by P. C. Cast
Neferet lifted her arm. At her wrist, where the skin is thin and the veins close to the surface, Neferet kissed her softly. Then Lynette felt a sharp tug. It made her inhale and tense with the anticipation of pain, but before it hit her system Neferet’s soft, warm lips pressed against her skin and she began licking and sucking.
The pleasure shocked Lynette. At first it was indeed sexual—very sexual. She moaned, and the thought flickered through her mind: We could be doing so much more than this right now! Then Neferet drank deeper and the pleasure shifted to incredible warmth that suffused her body, spreading joy with each beat of her heart. The joy grew and grew. It poured from Neferet, and as it did the loneliness that had shadowed Lynette’s entire life was chased away.
Lynette opened her eyes and cradled Neferet closer to her and stroked her hair as the vampyre continued to drink. As she took in her blood, Lynette began to sense Neferet’s feelings. She could tell that the drinking of her blood brought pleasure to Neferet. She could also feel the worry within Neferet—the concern about Lynette’s safety and the vampyre’s determination to protect her. And then she listened deeper, and Lynette found that secret place deep inside Neferet where she hid that which she never allowed anyone to see—that which had informed so many of her decisions.
“Let me give you that gift in return,” Lynette said as she continued to stroke her hair. “Let me relieve the loneliness I sense within you.” Lynette concentrated on sending everything she said—everything she felt—to Neferet with her blood. “As long as I live, you will always have a true and faithful friend. I will never betray you. I will never leave you. I will never, ever hurt you.”
Neferet shuddered and then stopped drinking from Lynette. With one gentle lick of her tongue, she closed the slender wound, leaving only a pink line. Then she lifted her head. Her face was awash with tears.
“We have Imprinted, dearest, and the beautiful vow you just made to me, I swear to you as well. We are sisters now, and we always shall be.”
Lynette embraced Neferet and they held one another gently as their new connection solidified and strengthened.
Lynette was the first to pull away. She wiped Neferet’s beautiful face of her tears.
“Now I feel like I can conquer anything—even the monster that is this world’s Neferet,” said Lynette.
“Oh, dearest, no! You will not go to the park with me. I would that you remain here—safe—and await my return.”
Lynette touched Neferet’s cheek. “But don’t you understand? I can’t do that now. I have to be with you.”
A staged cough came from behind them and then Vanessa’s flippant voice said, “Oh, oopsie. Don’t mean to interrupt, but at least now I understand why you two are so close. You should’ve just said you’re gay. We’re cool with that. Leaves more men for us.”
Neferet’s response was instantaneous. She stood and whirled to face the young woman. She bared her teeth fiercely and lifted her hands as if they were claws. The vampyre seemed to fill the room. When she spoke, her voice battered Vanessa so that she stumbled back and almost fell to the floor.
“Your insolence will no longer be tolerated! ”
Vanessa cringed. “Sorry! I—I didn’t mean anything.”
Lynette stood quickly and touched Neferet on the shoulder. “My lady, I think it is time for the girls to put on their Dark Sisters makeup and prepare for tonight’s ritual.”
When Neferet looked at her, Lynette watched her eyes change from feral red back to emerald. The vampyre shook herself and when she spoke her voice was normal once more.
“Ah, dearest, you are absolutely right—as always. Vanessa, child, I do apologize. You startled me. Now, it would be best if you did as Lynette instructed. It is almost time for you to greet your goddess.”
“Okay. Yeah. That sounds awesome.” Vanessa bobbed an awkward curtsy and scrambled to leave the drawing room.
“Thank you,” Lynette said.
“I should have done that the night we arrived.”
“Oh, I wasn’t thanking you for that. Vanessa is insignificant. Thank you for Imprinting with me—for keeping me safe.”
“Always,” Neferet said.
“And I will join you tonight. It would be too painful otherwise.”
Neferet sighed but nodded. “Yes, I feel that too. Help me prepare. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can return to our world.”
“Anything for you, my lady.”
