will, conceived by my might.

No eyes but Darkness and mine shall see

Shadows they become, so I mote it be!

Neferet could feel the power of the night pulsing beyond her Temple. The things that came out at night—the deepest shadows, the blackness that not even a full moon could penetrate—those were the things that hearkened to her call. Their response thrummed through her body with her heartbeat. She gathered them, focusing them on her will, and readied herself to let loose those dark, secret things so that they could conceal Lynette and Judson, just as they often concealed beings who chose to embrace them.

It was an instant before Neferet released her spell that she felt it. It seemed as if the skin of her Temple shivered. The thought flitted through her mind that something odd had occurred, but Neferet was too focused on shadow and night to give it much attention. Instead she swept her arms toward the doors and the waiting concealment of her night, while she willed her bound and blood-filled children to part for Lynette and Judson.

As Neferet expected, Lynette did not allow herself to hesitate. The Goddess had read in the human’s mind that she equated hesitation with weakness, and Lynette did not intend to show any weakness. So she strode to the doors, flung them open, and walked purposefully through the parted blood curtain and into a concealing shadow.

“Well, why are you waiting?” Neferet gave Judson and the three tendrils an annoyed glance. “Follow her!”

Judson walked mechanically forward with the three tendrils of Darkness clinging to his legs, but instead of stepping through her Temple’s curtain and into the concealment Neferet had summoned, they collided with a wall of scarlet fire.

For an instant, Neferet was too shocked to respond. She only stared at Judson, who was screaming and beating the flames from his clothing. The three tendrils left him the instant fire had appeared, slithering back to her.

“Concealment begone!” A sound like a thunderclap followed the command, and a burst of moon-colored light shot through Neferet’s cloaking shadows, exposing a wide-eyed Lynette, frozen in terror in the middle of the sidewalk.

It also exposed the immortal, who strode to the middle of the street, wings spread and spear raised in battle stance. That was all the goad Neferet needed.

“Children! Cripple Kalona and I shall let you gorge yourselves with his immortal blood!” She snarled the command.

From all around her, tendrils of Darkness shot from the shadows, rocketing toward Kalona. When the first wave of them breached her protective curtain, the wall of flames roared to life, swallowing them whole.

“No! Children! Come back—come back to me!” The tendrils not consumed by flame crawled back to wrap around her body. “What have you done?” she screamed at Kalona.

“Changed sides. Were you not so self-absorbed, you would have noticed before now,” he said. Then he held out his hand to Lynette. “Come with me and you will be free of her.”

“She is my Goddess. I cannot.”

Incredulous, Neferet realized Lynette sounded resigned, even disgusted, and not the least bit worshipful. That made her furious. “Return to me, Lynette! I command you!”

Kalona ignored Neferet. Hand still extended to the human, he said, “We’ve imprisoned her. Nothing of ill intent can leave or enter her Temple. And Neferet is incapable of ridding herself of ill intent. Come with me and you will be safe from her.”

Lynette hesitated. She looked back at Neferet, obviously appraising the situation.

“You are my supplicant! You must do as I command!” Unable to help herself, Neferet began moving forward, determined to force Lynette’s loyalty—until the wall of fire exploded with an intensity that seared her. The Goddess staggered back, shrieking in rage and pain so loudly that her divine cries echoed throughout the night.

Lynette turned her back to Neferet and grasped Kalona’s hand. “Get me out of here!”

“That I shall do,” he said.

“Lynette, hear me!” Neferet shouted at her departing back. “I will break this spell and free myself from this bondage, and when I do there will be no place in this realm or any other that you can hide from me. I will find you and I will possess you as my own!”

Lynette stumbled, but Kalona’s strong hand held her upright. He kept walking, ignoring Neferet.