by P. C. Cast
Grandma Redbird nodded. “Old Magick works for Neferet, and she is definitely not good.”
“Exactly. Somehow it recognized her,” I said.
“That probably happened when she was a young girl and was somehow tied to the abuse she suffered at her father’s hand,” said Anastasia.
“And who knows what horrible price she pays them,” Kevin said.
“Right. Neferet just followed their rules, and because they don’t take sides in the struggle between Light and Darkness, they have no ethical problem helping her. That’s how Old Magick works—unless an abomination of nature has occurred and needs to be put right. I know this because Oak made me cleanse a tree on our school grounds that had been ruined by Darkness. Oak said it then. She wanted it cleansed because sprites will not tolerate something they consider an abomination of nature.”
“Oak? My Oak, the earth sprite? You know her?” Kevin asked.
“Yes, and don’t call her yours. Don’t ever forget that she’s dangerous—they all are. Everyone here needs to understand this—wielding Old Magick changes the user. It’s addictive. It’s destructive. The only vampyre I know who has done so successfully is Queen Sgiach on the Isle of Skye, and I’m pretty sure she isn’t really a vampyre anymore.”
“Queen Sgiach is in this world as well,” Anastasia said. “Though no one has spoken to her or entered her island for more than a century.”
“That’s how it was in my world too, before I went there.”
“She allowed you on her island?” Dragon sounded incredulous.
“More than that,” Stevie Rae said, smiling proudly at me. “She and Z became good friends, such good friends that Sgiach named her a Queen as well.”
“That is truly amazing! Perhaps we should get you to Skye,” Anastasia said. “We could definitely use Sgiach’s help.”
“I’d be happy to go and talk with her,” I said.
“There’s no time for that,” Aphrodite said. “Not before tomorrow night’s slaughter.”
“I can’t go to Skye in time to stop that, but I can call on Old Magick. All I have to do is to convince the sprites that red vampyres in their present state are an abomination of nature and get their help putting them to right.”
“Won’t using that much Old Magick change you?” asked Kevin.
“No. I won’t actually be wielding it. The sprites will be on their own—not working through me.”
“But they will still require a payment,” said Rephaim. “Old Magick always requires a payment.”
“I’ll pay them.”
Everyone stared at Aphrodite.
She shrugged. “What? The other me did it in Zoey’s world. Why the hell wouldn’t I do it in this world?” Aphrodite met my gaze. “Your Aphrodite lost her Mark when she saved the red vampyres, right?”
“Yes, she did.”
“But she wasn’t a fully Changed vamp, like me. Right?”
“Right again,” I said. “She was still a fledgling, though she was already having visions.”
“Well, then, I’ll probably lose part of my Mark. It didn’t hurt your Aphrodite, and she eventually became a High Priestess and a Prophetess of Nyx with special powers, didn’t she?”
“Well, yes,” I said. “But it wasn’t that simple. Our Aphrodite had to go through a lot to become that. There is really no way to know what it will cost you.”
She shrugged again. “Less than the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.”
“Aphrodite, how are your mama and daddy doin’ over here?” Stevie Rae asked her.
Aphrodite looked surprised by the question but answered easily. “My father died a year ago of a heart attack. My theory is my mother finally bitched him to death. She is now the mayor of Tulsa.”
Dragon snorted in contempt. “Frances LaFont is firmly in Neferet’s camp.”
“Not literally, though,” Aphrodite said. “She’d never step foot on the House of Night property. She prefers to remain safe in the luxury of the Skelly Mansion and just agree with everything Neferet commands. Why do you ask, Stevie Rae?”
“Well, your daddy’s dead in our world too.” Stevie Rae glanced at me and I nodded. “And so’s your mama. But before she died you had words with her, and whatever happened between you pretty much pushed our Aphrodite over an edge.”
“So? My mom’s a bitch. In any world, we don’t get along.”
