Honey, I dont think hes been sleeping, Damien said sadly.
I shouldnt have bothered him about borrowing a sword, but I wanted to use a real example to create origami from and not just a picture.
I dont think you were bothering Dragon. Anastasias death is something hes going to have to work through. Im sorry to say it, but theres nothing we can or cant do to change that. And anyway, you had an excellent idea. Your origami is looking very realistic.
Jack wriggled with pleasure. Oooh! Do you really think so?
Damien put his arm around him and held him close. Absolutely. Youre a gifted decorator, Jack.
Jack snuggled into him. Thank you. Youre the best boyfriend ever.
Damien laughed. Thats not hard to be with you. Hey, do you need some help with folding the swords?
It was Jacks turn to laugh. No. Youre not even good at present wrapping, so Im guessing origami is not one of your many talents. But I could use your help with something else. Jack shot Duchess a pointed look, then leaned closer to Damien and whispered into his ear. You could take Duch for a walk. She wont leave me alone and she keeps messing up my paper.
Okay, no problem. I was going to go for a jog. You know what they say: a chubby gay is not a happy gay. Duch can take some laps with me. Shell be too exhausted to obsess over you.
Its so cute that you jog.
You dont say that when Im hot and sweaty afterward, Damien said as he stood up and fished Duchesss leash from the winter-browned grass.
Hey, sometimes I like you hot and sweaty, Jack said, smiling up at him.
Then maybe I wont take a shower afterward, Damien said.
Maybe thats a really good idea, Jack said.
Or maybe you should take the shower with me.
Jacks grin widened. Now thats more than maybe a really good idea.
Tart, Damien said, bending to kiss Jack deeply.
Linguist, Jack said before kissing him back.
Duchess wriggled her way between them, huffing and wagging and licking both of them.
Oh, pretty girl! We love you, too! Jack said, kissing Duchess on her soft muzzle.
Come on, lets go get some exercise so we stay properly svelte and attractive for Jack, Damien said, pulling on the big dogs leash. She followed him, but with obvious hesitance.
Its okay. Hell bring you back soon, Jack said.
Yep, well see Jack soon, Duch.
Hey, Jack called after the two of them. I love you two!
Damien turned, picked up Duchesss paw, waved it at Jack, and yelled, We love you, too! Then they jogged away, Duchess barking excitedly as Damien pretended to chase her.
Jack watched them go. Theyre the best, ever, he said softly.
The sword hed just put the final fold on was the last of the five hed made. One for each of the elements, Jack told himself. Ill hang these five and let them be the testers.
As he cut the fishing line and threaded it through the last of the five, Jacks eyes kept going upward, seeking the right spots from which to hang the decorations. But he didnt need to look long. The tree seemed to be showing him where he needed to go. The thick trunk had been split almost in two, causing the sides of the massive old oak to tilt so that the thick branches leaned precariously close to the ground. Where before Kalona had escaped from the earth, the lowest branches couldnt have been reached with a twenty-foot ladder, now his eight-foot ladder gave Jack more than enough height.
Up there. Right up there is where the first one should go. Jack gazed straight up from where hed been sitting beside the little table at one of the major limbs of the tree that hung directly above him like a sheltering arm. Its perfect because itll hang over where I made all of the swords. Jack dragged the ladder closer to the table and held the first of the five paper swords by the long length of fishing line hed tied to its hilt. Oh, oopsie. Almost forgot. Gotta practice, he said to himself, pausing to punch the controls on the portable iPhone dock hed carried out there with the table.
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
Im through with playing by the rules
Of someone elses game
Rachels voice began the song, strong and clear. Jack paused with one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, and when Kurt took over the lyrics he sang with him, matching his sweet tenor, note for note.
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
Jack moved up the ladder as he and Kurt sang, pretending he was climbing the steps of the Radio City Music Hall where the Glee cast had performed on tour last spring.
Its time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!
He reached the top rung of the ladder, paused, and began the first chorus with Kurt and Rachel while he reached up and threaded the fishing lure through the bare winter branches.
He was humming along with Rachels next lines, waiting for Kurts part again, when movement at the split base of the tree caught his attention and his gaze shifted to the damaged trunk. Jack gasped. He was sure he saw, right there, an image of a beautiful woman. The image was dark and indistinct, but as Kurt sang about losing love hed guessed hed lost, the woman became clearer, larger, more distinct.
Nyx? Jack whispered, awestruck.
Like a veil lifting, the woman was suddenly fully visible. She raised her head and smiled up at Jack, as exquisitely lovely as she was evil.
Yes, little Jack. You may call me Nyx.
Neferet! What are you doing here? The question burst from him before he could think.
Actually, at this moment, Im here because of you.
M-me?