“You know you don’t have to call me that,” said Neferet.
“I like calling you that—and someday soon I will like calling you my goddess.”
14
Other Neferet
With Lynette at her side, Neferet led the five vapid young women through the dark, empty streets of the opulent Midtown neighborhood that bordered Woodward Park. Her plan had been to wait until just before dawn, which would assure that the House of Night would be sleepy, and the Warriors stationed at the park would be heading back to campus, but Lynette—industrious as ever—had discovered that classes had been canceled. From her lengthy experience as High Priestess of her own House of Night, Neferet knew that meant that, like the rest of Tulsa and the surrounding area, the staff, students, and Warriors would be nestled inside enjoying the time off.
So, she’d moved up the timetable on that night’s very important events.
It was almost midnight. Ice was still falling, but lazily—just enough to keep the roads closed and the electric lines down and unreachable for repair. As their small group approached the park, Neferet was filled with a surprising sense of nostalgia. The large, well-tended homes that surrounded Woodward Park glowed from within—not with the garish light of electricity, but instead with the warmth of candles. Add gaslit streetlights and it was easy to imagine that they had been transported one hundred or more years into the past.
What would I do differently if I had it to do all over again? Neferet mused to herself.
“Is this what it looked like a century ago?” Lynette asked softly as she gazed around.
Neferet smiled. Lynette couldn’t read her mind, but their Imprint allowed them to share feelings. “Ah, you sense my nostalgia?”
“I do, my lady,” said Lynette. “I know ice storms are destructive and, quite frankly, a pain in the ass if they last very long, but I’ve always been drawn to them. There is no denying that they touch everything with beauty.”
“I agree. Perhaps when we return home, I will conjure another storm for us, and we can be stranded in Balmacara Mains with Mrs. Muir’s fresh-baked bread and an excellent selection of red wine.”
“That sounds divine.”
“It does indeed. And, yes, you were correct. I was just thinking that Midtown looks like it has been transported back a century or so.” Neferet took Lynette’s hand. “I wish you had been with me then. I believe my life would’ve taken a different path had I known your friendship when I was young.”
“Oh, my lady. You are still young.”
“Um, excuse me?” Vanessa interrupted them.
“Yes, what is it?” said Neferet as she let loose Lynette’s hand and shared a mutually annoyed look with her friend.
“We’re almost at the park and we want to be sure we know exactly what we’re supposed to do.”
“How many times did you go over this with them?” Neferet asked Lynette.
“Five. But one more makes it a good, round number.” She grinned at Neferet. “Remember, my lady, very soon these lovely young women will not be our charges anymore. We will hand them over to their goddess. I don’t mind taking extra time to reiterate the parts they must play tonight to accomplish that.”
“Very well, let us cross Peoria and then we will go up through the Rose Gardens and approach the park from the south, atop the ridge. The Garden Center will be deserted. If I remember correctly, the rear of the mansion will provide some prot
ection from the elements. You girls can leave your clothes there while Lynette reminds you of your roles. Then we will enter the park and prepare to release your goddess.”
“Ok-k-kay, y-y-yeah, that s-sounds good.” Vanessa’s teeth chattered, and she shivered violently before stepping back to huddle with the other young women as they continued to follow Lynette and Neferet. They wore their velvet cloaks that corresponded to the element they each pretended to represent. Beneath the cloaks they wore nothing but bathrobes. On their feet were thick Ugg boots that Neferet had always thought were terribly unattractive, but they did allow them to traverse the icy streets and sidewalks without slipping too much.
As Neferet had explained in private to Lynette—the girls were not to bring anything with their clothes that could identify their bodies. No purses, no credit cards, nothing personal at all. The fact that they were each wearing extremely expensive bathrobes they’d ordered specially through the Blue Dolphin, a posh linen shop in Utica Square, was annoying enough, but dearest Lynette had thought of a way to get rid of those as well. All Neferet had to do was to be sure their bodies couldn’t be identified, and for that she had her ravenous children and the power of the new moon.
