by P. C. Cast
Her phone was ringing as Kalona pulled the rusted grate aside and Thanatos strode into the basement, followed by the winged Warrior and Aurox.
I hit END CALL, and stood. I’d opened my mouth to ask Thanatos what the hell she was doing and why the hell she’d brought Aurox here when my mind caught up with my vision. Kalona was covered with pink slashes and spatters of blood. It looked like someone had been beating him with a whip made out of razor blade.
“Grandma? Where is she?”
Kalona halted in front of me. His amber eyes held mine. As he stood there, several of the pink slashes opened and began to cry blood. His body is vulnerable down here, down in the earth, I remembered. It’s difficult for him to heal. But I didn’t acknowledge that he’d willingly entered the earth even though it was obvious he was wounded. He was a Warrior. It was his oath sworn job to protect.
“Where is she?” I repeated.
“Neferet’s penthouse. The Tsi Sgili has her imprisoned by tendrils of Darkness,” he said.
“Why didn’t you get her out of there?” I wanted to raise my fists and beat against his chest and open more of the cuts and make him hurt as badly as I was hurting—as badly as Grandma was hurting. But I didn’t. I only wounded him with my eyes and my words. “You said if Neferet had her, you would rescue her. Darkness has been your BFF for centuries! Why couldn’t you rescue her?”
“The minions of Darkness no longer obey Kalona. He has truly chosen to return to the path of Nyx, thus he is allied with evil no more,” Thanatos said.
“Oh, just fucking great. Talk about shit timing skills, Kalona,” Aphrodite said. She and Darius and Stark had climbed up the ladder, followed by Shaunee, Damien, and, I was surprised to see, Shaylin.
“So why did you run? Why the hell didn’t you fight the tendrils, beat them, and grab Grandma Redbird?” Stark said. “Supposedly protecting Nyx against Darkness used to be your full-time job before you messed that up. Did you forget how to do it?”
Kalona rounded on Stark. “Do I look as if I ran from a battle?”
Stark didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, you’re here. Grandma’s not. You fucking ran!”
Kalona snarled and took a step toward Stark. Darius pulled a knife from his sleeve and Stark lifted his ever-present bow. Pissed as hell, I stepped between them.
“This is not helping, Kalona! Tell me why Grandma’s still being held by Neferet,” I said.
“I could have battled those puppets of Darkness for days. I would have eventually been victorious over them. It would have cost me little except blood and pain. But their command was not to war with me. They had been commanded to feed from my blood to strengthen themselves so that they could break through the earth power with which Sylvia Redbird has girded herself.”
“Go on. Tell me everything.” I sounded strong, but I had to press my hand against my mouth to keep from sobbing. I will not cry!
“Turquoise and silver—earth power. That protects her, but with my blood filling the tendrils, they were able to begin breaking through that protection. Had I stayed and continued to battle them, I would have been victorious, but Sylvia Redbird would have been dead.”
“We must have a creature made of Darkness to break through the cage of Darkness that imprisons your grandmother,” Thanatos said.
“That creature is me.” Aurox stepped forward.
“Oh, for shit’s sake! We are absolutely fucked!” Aphrodite said.
Sadly, I had to agree with her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Zoey
“I can do it. I was created by Darkness, from Darkness,” Aurox said. “The tendrils will not feed from me—it would be like eating themselves. I may even be able to command them. If they will not obey my command, then I will vanquish them and rescue Sylvia Redbird. Zoey, I care very much for Grandma. I can save her. I know it.”
“You can’t control that shit inside you!” Stark shouted. “Sure, Neferet will let you into her penthouse. Are you kidding, why shouldn’t she? She has plenty of blood from Grandma. She’ll just use some of it to feed Darkness and control you. Again!”
“The tendrils cannot feed from Sylvia Redbird’s blood,” Kalona said. “Neferet admitted it, and I witnessed it myself. I can only guess that her blood is protected by the same earth magick that shields her body.”
