She turned and, in a swirl of silk, swept out of the chamber. Before following her, Kalona bowed respectfully to the Council, his fist over his heart. Then he looked at me and said, “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.”
When they left the chamber utter pandemonium was loosed. Everyone spoke at once, some clearly wanting to call Neferet and Kalona back—some indignant that they’d left. No one—not one vampyre—spoke against them. And whenever his name was spoken, they called him Erebus.
“They believe him,” Stark said.
I nodded.
He gave me a sharp look. “Do you believe him?”
I opened my mouth, not sure how I was going to explain to my Warrior it wasn’t so much that I believed in Kalona, but that I was beginning to believe in what he once had been and might become again.
Duantia’s voice echoed through the chamber, silencing everyone. “Enough! This chamber will be cleared immediately. We will not disintegrate into chaotic rabble.” Warriors seemed to materialize from the crowd, and the still animated vampyres began leaving.
“Zoey Redbird, we would speak with you tomorrow. Bring your circle here at dusk. We understand the fledgling-turned-human prophetess has experienced the trauma of a broken Imprint today. If she has recovered enough, we would have her join your group tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
Stark and I made a hasty exit. Damien motioned us over to a little side garden that was tucked just off the main path where the rest of the kids were waiting for us.
“What happened in there?” Damien didn’t pause before getting right to it. “It sounded like you believed the stuff about Kalona falling from Nyx’s side.”
“I had to tell them the truth.” I drew a deep breath and told my friends the rest of it. “Kalona showed me a vision of the past, and in it I saw that he was Nyx’s Warrior.”
“What!” Stark exploded. “The Goddess’s Warrior? That’s insane! I spent time with him. Time where he acted real around me. I saw who he is—and he isn’t our Goddess’s Warrior.”
“Not anymore he isn’t.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I wanted to yell back at Stark. He hadn’t seen the vision. How could he judge whether it was true or not? “He chose to leave Nyx. And, yeah, it was a mistake. And, yeah, he did terrible things. I said all of that.”
“But you believe him,” Stark said, tight-lipped.
“No! I don’t believe he’s Erebus. I never said that.”
“No, Zo, but what you did say made it sound like you might be on his side—if he dumped Neferet,” Heath said.
I had had about enough. As usual, these guys were making my head hurt. “Do you think you two could quit looking at it like you’re my boyfriends? Could you cut out the jealous, possessive stuff and try to be objective about him?”
“I’m not jealous or possessive of you, and I think you’re mistaken if you’re starting to believe Kalona is good,” Damien said.
“He got to you, Z,” Shaunee said.
“His mojo has definitely zapped you,” Erin agreed.
“No, it hasn’t! I haven’t jumped on Team Kalona! All I’m doing is trying to see the truth here. What if the truth is that he used to be on the right side? Maybe he could find the right side again,” I said.
Stark was shaking his head. I rounded on him. “It happened with you, so how the hell can you be so sure it can’t happen with him?”
“He’s using your connection with A-ya to mess with your head. Think clearly, Zoey.” His eyes begged me to listen to him.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do—to think clearly and to find the truth—without everyone else’s attitudes, including A-ya’s, getting in the way. Just like I did for you.”
“It’s not the same thing! I wasn’t evil for centuries. I didn’t turn an entire tribe of people into my slaves and rape their women,” Stark said.
“You were going to rape Becca if Darius and I hadn’t stopped you!” The words came blurting out of my mouth before my good sense could stop them.
Stark actually took a step away from me like I’d hit him. “He’s done it. He’s gotten inside your head, and with him there, there’s no room for your Warrior.” Stark turned and walked away into the shadows.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the wetness fall from my chin to my shirt. I wiped my face with a trembling hand. Then I looked at the rest of my friends. “When Stevie Rae first came back, she was so horrible that I almost didn’t recognize her. She was scary and mean and bad. Truly bad. But I didn’t turn my back on her, either. I believed in her humanity, and because I didn’t give up on her, she got it back,” I said.
“But, Zoey, Stevie Rae was good before she died and then came back. We all know that. What if the truth is that Kalona never had any goodness and humanity to lose? What if his choice has always been for evil?” Damien asked quietly. “For you to be saying all of this, what he showed you seemed real, but you have to at least consider the fact that the vision might have been nothing more than smoke-and-mirrors. He might have been showing you ‘truth,’ but a dressed-up, partial version of truth.”
“I have been considering that,” I said.
“Like Stark said, have you really thought about the fact that the soul connection you have with A-ya, and the memories you’ve had about her, might be clouding your judgment?” Erin asked.
