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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Neferet

"So, old woman, what do you think it is about your blood that causes it to be so rancid that my children cannot feed on it?"

Sylvia Redbird's head turned slowly. Her eyes were glimmering pools within the cage of Darkness.

"Your puppets cannot feed from me because I had time to prepare myself for you. "

The old woman's voice was hoarse, but there was a strength lingering within it that surprised Neferet almost as much as it annoyed her.

"That's right. You are oh, so special and beloved by your Goddess. But wait," Neferet spoke with mock shock. "If you are really so special and beloved, why are you here, being tormented by my children? Why does your Goddess not save you?"

"You name me special. I would not call myself that, Tsi Sgili. Had you asked I would have named myself valued by the Great Earth Mother. No more. No less. "

"If this is how your Great Earth Mother treats a valued child who is crying out for her help, then may I suggest you consider changing goddesses?" Neferet sipped on her blood-laced wine. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to goad the old woman. Her pain and her impending death should have been enough to satisfy the immortal, but they weren't. Neferet hated that Sylvia did not scream. She did not beg. Since Kalona had fled, Sylvia had even stopped moaning in pain. Now if she wasn't silent, the old woman was singing.

Neferet loathed her damned singing.

"I have not asked the Great Earth Mother for help. I have only asked for her blessing, and that she has gifted me with tenfold. "

"Her blessing! You're inside a cage of Darkness that is killing you slowly and painfully. What are you, a Catholic saint? Shall I crucify you upside down and cut off your head?" Neferet laughed at her own joke, but even to her the sound was hollow. I need adulation and veneration! How can I reign as Goddess without worshippers!

"You killed the professors. "

Sylvia hadn't asked a question, but Neferet felt the need to answer her. "Of course I did. "

"Why?"

"To create chaos between humans and vampyres, of course. "

"But how does that benefit you?"

"Chaos burns-people, vampyres, society. The victor who emerges from those ashes controls the world. I will be that victor. " Feeling smug and empowered, Neferet smiled.

"But you already had power. You were High Priestess of the House of Night. You were beloved by your Goddess. Why cast that aside?"

Neferet narrowed her eyes at Sylvia. "Power does not equate to control. How much power does your Great Earth Goddess wield if she cannot do something as simple as control whether or not I take your life? I learned long ago that control is true power. "

Sylvia shook her head, finally looking and sounding as weary as she should be. "You cannot truly control anyone except yourself, Tsi Sgili. It might appear otherwise, but we all make our own choices. "

"Really? Let us test that theory. I assume you would prefer to live. " Neferet paused, waiting expectantly for Sylvia's response.

"I would. " Sylvia's words were a whisper.

"Well, I believe I can control whether you live or die. Now, let's see who has the most power. " Neferet raised her wrist. With a quick, practiced movement she slashed one pointed fingernail through the vein that pulsed near the surface there. "I grow weary of this conversation. " Neferet's tone changed to singsong as her blood flowed.

"Come, children, taste my rage

Use my power to close her cage!"

Her loyal tendrils of Darkness slithered to her, eagerly feeding from her wrist. Refortified, they circled back to Sylvia. The old woman lifted her arms defensively, but as she did so several of her bracelets broke, raining turquoise and silver through the closing bars of her cage, and falling harmlessly in the growing pool of her blood.

When the old woman tried to begin her song again, her words were cut short as pulsing tendrils filled the skin left naked and unprotected on her arms.

Sylvia Redbird gasped in pain renewed. Neferet laughed.

Kalona

Humans don't look up. That was one thing that had not changed as the world aged. Man had conquered the sky, and yet unless there was a brilliant sunset or a full, gleaming moon to gaze upon, humans rarely glanced above their heads. Kalona did not understand it, but he was grateful for it. He circled the Mayo, sighting Damien, Stevie Rae, Shaylin, and Shaunee. Then he returned to the ONEOK Plaza building, landing beside Thanatos.

"The four are in place. "

Thanatos nodded. "Good. Zoey has gone within. It is time to begin. " She reached within her voluminous velvet robe and brought out a large, dark bag and a long box of wooden matches.

Kalona gestured to the bag. "Salt to bind?"