“But you can still be controlled, right?” Damien had walked up to Aurox. His voice was clinical and I knew he was accessing all the biology files he had in his very big brain. “You are a Vessel created by Darkness. So the beast within you, which is basically a creature formed from the evil of the white bull, morphs without a sacrifice. We saw it happening earlier when Stark and Darius hit you.”
“The beast feeds on violence and hatred, lust and pain. That is true,” Aurox said.
“But you have some control over it. You did not actually change earlier,” Thanatos said.
“I try not to change. I try to control it.”
“Well, do you have a clue how you’ve kinda controlled it so far?” Stevie Rae asked, joining the rest of us.
“No.” Aurox sounded miserable.
“And that is why we are here. We must teach Aurox to control this change, at least long enough for him to break through the cage of Darkness that binds Sylvia Redbird so that he can throw her from the balcony of Neferet’s lair,” Thanatos said.
“Throw her?” My voice squeaked, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I felt like my head was going to explode.
“I will hover there and catch her and fly her to safety,” Kalona said.
“And how long do we have to figure out how not to push Aurox’s buttons and grab Grandma?” Aphrodite asked.
“I would not expect her to live another night,” Kalona said.
“Well,” I said. “Then let’s get to work.” I looked at Aurox. “Do you really care about my grandma?”
“I do. Very much. I would give my life to save her if I need to.”
“You may need to,” I said. Then I looked from him to Stark and Darius and Kalona. “Sounds like you need to start causing Aurox a bunch of pain and violence. Now.”
The Warriors glanced at Thanatos. “I agree with Zoey. Cause Aurox pain.”
Aurox
“I may enjoy this,” Stark said, setting his bow and arrows aside and cracking his knuckles.
“As may I,” Kalona said, as he began circling Aurox. “I owe you blows for my son.”
“And I owe you for Dragon,” Darius told him, pulling from his belt loop a small, deadly looking knife.
“You’re not supposed to kill him,” Zoey said. Her voice sounded cold, emotionless.
That absence of emotion frightened Aurox more than any of the three Warriors.
“I’ll bet he’s pretty hard to kill,” Aphrodite said, crossing her arms and winking at Darius. “So, you go ahead and have some fun with your knives, handsome.”
“The beast feeds on anger. Get serious. Get angry,” Thanatos commanded the Warriors, and they went silent and closed on him.
Aurox felt the change in their energy immediately. Where before the three of them obviously disliked and mistrusted him, they were not angry. Now tension radiated from them, building in intensity. The beast within him stirred expectantly.
Aurox clenched his teeth and tensed his body. No, I will not release control. It is tsu-ka-nv-s-di-na, not beast. I will tame the bull!
Kalona struck first. With a movement that was inhumanly quick, he spun and backhanded Aurox across the face, knocking him to his knees. Before he could rise, Darius darted in. He felt an electric line of pain across the top of his shoulder, and then felt warmth as the thin, shallow cut began to bleed. An instant later, Stark punched him in the stomach.
Aurox doubled over. The Warriors were angry. The scent of his blood worked on the two vampyres. He could feel the violence within them build, especially that which rested inside Stark. Darkness—I can feel it. Stark has known evil, though he has chosen another path. Aurox was able to gain his feet, wh
ere he took a defensive stance just in time for Kalona to send another stinging blow to the other side of his face. Aurox turned, going with the blow, and brought his arm up in time to block Stark’s fist.
As he moved, turning, and blocking, the creature within him quivered, trying to break free of Aurox’s will. Though his skin twitched and he felt his bones begin the terrible melting change that turned boy to a horned beast, still he remained himself. Still he had control.
“You have to fight back!” Zoey called to him.
Aurox blocked another of Stark’s blows. “I cannot!” he yelled. “If I fight—I change.”
“Then what the hell good are you?” Aphrodite lifted her hands in frustration. “Neferet isn’t going to let you walk in there, tell Darkness to get lost, and then walk out holding hands with Grandma.”