The driveway that stretched up to the historic Snedden Mansion that housed the Tulsa Garden Center was so ice covered that they were forced to walk up the expansive front lawn.
“Hurry, we are far too easy to see out here in the open!” Neferet commanded, forcing the girls to slip and slide behind her as she increased the pace.
Finally, they got to the mansion and rushed around back. In the distinctive style of the Italian Renaissance, majestic white columns held up arched stone that, more than a century before, had shielded gaily dressed party-goers from the harsh Oklahoma weather.
The five young women huddled beneath the protective stone, shivering and shifting from foot to foot in an attempt to keep warm.
Lynette faced them. “Why, I wish you could see how perfectly wild and dramatic you look! Your face paint is exquisite, and the ice has turned your cloaks to jewels.”
Amber’s voice was sharp with irritation. “If you’d let us bring our phones, you could take our picture.”
“Would that picture be worth keeping your goddess trapped?” Neferet snapped. “Dearest Lynette already explained to you that what I am about to do is to conjure ancient spirits, and technology offends them. If they are offended, they will not be as powerful, and it will take a powerful spell to break loose Neferet!” Of course, nothing she said was true. The only spirits that would be used that night would be the power from their five deaths—and the only things conjured would be her children, who were already there surrounding them, though invisible to everything except Lynette and the strength of the new moon.
“We understand,” Vanessa said. “We’re ready to get this over with and go back to the house with our goddess.” The girl’s blue eyes narrowed. “Did you say you and your handmaid would be returning with our Neferet?”
“We didn’t say,” Neferet answered, carefully holding her irritation at the young woman’s offensive question in check. “But there tends to be room for only one goddess per home, and Lynette and I shall be on our way back to our own shortly.”
Vanessa and the others looked relieved, and Neferet was again amazed at their naivete. She’d read the news reports of what this world’s Neferet had done a year ago, and how they could imagine she would be a gracious guest, holding court over ridiculous girls, was beyond her comprehension.
“Lynette, dearest, while you remind the Dark Sisters of the roles they must willingly play tonight, I shall scout ahead and be sure the park is empty. When I return we will be ready to begin.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Oh, and one other thing,” Neferet added. “Be sure each of the Dark Sisters takes several drinks of the excellent single malt scotch I tucked away in your satchel. It will help warm them.” And make their minds foggy and their reflexes slow.
“Thank you for reminding me, my lady.” Lynette faced the shivering women who had perked up the moment Neferet had mentioned booze. “Okay, ladies, after I remind you of your roles, it will be time for you to take off your robes and give them to me. I will fold and place them in this bag so that they remain dry and ready for you when the ritual is over.”
Neferet smiled to herself. The women would never return, though the robes would remain dry. Well, more accurately, they would be tossed into a nearby dumpster and set ablaze by the fire starters Lynette carried inside the chic bag she’d borrowed from Vanessa.
“You know, Lynette,” Vanessa had taken to pronouncing her name carefully since Neferet had put an end to her overt insolence. “You really were born to serve.”
Neferet wanted to spin around and fly at the impertinent, spoiled child’s throat, but Lynette’s response drifted through the falling ice to make her smile.
“Yes, I was. Just as you were born to be a willing participant in the freeing of your goddess.”
Still grinning, Neferet walked quickly to the uppermost tier of the Tulsa Rose Gardens. She wished she had time to enjoy the night. The ice had turned everything from bleak to magickal. The only light came from the greenhouse that sat to the rear of the Snedden Mansion. A generator must have powered it, because light poured from within. The peaked windows fogged from the inside heat and water rained down them, unable to freeze. The greenhouse lent a pool of light to the roses and a small portion of Woodward Park. There, ice coated everything, and the illumination transformed the park’s dormant brown grass into jeweled spikes.