"Indeed, it is a large building. I need a lot of salt. "

The immortal nodded, thinking that he'd actually come to appreciate Thanatos's dry sense of humor. "Let's hope there is some luck in that bag as well. "

"Luck? I didn't think immortals believed in it. "

"We're rescuing a human, not an immortal. Humans cross their fingers and toes and wish each other good luck. I am simply following suit," he said. "Plus, I believe we can use all the help we can get. If that means a little luck, then I will take it. "

"As will I. " Thanatos held out her hand to him. "No matter what the outcome of tonight, I know that you will keep your oath to me, and through me, to Nyx. I wish you to blessed be, Kalona. "

He grasped her forearm and bowed his head to her respectfully. "Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again, High Priestess. "

Kalona took to the sky as Thanatos crossed Fifth Street and entered the dark alley where Damien, guarded by Stark, waited. Perching on one of the east wall's stone buttress, Kalona watched from above. He was surprised that Thanatos's voice carried so clearly to him-and then his surprise turned to vigilance. The power in the High Priestess's spell was tangible, and if he could hear it, so too might a human.

"Come, air, to this night's circle I call

protect, defend, be present-hear all. "

Thanatos struck the match and the yellow candle leaped to life, illuminating Damien's somber face. Stark stood in front of him, bow and arrow in hand. Kalona hovered overhead as the High Priestess retraced her steps, moving quickly out of the alley and to the front of the Mayo. Hand buried in her robes, Thanatos was spilling a trail of salt. The lights on the decorative foyer entrance caught the tiny crystals, and from above it looked as if she were leaving a path of diamonds behind her.

Thanatos walked to the small, round table at which Darius and Shaunee were sitting. The young fledgling had placed her large purse before her, so that it blocked the view of her red pillar candle from passersby.

"Come, fire, to this night's circle I plead

vigilant, strong, to fulfill our need. "

The match burst into flame before Thanatos could strike it, lighting the red candle in an audible whoosh!

Kalona scowled. It was good that the elements were manifesting, but he wished they would be less noisy about it.

With salt trailing her, Thanatos walked quickly around the building to the sidewalk that ran beside the street called Cheyenne. As on the alley side of the building, there were buttresses halfway up its nine stories, and that was where Kalona perched, gazing down at the small fledgling who sat cross-legged in the middle of a hedgerow. Shaylin had hidden herself so well that Thanatos almost walked past her. Kalona nodded to himself in approval of the child. "Young," he muttered, "but wily. Nyx was not wrong to gift that one. "

"Come, water, to this night's circle I ask,

Flow, wash, fill, empower-this is your task. "

The blue candle didn't explode to life, as had Shaunee's fire, but it did burn steadily, and Kalona could smell the cool scent of springtime showers wafting up to him.

He took to the sky, once again following the High Priestess.

Stevie Rae waited with Rephaim in the rear of the building. Thanatos had to climb down a steep, dark stairway and pick her way around vans that waited to make deliveries. Kalona hovered, watching closely. Rephaim protects his Stevie Rae, and I protect my son. But it seemed such vigilance was not needed. The night was as silent as death herself as Thanatos stepped before Stevie Rae.

"Come, earth, to this night's circle I beseech,

Support, ground, hold confidence within reach. "

The green candle sputtered to flame. In its flickering light, Kalona caught a glimpse of Rephaim's upturned face. The boy looked steady and sure, as if he believed there was no possibility of the night's outcome not being positive.

Kalona wished he had his son's faith.

He flew up, keeping Thanatos in sight as the High Priestess completed the circle around the Mayo, cutting down the alley from the rear, and moving quickly and silently past Damien and Stark, fully encasing the building in a trail of salt. When she reached the front of the building again, Thanatos hesitated only long enough to glance up. Kalona met her gaze before soaring to the top of the ONEOK Plaza and perching there. From that vantage point the immortal watched the cloaked High Priestess enter the Mayo. She disappeared for a few moments, and then he caught sight of her dark cloak as she joined Zoey and Aphrodite at their booth near the restaurant's large picture window.

Kalona could not hear her words, but he whispered the completion of the elemental call.

"Come, spirit, to this night's circle I cry

Endow, infill, on your might we rely. "

Zoey had carried a tiny purple votive in her pocket to the restaurant. She and Aphrodite had talked about hiding it behind the textbook they'd used as a prop. Kalona's view was not good enough to see the candlelight, but that the circle was cast and the protective spell set, he was absolutely sure. He felt the inrush of elemental power. It tingled across his skin like an electric spark.

No! The winged immortal wanted to shout to the night. If I can sense the spell, then so might Neferet! With horrible dread Kalona stared across the space that separated the roof of his building and the rooftop balcony of Neferet's penthouse. He could not see over the thick stone balustrades. Should he fly high and take the risk that Neferet would catch sight of him? What was happening over there?

