by P. C. Cast
“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 str
eet, 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.
“Kalona, hear me! When I free myself I will come after you, too. Never forget that I held you bound, doing my bidding, once before. I shall do so again!”
The winged immortal didn’t even bother to turn to look at her. He called back over his shoulder, “Yes, I remember. I also remember that you could not keep me bound to you.”
“The next time I will not be so magnanimous. The next time we meet, I give you my oath I will destroy you as Nyx should have done when you betrayed her!”
That halted the winged immortal. He turned to meet her gaze, and in a voice that seemed to share the power of the fiery wall, Kalona blasted back at her, “Do you know why Nyx didn’t destroy me when I chose to Fall? Because Nyx is a true Goddess—loving, benevolent, loyal, and kind. You? You are a petulant child, a pretender, and a usurper. No matter how much vengeance you spew or how much chaos you cause, you will never be a Goddess!”
As he and Lynette disappeared into the night, Neferet shrieked her fury to the sky.
Zoey
When I woke up I smelled the delicious, familiar scent of roasting sweet corn and warm salted butter. Still not quite awake, I smiled. I was at Grandma’s house. Grandma grilled the best sweet corn in the universe.
Then I made the mistake of opening my eyes. I was lying on one of Grandma’s quilts, but I was definitely not at Grandma’s house. I was looking up at the night sky through the drooping boughs of a giant oak tree. Then my memory caught up with the rest of my senses and I sat straight up.
“Slowly, Zoey. You shouldn’t try to stand yet,” said Sister Mary Angela. As she hurried over to me, the nun called, “Zoey’s awake,” over her shoulder.
“Here, drink this.” She handed me a plastic cup. I could smell that it was filled with blood-laced wine, and my mouth started to water. I hesitated to take it from her, though. It just felt too awkward, maybe even disrespectful, to take blood and wine from a nun.
She patted my shoulder. “It will ground you. Take, drink, and be nourished.”
“Thank you. I haven’t told you this recently, but I really appreciate how great you are. You—you mean a lot to me.” I sniffled, feeling tears in the back of my throat.
Sister Mary Angela smiled. “Well, thank you, Zoey. I know you mean what you just said, but I promise you won’t feel so emotional after you drink that.”
“Okay.” I sniffled again and upended the cup. I don’t really like wine, especially not red wine, but as disturbing as it sounds, I love blood. The blood in the wine made it taste like liquid chocolate, dark and smooth. My taste buds registered immediate deliciousness, and then an instant later power zipped through my body, clearing the impending tears from my eyes and the cobwebs from my brain. I looked around and right away saw Stevie Rae, Damien, and Shaylin. They were awake, standing by the park’s outdoor charcoal grill, munching away on grilled sweet corn. Well, at least I hadn’t imagined that. Smiling, Grandma was coming toward me with an ear of corn on a paper plate and another plastic cup in her hand. I started to smile at her and then realized who I hadn’t seen.
“Where are Thanatos and Shaunee?”
Grandma handed me the plate, saying, “Eat and finish grounding yourself, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. Thanatos is within, being well cared for.” She nodded her head toward a place behind me, and I swiveled around so that I was looking at the base of the ginormous tree.
White canvas had been draped over and through the lower boughs, forming a small tent above the wrought-iron ritual table. Suzanne Grimms and Rabbi Bernstein were seated on either side of the open front flap of the tent. The ladies had their eyes closed and their hands folded in silent, meditative prayer. Through the opening in the tent I could see that all five pillar candles had been placed on the table and lit. They sent a warm, flickering glow over the mound of blankets at the base of the table and the still figure that lay on the makeshift pallet. I could also see that Shaunee was sitting on the ground near the pallet. She was sipping from her own cup. There were two nibbled ears of corn on a paper plate beside her. She caught my gaze and gave me a grim smile.
I started to get up, but Grandma pressed my shoulder down, sitting beside me. “Eat and drink first. Besides Thanatos, you are the last to awaken.”
“So, she’s okay? She’s just sleeping?” I asked around a mouthful of corn.
“She seems well, though she doesn’t wake. Tell me, Zoeybird, do you remember your dreams?”
I shook my head. “I only remember seeing everyone passing out, and then I fainted. Then I smelled your corn and thought I was at your house.”
She smiled again. “I brought supplies with me. Corn is always eaten after a Busk Ceremony. I thought it would be appropriate after this ceremony as well.”
“It’s perfect, Grandma. And yummy, too. As usual.” I chewed quickly and swallowed, then asked, “Did it really work? Is Tulsa protected from the Mayo?”
“Well, I don’t know about the Mayo, but Tulsa is protected from the rest of the world.”
I looked up to see Detective Marx approaching me. He had his phone in his hand and a super-shocked look on his face.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means this ancient spell Thanatos cast is working exactly like the spell Cleopatra cast around Alexandria. The 911 lines are flooded. Apparently, there is a selective wall of fire stranding some people inside the city limits and stopping others from entering Tulsa—and that includes the FBI team that was supposed to be providing our backup.”
“Thanatos’s spell asked that no one with ill intent enter or leave Tulsa,” I said. “Wow, it did work!”
“The FBI can be a pain in the ass, but they don’t wish us ill,” Marx said.
“They intend violence. Do you think violence is a positive or negative thing, Detective?” Aurox asked, joining us.
Marx frowned. “If I had to make a blanket categorization, I’
d have to say violence is negative, but there’s way more to it than that. Violence can be used in a positive way, to protect and serve. I’d know a little something about that.”
Grandma nodded in acknowledgment. “We are all quite sure you do, Detective. It has been your life’s work.”
“And mine,” Aurox said. “That is why I understand it so intimately. Be it good or ill willed, there should be choices made that do not include violence. Thanatos has seen enough death to understand that, too. She cast a spell as raw and basic as Old Magick, and as Zoey can tell you, Old Magick works on intent more than anything else.”
“Thanatos’s intent wasn’t just to stop Neferet. It also was to stop the violence and chaos that are going on in our unbalanced world,” I said.
“You do understand,” Aurox said.
I started to tell him I understood and agreed, when the phone I’d stuck in my pocket started vibrating like crazy. “Sorry, I thought I turned this off,” I said, pulling it out of my pocket to see Aphrodite’s picture lighting up the screen.
“Speak to your Prophetess,” Grandma said.
I tapped the phone. “Hey,” I said.
“Get back here. Now,” Aphrodite said.
“What’s going on?”
“Kalona’s back. The spell worked. One of Neferet’s hostages got out. And to say Neferet’s pissed is like saying Louis Vuitton makes cute purses. Hello, understatement of the decade.”
“Okay, we’re on our way.” I clicked off and faced my audience, which now included Stevie Rae, Damien, and Shaylin. “It worked. Totally. And Kalona got one of Neferet’s hostages out. They’re waiting for us at the House of Night.”
“Neferet will be furious,” Grandma said.
“And hard to contain,” Damien said.
I glanced at the tent that held Thanatos in time to see Shaunee coming out to join us. She looked tired, but she seemed to be okay. “The spell worked,” I told her.
Shaunee nodded. “I know. I can feel it whenever the protective wall flames on.”
“You should eat more,” Damien said. “You don’t look grounded yet.”