Yes, you see, I need your help. I know how much you like to help others. Thats why Ive come for you, Jack. Wouldnt you like to do something for me? I can promise you that Ill make it worth your while.
Worth my while? What do you mean? Jack hated that his voice sounded squeaky.
I mean if you do a little thing for me, then Ill do a little thing for you, too. Ive been away from the House of Night fledglings far too long. Perhaps Ive lost touch with what makes their hearts beat. You could help meguide meshow me. In return I would reward you. Think about your dreams, what it is you would want to do with your long life after you Change. I could make your dreams come true.
Jack smiled and threw his arms out wide. But Im already living my dream. Im here, in this beautiful place, with friends who have become my family. What more could anyone want?
Neferets expression hardened. Her voice was stone. What more could you want? How about dominion over this beautiful place? Beauty doesnt last. Friends and family decay. Power is the only thing that goes on forever.
Jack answered with his gut. No, love goes on forever.
Neferets laughter was mocking. Dont be such a child. Im offering you much more than love.
Jack looked at Neferetreally looked at her. Shed changed, and in his heart he knew why. Shed accepted evil. Utterly, completely, totally. Hed understood it before without really knowing it. There is nothing of Light or me left within her. The voice in his mind was gentle and loving, and it gave him the courage to clear the dryness from his throat and look Neferet squarely in her cold, emerald eyes. Not to be mean or anything, Neferet, but I dont want what youre offering. I cant help you. You and I, well, were not on the same side. He started to climb down the ladder.
Stay where you are!
He didnt know how, but Neferets words commanded his body. It felt like he was suddenly wrapped tightly, frozen in place by an invisible cage of ice.
You impudent boy! You actually think you can defy me?
Kiss me goodbye
Im defying gravity
Yes, he said as Kurts voice rang around him. Because Im on Nyxs side, not yours. So just let me go, Neferet. I really wont help you.
That is where youre wrong, you incorruptible innocent. Youve just proven that youre going to help me very, very much. Neferet lifted her hands, making a sifting movement in the air around her. As I promised, here he is.
Jack had no idea who Neferet was talking to, but her words made his skin crawl. Helplessly, he watched her leave the shadows of the tree. She appeared to glide away from him and toward the sidewalk that would take her to the main House of Night building. With an oddly detached observation he realized her movements were more reptile than human.
For an instant he thought she really was leavingthought he was safe. But when she reached the sidewalk she looked back at him, and she shook her head, laughing softly. Youve made this almost too easy for me, boy, with your honorable refusal of my offer. She made a throwing motion at the sword. Wide-eyed, Jack was sure he saw something black wrap around the hilt. The sword turned, turned, turned, until the upraised point was aimed directly at him.
There is your sacrifice. He is one I have been unable to taint. Take him, and my debt to your Master has been fulfilled, but wait until the clock chimes twelve. Hold him until then. Without another look at Jack, Neferet slithered out of his sight and into the building.
It seemed a long time before midnight came, before the school clock began chiming, even though Jack closed his mind to the cold, invisible chains that bound him. He was glad hed put Defying Gravity on a loop. It comforted him to hear Kurt and Rachel singing about overcoming fear.
When the clock began chiming, Jack knew what was going to happen. He knew he couldnt stop itknew his fate couldnt be changed. Instead of pointless struggle, last-minute regrets, useless tears, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thenjoyouslyjoined Rachel and Kurt in the chorus:
Id sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
Im defying gravity
I think Ill try
Defying gravity
And you wont bring me down!
Jacks sweet tenor was ringing through the branches of the shattered oak when Neferets lingering, waiting magic hurled him off the top of the ladder. He fell gruesomely, horribly, onto the waiting claymore, but as the blade pierced his neck, before pain and death and Darkness could touch him, his spirit exploded from his body.
He opened his eyes to find himself standing in an amazing meadow at the base of a tree that looked exactly like the one Kalona had shattered, only this tree was whole and green, and beside it was a woman dressed in glowing silver robes. She was so lovely Jack thought he could stare at her forever.
He knew her instantly. Hed always known her.
Hello, Nyx, he said softly.
The Goddess smiled. Hello, Jack.
Im dead, arent I?
Nyxs smile didnt waver. You are, my wonderful, loving, untaintable child.
Jack hesitated, then said, It doesnt seem so bad, this being dead thing.
Youll find it isnt.
Ill miss Damien.
Youll be with him again. Some souls find each other again and again. Yours will; you have my oath on it.
Did I do okay back there?
You were perfect, my son. Then Nyx, the Goddess of Night, opened her arms and enfolded Jack, and with her touch the last remnants of mortal pain and sadness and loss dissolved from his spirit, leaving loveonly and always, love. And Jack knew perfect happiness.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Rephaim
The moment before his father appeared the consistency of the air changed.