“You almost drank and drugged yourself to death,” I said. “And when you hit rock bottom, that’s when you finally were able to get free of your crappy parents and get over the crappy things they’d done to you. You finally grew up.”
Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at me. “I am a grown-up blue vampyre and a Prophetess of Nyx.”
“I wasn’t talking about that. You were that in my world too.”
“No. You said I lost my Mark. I wasn’t a vampyre yet.”
I sighed. “Okay, yeah. What I’m trying to make you understand is that—”
“I get it. It’s dangerous. I’m going to lose something in exchange for doing this good thing. Fine.” Aphrodite turned to meet Dragon’s gaze. “If I do this will you believe I’m different? Will it make up for Lenobia?”
“It will not bring her back, of course,” Dragon said. “But it is a sacrifice worthy of her, and she would appreciate it.”
“Good. Then it’s settled. We’re going to the football game and I’m going to make sure the Red Army gets woke.”
* * *
That night sped by. The cave—which I didn’t get nearly enough time to explore, but could tell by just the little I saw was completely amazing—was filled with energy and movement as Dragon had the entire Resistance headquarters scrambling to get ready to mobilize.
“But how are you going to sneak all of these Resistance fighters into the game without Stark and the rest of them getting suspicious?” Aphrodite asked.
We’d moved from the briefing room to cluster more comfortably around the main hearth fire near the entrance of the cave. Aphrodite’s sight had returned and I kept getting taken aback by how familiar she was—yet different from my Aphrodite. This one was thinner and somehow looked older, though they were exactly the same age. And she seemed sadder and more vulnerable, which she definitely tried to hide under a typically arrogant Aphrodite facade. That was, of course, a lot like my Aphrodite had done when I’d first met her, but she’d been better at it than this one.
After knowing her for less than a day it was pretty easy for me to tell that this Aphrodite was lonely. Very lonely. It made my heart hurt for her, and it also made me understand, again, just how important friendship is. Without us—the strength and friendship of our Nerd Herd—Other Aphrodite was sad and lost.
I was determined to help her find herself.
“Easy-peasy!” Stevie Rae said. “The answer’s in Z’s backpack. All we need to do is make sure it stretches far enough to cover everybody who needs it.”
“What is she talking about?” Aphrodite asked me.
“I brought a big tub of professional cover-up for vamp tattoos with me. We thought we’d need it for Stevie Rae, and probably me too.” I held up my hands and then pulled aside the collar of my T-shirt to let them glimpse some of my extra tattoos.
“You went to a tattoo artist?” Aphrodite wrinkled her nose.
“Nope. Nyx gave me these. And more. Before I made the Change she used to give me an extra tattoo every time I did something major to show that I was walking her path.”
“I thought they were lovely before I knew they were a gift from the Goddess,” said Grandma, running her finger lightly over the intricate design on my palm. “Now I think them exquisite.”
“Thanks, Grandma. But it only takes a little dab of the cover-up stuff and a vamp becomes a human—even if it rains,” I finished.
Dragon nodded. “That is an excellent idea, though it
will not work for Anastasia and me. Our faces are too well known.”
“Oh, I think you’d be surprised,” I said. “Cover your Marks. Change into some Eskimo Joe’s sweatshirts and OU hats and carry some pom-poms or whatnot, and I promise you no blue vampyre, especially a general or High Priestess, is going to pay any attention to you at all.”
“She’s right,” Aphrodite said. “You’ll just be another walking refrigerator to them. They’ll barely look at you.”
“This might actually work,” Dragon said.
“It has to,” I said.
“How will you call the sprites?” Anastasia asked.
“Together!” Kevin and I said at the same time.
“Jinx!” he said and punched my shoulder.
“Stop! Plus, I’m pretty sure I beat you. Again,” I told him. “But yeah. We’ll call the sprites together. They should hear us and come.”
“Can’t you call them here and explain what’s going on?” Aphrodite said. “Leaving the most important part of your plan up to last-minute chance with a magick that’s—like you said—capricious, doesn’t sound smart.”