“They are correct,” Thanatos said. “You must fight back. And you must control the beast as you do.”
Aurox nodded and, feeling a terrible dread, he ducked under Darius’s knife hand and came up swinging, sending a blow under the Warrior’s chin.
Aurox felt the pain and anger explode within Darius. The beast felt it, too. The emotions siphoned into his body, filling the creature within with power. Aurox tried to stop it, tried to control it. But when he whirled and kicked Stark, connecting with the Warrior’s stomach and knocking the breath from him, he felt his feet begin to solidify and morph into hooves.
“Think of moonlight!” the True Sight fledgling yelled at him. “You have it inside you. Try to find it.”
He thought of moonlight and lavender, of silver and turquoise and the earth around him.
Kalona struck again—another stinging backhand. This time Aurox grabbed his wrist and, using his own inhuman strength, tossed the immortal away from him.
The beast roared.
“He’s losing it!” Aphrodite said.
“You guys get back down the tunnel,” Stark called. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to control him.”
“You better control him because we’re not going anywhere! Aurox, hang on!” Zoey shouted.
“I try!” Aurox cried, backing away from the three Warriors, who were breathing hard but not attacking him again. “I control!”
“If you do not. If you harm any of them I will destroy you.” Kalona’s voice was calm. He did not shout. He did not posture. But Aurox felt the truth of his statement. The immortal may be able to destroy me. The thought had the beast retreating, releasing some of its anger.
Aurox stood his ground. “Control! I control.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Zoey said. “Guys, stand down for a sec. I have an idea.” The three Warriors nodded, but continued to watch Aurox warily. Zoey continued, “Damien, Shaunee, Stevie Rae—take your places. Form a circle around Aurox. The three of them scattered. “Aphrodite, take Erin’s candle and stand in for water.”
“Better idea.” Aphrodite handed a blue candle to the True Sight fledgling. “Go west and think wet.”
“Water? Me?” The girl took the candle, but shook her head, looking confused.
Aphrodite pulled a small, handheld silver object from her pocket and snapped it open. Aurox saw light dance across its mirrored surface. She held it up to the girl’s face. “Read your own aura.”
The fledgling sighed and looked into the mirror. Then her brows went up and her eyes seemed to double in size.
“Awesome! Wow! I never even thought about reading myself. I’m all different colors of blue!”
Aphrodite clicked the mirror closed and put it back in her pocket, looking smug. “Yep, just as I thought. So, head west.”
Smiling, the fledgling took her place in the circle.
“That was wise, Prophetess,” Thanatos said.
“I have my moments,” Aphrodite said. Then she called to Zoey, who was watching, wide-eyed, along with the other fledglings, “You are welcome.”
“Okay, well, let’s see if I can be as wise,” Zoey said.
“How may I help?” Thanatos asked.
“Cast the circle. I don’t want to be anything but spirit this time,” came Zoey’s quick answer.
“Agreed,” Thanatos said.
“Aurox, do you have a handle on yourself?” Zoey asked him.
He was still breathing hard, and the beast hovered just below the surface of his skin, but since the Warriors had stopped their attack, Aurox had gained a measure of control again. “I do. For now.”
“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do.” As Zoey spoke, she walked toward him. “Thanatos, cast the circle. We’ll manifest our elements and hold them here, ready. Warriors, once all five elements are present, attack Aurox. Aurox”—she’d stopped just a few feet from him and the three Warriors—“I want you to fight back and do your best to control the beast, but when that control starts slipping, ’cause we’re all seeing that you can’t stop what’s happening to you, it’ll be our turn to try to help you.”
“How?” he asked her.
“I did it a little before. I sent spirit to strengthen you. Imagine that times five,” she explained. “You say the beast feeds off of violence and anger and pain, right?”
“That is right,” he said, nodding.
“Well, even though the elements aren’t good or bad, how they make each of the five of us feel is definitely good. So, I figured if the five of us channel not just our elements to you, but the good way they make us feel, then maybe you can grab onto them and get enough positive power to shut down the beast.”