I nodded, crying harder.
Heath took my hand. “Zo, his favorite son killed Anastasia and almost killed those other kids who stood up to him.”
“I know,” I sobbed. But what if he only let them do that because Neferet wanted it? I didn’t say the words aloud, but Heath seemed to read my mind.
“Kalona’s trying to get to you ’cause you’re the one who had the strength to pull everyone together to banish him from Tulsa,” Heath said.
“And Aphrodite’s vision shows that you’re the only one who has the strength to defeat him permanently,” Damien said.
“Part of you was made to cause his destruction,” Shaunee said.
“And that same part of you was made to love him,” Erin said.
“You have to remember that, Zo,” Heath said.
“I think you need to talk to Aphrodite,” Damien said. “I’m going to wake her up, and get Darius, too. We’re going to talk this out. You need to describe exactly what Kalona showed you in that vision.”
I nodded, but I knew I couldn’t do what they wanted me to do. I couldn’t talk to Aphrodite and Darius. Not when I felt so raw.
“Okay, but I need a minute.” I wiped my face with my sleeve. Jack, who’d been watching everything with big, worried eyes, opened his man purse and handed me a little travel Kleenex package. “Thank you,” I sniffled.
“Just keep it. You’ll probably cry more later,” he said, patting my shoulder.
“Why don’t you guys go on up to Aphrodite’s suite? I’ll get myself together and be up there in a little while.”
“Don’t take long, okay?” Damien said.
I nodded and my friends walked slowly away. I looked at Heath. “I gotta be alone.”
“Yeah, I figured, but I wanted to tell you something.” He took me by both of my shoulders and made me meet his gaze. “You have to fight this thing you feel for Kalona, and I’m not saying that because I’m jealous or whatever. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I’m not gonna leave you. I’m not gonna turn away from you, no matter what you say or do, but Kalona isn’t like Stevie Rae or Stark. He’s immortal. He’s from another whole kind of world, and Zo, I get ‘I want to rule this world’ vibes from him. You’re the only one who can stop him, so he has to have you on his side. He gets into your dreams. He gets into your mind, and there’s part of him that’s even connected to your soul. I understand that because I’m connected to your soul, too.”
Being alone with Heath was actually calming me down. He was so familiar. He was my human rock—always there—always standing up for what was really best for me.
“I’m sorry I called you jealous and possessive.” I sniffled and blew my nose.
He grinned. “I am, kinda. But I always know what me and you have is special.” He jerked his chin in the direction Stark had gone. “Your Warrior boyfriend doesn’t have my confidence.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t have as much Zoey experience as you do.”
His grin widened. “No one does, babe!”
I sighed and stepped into his arms, hugging him hard. “You’re like home to me, Heath.”
“That’s what I’ll always be, Zo.” He pulled back and kissed me softly. “Okay, I’m gonna let you be alone ’cause you still got some snot and tears going on. And while you clean up, how about I track down Stark, tell him that he’s a jealous dork, maybe even punch him.”
“Punch him?”
Heath shrugged. “A good punch makes guys feel better.”
“Uh, not if they’re receiving instead of giving,” I said.
“Fine. Then I’ll go find someone else for him to punch.” He waggled his brows at me. “’Cause you obviously don’t want my pretty face messed up.”
“If you find him, would you bring him to Aphrodite’s room?”
“That’s what I planned on,” he said. Then he ruffled my hair. “I love ya, Zo.”
“I love you, too, but I really hate it when you mess up my hair,” I said.
He grinned over his shoulder at me, winked, and then went after Stark.
I was actually feeling a little better. I sat on the bench, blew my nose again, wiped my eyes, and stared off into the distance. Then I realized what I was staring at and where I was sitting.
It was the bench from one of my first Kalona dreams. It was built up on a mound so that from there I could look over the top of the huge wall that circled the island and see, off in the distance, the illuminated St. Mark’s Square looking like a magical wonderland in the wintry night. At my back was San Clemente Palace, all lit up and glistening. Around the palace to my right was the ancient cathedral turned High Council Chamber. All this beauty—all this power and majesty around me and I’d been too self-absorbed to see any of it.
Maybe I’d become too self-absorbed to see Kalona, either.
I knew what Aphrodite would say. She’d say I was making the bad vision come true. Maybe she was right.
I lifted my head and stared up at the night sky, trying to see though the layers of clouds and concealment to the moon. And then I prayed.
“Nyx, I need you. I think I’m lost. Please help me. Please show me something that will make things clearer to me. I don’t want to mess up… again…”