“My gut says we wait until the game and call them only when Neferet gives the order for the Red Army to eat the losing team,” Kevin said. “Zo said they don’t take sides, but abominations of nature piss them off. Well, a salivating horde of zombielike red vampyres is a pretty damn big abomination.”
“I think Kev’s right,” I agreed. “The sprites have to understand how bad it is with the red vamps, and the best way to do that is to show them getting ready to slaughter a bunch of innocent people. But I see what Aphrodite’s saying. We need to talk about our circle.”
“What circle?” Aphrodite said.
“Exactly,” I said. “We need one. A strong one. If we spread out around the circumference of the stadium and cast a wide circle around it, we’ll pretty much be guaranteed the sprites will hear our call.”
“That sounds reasonable,” said Anastasia. “But you also explained that you need a circle made up of those who have elemental affinities, and we have none of those type of gifted vampyres here.”
“I said I’d need that kind of circle power to contain Kalona—an angry and kinda crazy immortal.” I glanced at Rephaim. “No offense.”
“None taken. My father was crazed when he was entombed by the Wise Women.”
“But,” I continued, “for a regular circle that’s strong enough to focus our call to the sprites, we shouldn’t need more power than we have right here.” Then I smiled at Anastasia. “And you do have at least one vamp with an elemental affinity—or more specifically, elemental affinities.” I pointed at Kevin. “My brother, like me, has affinities for all five elements.”
“That is right! You are so young that I keep forgetting what a powerfully gifted vampyre you are, Kevin,” Anastasia said.
“Hang on, what?” Aphrodite looked utterly shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me anything about that, Kevin?”
He shrugged and his cheeks blazed pink. “I guess it didn’t come up.”
“And I’ve been gifted with earth,” said Stevie Rae.
“So, we have three of five with true elemental connections, correct?” Dragon said.
“Correct,” I said. Then I grinned at him. “Dragon, I believe you would be perfect to invoke fire.”
He blinked in surprise. “Me? But I am not a priestess.”
“No, but you’re definitely fiery,” said Kevin. “And I mean no disrespect by that.”
Anastasia stifled a giggle, which made her look like an adorable little girl. “Bryan, Zoey is right. You have the dragon within you, and that is definitely fiery.”
I smiled at Anastasia. “Which makes you the perfect choice to invoke air. You’ll always be able to stoke the dragon’s fire, and you’ll always know when to blow it out.”
Her smile blazed as Anastasia bowed her head slightly to me. “High Priestess, I acknowledge your wisdom and I agree. I will be air tomorrow night.”
“Thank you, High Priestess,” I tipped my head to her in return.
“Oh, Zoey. I am not a High Priestess,” she said quickly.
“Sure you are,” I said. “That’s not a title that can be taken away by anyone but Nyx, and I happen to know that you and the Goddess are very close.”
“That makes my heart sing,” she said, with happy tears standing in her eyes.
“Which am I supposed to be?” Kevin asked. “Water or spirit?”
“Your choice,” I said.
He thought for a moment, and then I saw his gaze find Aphrodite. “Water,” he said. “I like the thought of washing away sadness.”
I nodded and didn’t say anything more because I knew it would just embarrass him again, but at that moment I couldn’t have been prouder of him and I hoped if Darius wasn’t still alive in this world that maybe, just maybe, Kevin and Aphrodite could find happiness together.
“Johnny B!” Dragon shouted, making me jump and my thoughts scatter. The kid ran up, and I tried not to gawk. In this world, he was a fully Changed vampyre with a tattoo that was made up of strong, sapphire-colored geometric lines that formed cool-looking triangles.
“Yes, Dragon,” he jogged up from where he’d been flirting with a fledgling at a neighboring hearth.
“Borrow Tina’s truck. Then cover your tattoo with the concealer Zoey brought with her. Go into town and buy as many OSU and OU shirts and game paraphernalia as you can find. Enough for each Warrior to wear something.”