"Hurry, boy. Get up there and keep Neferet distracted so that she does not know they circle below and the vengeance she wreaks falls only upon you. I will be certain they all get away. Steal the old woman before the Tsi Sgili kills you!" That was the unspoken truth. Kalona knew it, and he believed Aurox knew it as well. There would be no escape for Aurox. Neferet was going to kill her betraying Vessel this night.

Kalona felt the heat and knew Erebus had materialized before he spoke, but he did not turn. Did not take his gaze from Neferet's balcony.

"Ready to accept my help, brother?"

"Why would I need your help? I have always been the better Warrior," Kalona said.

"Better Warrior, perhaps, but not the better Consort. "

"That was your title, not mine. " Kalona refused to rise to his baiting. "Return to your Goddess. I have not the time, nor the patience, to argue with you tonight. "

"Darkness cannot feed from the both of us. " Erebus's voice was emotionless. "If I flew there with you, we could free the old woman and return her to her loved ones. Neferet could not stop us. "

Kalona shifted so that he could glance at his brother and keep watch on the balcony. "Why would you do that?"

"To get what I want, of course," Erebus said.

"Which is?"

"You gone from the House of Night-from any House of Night. Vampyres are not your people. Make an eternity elsewhere and leave these children to the Night and her Sun. "

"I have sworn an oath to be Death's Warrior, and I will not be forsworn. "

"You have already been forsworn once. What does one more time matter?"

"I will not be forsworn ever again!" Kalona's anger caused the air around them to stir with the cold power of moonlight. Mist lifted from his brother's sun-blessed body as it flowed over the heat of his golden wings.

Erebus shook his wings and the mist was burned away. "As always, you think only of yourself," he sneered at Kalona.

Kalona shook his head in disgust. "What would Nyx say if she heard you bartering terms for an old woman's life?"

Erebus snorted. "You speak to me of one old woman's life? How many women, old and young, have you destroyed during the eons of your banishment?"

"Nyx does not know you are here. " Kalona turned his back to his brother. "I have been banished. I am an oath breaker. And yet I am wise enough to know that should she find out, your Goddess would despise what you are doing. "

"My Goddess despises you!"

Kalona didn't watch him leave. The absence of his heat and his malice was proof enough that Erebus had returned to the Otherworld Realm.

Silently, Kalona continued to stare across the space to the balcony. It wasn't long before Thanatos joined him on his vigil.

"The circle is open. The spell is cast. Now all we can do is wait," Thanatos said.

"And watch," Kalona agreed, adding silently to himself, and wonder.

Aurox

He felt the protective spell being cast and knew what it meant. Without hesitation, Aurox rushed into the elevator and pushed the button to the penthouse. "Hurry! Please hurry!" he shouted at the closed doors. Too slow! I need to be there now! If I could feel the spell, she could feel it as well! Aurox wanted to bash his fists against the walls of the slowly moving metal box. Frustration filled him, hot and thick. The beast stirred.

Aurox froze. Panicked he slowed his breathing. Control the beast . . . control the beast . . . chanted around and around within his mind. It was as the elevator finally reached the top floor and the doors slowly opened that the elements found him. With a surge of energy they filled him with strength and calm, drowning the heat of the beast.

He released a long sigh of relief, and with new confidence stepped within the slick marble entry hall. The scent of Neferet's blood was thick in the air. For a moment Aurox didn't understand. Had Grandma Redbird managed to wound the Priestess?

Then he heard laughter and the familiar rustling sounds the tendrils of Darkness made when they fed. He also heard the terrible moans of a woman in pain. Stealing himself, Aurox drew courage from the infilling of the elements, and he moved quickly and quietly into the main living area of the penthouse suite.

Aurox had thought he was prepared for what he would see. He'd known Neferet had caged Grandma Redbird in Darkness. He'd known she'd be frightened and hurt. It was so much worse than he'd imagined. He spared Grandma only a glance-met her pain-filled eyes for only an instant. It was Neferet on whom he focused his attention.

She seemed to not even know he was there. She was lounging on the large black sectional that formed the shape of a half circle. Her arms were spread, palms up, and she was laughing. Tendrils of Darkness were all around her, seething over the cushions and writhing against one another in their haste to reach Neferet's bleeding wrists to feed. When one mouth would unlatch from her skin, another would take its place. Aurox watched as the bloated tendril slithered to the cage that held Grandma where it joined others of its kind who were steadily slicing the old woman skin with the same razor-edged whip marks from which Kalona had so recently healed. Aurox knew Grandma would not be so fortunate.