“Aurox, if this works”—Thanatos joined Zoey in the middle of the circle—“then it will prove that you are more than the Darkness from which you were fashioned.”
“Then it will work because I am not Darkness. I cannot be,” he said firmly.
“Prove it,” Stark said.
“I will,” Aurox replied. He met Zoey’s gaze. “I am ready.”
“Then we begin with air.” Thanatos took the lighter Zoey offered her and walked to Damien. Speaking simply Thantos called, “Air, you are the first of the elements, and I call you to this circle.” After she lit Damien’s yellow candle, she moved to Shaunee, invoking fire in the same way. When she stood before the True Sight fledgling, she took longer, saying, “Water, you are ever changeable, always adapting. You have been called to this circle and manifested many times for your fledgling, Erin Bates. But that fledgling has, like water, changed and adapted to another environment. This new daughter of Nyx stands here, open and excited to accept your gifts. As High Priestess I invite you to this circle. Come, water, and show Shaylin she may blessed be!” Aurox watched as Thanatos lit the fledgling’s blue candle, and then she gasped in pleasure.
“I can feel it! Water is here, all around me!”
Thanatos smiled. “And for that gift we thank Nyx most profoundly.” The High Priestess moved to Stevie Rae, invoked earth, and lit the green candle. Aurox could smell grass and earth. He breathed deeply as it reminded him of the morning he’d woken to Grandma Redbird’s singing.
I must do this. She believed in me and I will not desert her.
Then Thanatos was standing in front of Zoey. “Spirit, you are the last element to join a circle. You open and close our union. I call you here with a resounding, merry meet! Come, spirit!”
When she touched the lighter to the purple candle, there was a sizzling sound and Zoey’s candle flamed a pure, silver color. It grew and flashed, and suddenly the silver flame became a glowing rope, connecting each of them around the circle. Aurox could feel the power stir the air around him. He drew a deep breath and readied himself.
“Let’s do this,” Zoey said. “Warriors, bring him pain!”
This time Stark attacked him first. Aurox had thought himself prepared, but the vampyre surprised him. Instead of punching, he kicked his legs out from under him. Aurox went down hard. He was trying to collect himself and get up when Kalona kicked him in the stomach as Darius sliced the knife’s blade across his other shoulder.
Aurox react
ed automatically. He grabbed the immortal’s legs and twisted as he turned and struck out with his hand, which was already solidifying into a cloven hoof, and struck Darius in the back. Both Warriors grunted in pain and that pain lit within Aurox like a match on dry tinder. The beast within him exploded to the surface. He roared and charged Stark.
“It’s time!” Thanatos said.
“Command your elements to fill Aurox! Show him what it’s like to feel the joy of air, fire, water, earth, and spirit!” Zoey shouted.
Aurox could dimly hear Zoey. His head swung in her direction. The silver flame she held before her caught the beast’s attention. He roared, wanting to change course, wanting to attack the flame.
“Watch him, Z!” Stark was yelling. “Over here, you bastard! Don’t you fucking look at her!” The Warrior rammed Aurox with his shoulder, knocking him backward. Aurox pretended to stumble, but instead he feinted right and his left fist, now a fully formed hoof, caught Stark in the middle of his gut, doubling him over. Aurox was lowering his head, ready to gore the Warrior when the elements hit him.
This time his stagger was not pretended. He felt spirit first. Felt it deep within him. Something stirred. Something that was the opposite of the beast of Darkness that shared his skin. Joy leaped to life. It was an oddly familiar sensation, and with it Aurox turned his head, his gaze automatically seeking and then finding Zoey. Their eyes met. Hers had tears in them. In one hand she held the silver-flamed candle. Her other hand was pressed against the middle of her chest.
“Don’t cry, Zo. You’ll get snot everywhere,” he heard himself say in a perfectly normal, perfectly human voice.