Moving stealthily, Neferet crossed the park, heading for the only other light in the area—a large metal brazier beside which stood a single Son of Erebus Warrior who was currently warming his hands over the open flame. He was several yards away from the top of the tomb, and as Neferet circled silently around, trying to see if he was truly alone, she understood why. The nearer she got to the tomb, the more uneasy she felt. Neferet knew should she get too close, the spirits of the bison would emerge, ready to repel her. But that would warn the Warrior, and that would not do.
Neferet took longer than she planned to observe the area, searching for more Warriors, and when she found none she almost scoffed aloud. This world’s Zoey Redbird might be a powerful High Priestess who commanded all five elements, but she was still an inexperienced child.
I would never leave the guarding of something so precious to a lone Warrior.
Neferet moved closer to the brazier and the Warrior. From the concealment of a thick, winter-bare oak, she murmured to the tendrils that shadowed her everywhere. “Children, kill that Warrior—silently. Feed freely from him but be sure you drag his body far enough away that the girls will not discover it. I have tolerated enough from them and cannot abide silly hysteria. Go, now! And then rejoin me after you have disposed of him, but be certain you remain invisible.”
Like eager kittens the tendrils of Darkness rushed across the frozen grass. Neferet only watched long enough to see one of the thickest of her children rise up, cobra-like, behind the Warrior, so tall that when the tendril hissed, causing the vampyre to whirl around, its ravenous mouth was even with his face. Before the Son of Erebus could make a sound, the tendril entered his mouth and slid down his throat. Without uttering a word, the Warrior crumpled. Satisfied, Neferet took a more direct path across the park, returning quickly to the Garden Center, but before she rejoined the group she detoured to the greenhouse. Silently, she used her preternatural strength to force open the door. No alarm sounded, and Neferet shook her head in disgust. In her Tulsa, security was much better. Lock broken, she gently closed the door and returned to the waiting cluster of women, who were still passing around the bottle of scotch. They did seem in much better spirits and they had stopped their annoying shivering.
As soon as Lynette caught sight of Neferet, she motioned for them to begin disrobing, which they did with only a
minimum of complaints.
“Are they not taking off their boots?” Neferet asked.
“My lady, I believe were they barefoot they would be distracted from their circle-casting and would not concentrate on their intent.”
“Ah, I see. Very well, you may keep your unattractive boots on. Now, Dark Sisters, follow me. Be silent. Go immediately to your places and lift your candles as you await spirit to light them and summon your elements.”
“My, uh, lady,” Vanessa hiccuped and giggled. “Um, don’t you want to inspect us to be sure we are pleasing?”
“There is no need, sister spirit,” Neferet said. “I am not your goddess. She who will be freed tonight will inspect you. Do you feel worthy of her?”
“Yes!” The five chorused together.
“Excellent,” said Neferet. “And tell me again, do you come here to be the conduits through which my power will flow willingly?”
“Yes!” they said, even more eagerly.
“I have a question,” said Vanessa.
Neferet stifled her sigh. “Yes?”
“This power you’re going to fill us with—will we feel it?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Neferet assured her truthfully.
Amber took a large swig from the bottle, burped, and added, “Can we keep any of the power?”
“One never knows,” Neferet prevaricated as Amber and Vanessa shared an excited look. “Now, what is your intent that you will focus on all during your ritual?”
“That’s easy.” Vanessa answered with no hesitation. “We think about the fact that we’re here willingly and that we’re the conduits for the power that will free our goddess.”
“Will—will it hurt?” asked Kelsey.
Lynette responded before Neferet could. “Only for a moment. Then you will be free of pain and filled with power.”
“She already told us that!” Jordan snapped at Kelsey.
Kelsey should have chosen her friends better, thought Neferet. Then she said, “We go now to do a great thing, to right a terrible wrong—to free a goddess. The moment we enter the park, begin focusing on your intent. Once the five of you are in position, Vanessa, your spirit sister, will begin casting the circle. I will not be able to be close to the tomb, but you will be able to see me, and be assured that the power I use tonight will not be hindered by a vampyre repel spell. While Lynette is hiding the bag that holds your robes, follow me to your destiny!”