He strode to Neferet and dropped to his knees before her. "Priestess! I have returned to you!"

Her head had lolled back. At the sound of his voice, Neferet lifted it. She squinted at him, as if she was having a hard time focusing, and then her eyes widened in recognition. Belying the lethargic appearance of her body, in one swift motion Neferet grasped a newly fed tendril and hurled it at Aurox. The snake-like creature hit him in the middle of his chest, slicing through his shirt and ripping his skin.

"You are late!" Neferet shouted at him.

Aurox did not flinch. "Forgive me, Priestess! I became confused. I could not find my way back to you. " Aurox recited the excuse he had decided Neferet would be most likely to believe.

Neferet sat up straighter, brushing the tendrils gently from her wrists and clucking to them soothingly as if they were beloved children.

"You ignored my command. I had to sacrifice to claim control of the beast, and still you failed me. " She hurled another tendril at him. It cut a red ribbon across Aurox's bicep.

The pain multiplied. The beast felt it and began to stir. Aurox closed his eyes and pictured the glowing circle, imagining it surrounding him with its protective glow.

The beast reluctantly quieted.

Strengthened, Aurox opened his eyes and beseeched Neferet, "I did not ignore your command! It was the casting of the circle and the invocation of Death that caused my failure. Priestess, I cannot describe to you the influx of Light and power that Thanatos called forth. It affected the beast. I could not call it forth!"

"But I could, and even after that you failed to destroy Rephaim and to break the circle. " Neferet flung yet another tendril at him. This one did not simply cut him. It wrapped around his neck and began feeding from him.

Still, Aurox did not flinch but inside him, the beast roared, though the sound was drowned in a cool rush of water and blown away with a powerful gust of air.

"That was the fault of Dragon Lankford. He was protecting Rephaim," Aurox said, holding his body very still as Darkness continued to feed from him.

Neferet shook her head in irritation. "Dragon shouldn't have been there. I thought Anastasia's death had broken him. Sadly, I was mistaken. " She sighed. "I still do not understand why you didn't kill Rephaim after Dragon was dead. "

"It was as I said, Priestess. The spell did something terrible to me. I was not myself. I had no control over the beast. After it gored the Sword Master I could not force it to remain and finish Rephaim. It ran, and I could not stop it. It was only today that I finally returned to my senses. The instant I was myself again I made my way back to you. "

Neferet frowned. "Well, it isn't as if you had much sense to return to. I suppose I must expect this type of thing. Imperfect sacrifice-cracked Vessel," she muttered more to herself than to Aurox. "Well, it has not ended so badly," Neferet spoke to him again. "You did put an end to Dragon Lankford's annoyingly honorable life. You did not stop the reveal ritual, and because of that I have been shunned by the Vampyre High Council, but I have decided that I do not mind that so very much. Not when I have local humans and my own little group of vampyres to play with. " She leaned forward and offered Aurox her blood-spattered hand. "So, you are forgiven. "

Aurox took her hand and bowed his head over it. "Thank you, Priestess. "

The tendril that had been feeding from his neck detached its dark maw, dropped onto Neferet's hand, and slithered up her arm to curl next to her bosom.

"Actually, your return has given me a thought. Dragon Lankford was almost completely broken by his mate's death. Pathetic, really, and weak, to allow someone to have that much control over your emotions. But, no matter. Dragon was mature and wise, yet still Anastasia's death nearly destroyed him. Zoey Redbird is neither mature nor wise. When Kalona so stupidly killed her human, she shattered and I was almost rid of her. " Neferet tapped her blood-besmeared finger against her red lips. Her gaze went from him to the corner of the room where Sylvia Redbird hung in an ever-tightening cage of Darkness. "Sylvia, can you imagine how devastated your poor, sweet u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya will be when you die?"

Grandma Redbird's voice was weak and laced with pain, but she spoke with no hesitation. "Zoey is stronger than you know. You underestimate love. I believe that is because you have never allowed yourself to know it. "

"I have never allowed it to control me as if I were a fool!" Neferet's eyes flashed with anger.

Aurox wanted to beg Grandma, don't antagonize her-be silent until I can free you!

Grandma did not stay silent. "Accepting love does not make you a fool. It makes you human, and that is exactly what you are not, Tsi Sgili. You only glory in your victory over humanity because what you have become is a thing tainted, and absolutely unlovable. "

Aurox could see that the old woman's words profoundly affected Neferet. The Tsi Sgili stood and, with a smile that made her look reptilian, she commanded him, "Vessel, call the beast and kill Sylvia Redbird!"