“And us,” Anastasia added. “Each of us as well.”
“Yes, exactly. Get enough for Anastasia, Zoey, Stevie Rae, and Aphrodite too,” Dragon said. “And be sure you go to several stores. Don’t buy too many from one place. Draw no attention to yourself.”
“Yes, Dragon!” he hurried off.
“How will we get weapons into the stadium?” Dragon asked. “They’ll have metal detectors. They always do.”
“We won’t take them in. The Red Army will,” Kevin said.
“Which will help us how?” Dragon asked.
“It’ll help us a lot when we take them from the Red Army. One at a time. As the game is being played. Solitary Red Army soldiers will be super easy for any human to lure into a shadowy spot—a bathroom stall or really anywhere they won’t be in view of any of Stark’s blue Warriors. And when the human turns out to be a disguised Warrior for the Resistance, the red vamp won’t stand a chance.”
“But try not to kill ’em,” Stevie Rae added. “They’ll be back to themselves as soon as Aphrodite fixes ’em, and they all deserve a second chance.”
“They’ve done terrible things,” Dragon said.
“But not because they wanted to,” Stevie Rae countered. “They have no will of their own. They only have hunger and anger. I know. I’ve been there. Give ’em a second chance, Dragon Lankford.”
The Swordmaster nodded slowly. “Agreed. I will give the order to render them unconscious.”
“You are a good Warrior, Bryan, and an even better man.” Anastasia leaned over and kissed him softly.
“Only because I am your Warrior and your man.”
I had to look away because they were choking me up. It was great to see them again—together and happy. But it also made me remember how much I missed them, and that was something I had to take back to my world with me. I glanced at Aphrodite. She had her blond head tilted toward Kevin and was smiling at something he was saying to her. And suddenly I realized that I was going to miss this Aphrodite too.
29
Zoey
“It’s only three hours until sunrise.” Dragon spoke in a voice that carried across the great entrance chamber of the cave system where the Resistance members had gathered. “All of you going with us know our plan. Finish readying yourselves. Eat. And then sleep. Those of you remaining here must also be on alert and b
e ready to move and move quickly. If things do not go in our favor, Anastasia will send Tatsuwa here with a warning.” Dragon looked around until he spotted my grandma. “Sylvia Redbird, I would like to ask if you would take charge of those we must leave behind. Will you?”
Grandma bowed her head slightly. “It would be my great honor.”
“Thank you. Tatsuwa will be told to find you. If he comes bearing a dire message you must evacuate immediately. Lead the people to Polecat Creek. We have hidden rafts in the underbrush near the old wooden bridge. Drew!” Dragon called.
The short but powerfully built young vampyre stood. “Yes, Swordmaster!”
“I want you to be the Warrior who remains here. Sylvia will need help getting the young ones to the creek, and you know exactly where the rafts are hidden.”
“I do, and I will watch over those left in my charge—I swear it to Nyx.”
“Excellent. Sylvia, if it comes to that, you’ll float the rafts to where Polecat Creek drains into the Arkansas River just outside the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. You’ll be met there by a barge owner who will hide all of you inside transport cartons until you get to Fort Gibson. From there the Arkansas Resistance will take you to their hidden caverns.”
“But we have faith that we will be victorious!” Anastasia said, lifting her fist in a victory salute while everyone cheered. “Rest now. Spend time with loved ones, as that is never time wasted. And may the blessing of Nyx be with us so that we shall all blessed be.”
“Blessed be!” the crowd responded, and then people broke off into couples and small groups.
I liked their energy. We were all worried, of course, but there was no frantic nervousness here. There was only a calm feeling of determination. Everyone understood that we all might die or be captured tomorrow, but we had the same focus—ending Neferet’s reign of Darkness and abuse, and that shared focus was also a shared strength and comfort.
Kevin tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to go with him to the mouth of the cave. “Hey, come here for a sec.”