Hed known Father had returned from the Otherworld the instant it had happened. How could he not have known it? Hed been with Stevie Rae. Shed felt Zoey become whole again just as the knowledge of his father had come to him.
Stevie Rae It had been less than a fortnight since hed been in her presence, spoken with her, touched her, but it seemed that their time together had been an eternity ago.
If Rephaim lived for another century he would not forget what had happened between them just before Father had returned to this realm. The human boy in the fountain had been him. It hadnt made rational sense, but that didnt make it any less true. Hed touched Stevie Rae and imagined, for just a heartbeat in time, what could have been.
He could have loved her.
He could have protected her.
He could have chosen Light over Darkness.
But what could have been was not realitywas not to be.
Hed been born of hate and lust, pain and Darkness. He was a monster. Not human. Not immortal. Not beast.
Monster.
Monsters didnt dream. Monsters didnt desire anything except blood and destruction. Monsters didntcouldntknow love or happiness: they werent created with that ability.
How then was it possible that he missed her?
Why this terrible hollowness in his soul since Stevie Rae had been gone? Why did he feel only partially alive without her?
And why did he long to be better, stronger, wiser, and good, truly good for her?
Could he be going mad?
Rephaim paced back and forth across the rooftop balcony of the deserted Gilcrease mansion. It was past midnight and the museum grounds were quiet, but since the cleanup after the ice storm had begun in earnest, the place was becoming busier and busier during daylight hours.
Im going to have to leave and find another place. A safer place. I should leave Tulsa and make a stronghold in the wilderness of this enormous country. He knew that was the wise thing to do, the rational thing to do, but something compelled him to stay.
Rephaim told himself it was simply that he hoped now that his father had returned to this realm, he would also return to Tulsa, and he was waiting here for him to come backto give him a purpose and a direction. But in the deepest recesses of his heart he knew the truth. He didnt want to leave this place because Stevie Rae was here, and even though he couldnt allow himself to contact her, she was still near, reachable, if only he dared.
Then, in the middle of his pacing and his self-recriminations, the air around him became heavy, thick with an immortal power that Rephaim knew as well as his own name. Something tugged within him, as if the power that floated in the night had attached itself to him and was using him as an anchor to pull itself ever nearer.
Rephaim braced himself, physically and mentally, concentrated on the illusive immortal magick, and willingly accepted the connection, not minding that it was painful and draining and filled him with a suffocating wave of claustrophobia.
The night sky above him darkened. The wind increased, battering Rephaim.
The Raven Mocker stood his ground.
When the magnificent winged immortal, his father, Kalona, deposed Warrior of Nyx, swooped down from the heavens and landed before him, Rephaim automatically dropped to his knees, bowing in allegiance.
I was surprised to feel that you remained here, Kalona said without giving his son permission to rise. Why did you not follow me to Italy?
Head still bowed, Rephaim answered. I was mortally wounded. I have only just recovered. I thought it wise to await you here.
Wounded? Yes, I recall. A gunshot and a fall from the sky. You may rise, Rephaim.
Thank you, Father. Rephaim stood and faced his father, and then was glad his face didnt betray emotions easily. Kalona looked as if he had been ill! His bronze skin had a sallow tint to it. His unusual amber eyes were shadowed by dark circles. He even looked thin. Are you well, Father?
Of course I am well; I am an immortal! the winged being snapped. Then he sighed and brushed a hand wearily across his face. She held me within the earth. I was already wounded, and being trapped by that element made my recovery before my release impossibleand since then it has been slow.
So Neferet did entrap you. Carefully, Rephaim kept his tone neutral.
She did, but I could not have been so easily imprisoned had Zoey Redbird not attacked my spirit, he said bitterly.
Yet the fledgling lives, Rephaim said.
She does! Kalona roared, towering over his son and causing the Raven Mocker to stumble backward. But just as quickly as his rage exploded, it fizzled, leaving the immortal looking tired again. He blew out a long breath, and in a more reasonable voice repeated, Yes, Zoey does live, though I believe she will be forever changed by her Otherworld experience. Kalona stared off into the night. Everyone who spends time in Nyxs realm is altered by it.
So Nyx did allow you to enter the Otherworld? Rephaim couldnt stop from asking. He steeled himself for his fathers reprimand, but when Kalona spoke, his voice was surprisingly introspective, almost gentle.
She did. And I saw her. Once. Briefly. It was because of the Goddesss intervention that that gods-be-damned Stark is still breathing and walking the earth.
Stark followed Zoey to the Otherworld, and he lives?
He lives, although he shouldnt. As Kalona spoke he absently rubbed a spot on his chest, over his heart. I suspect those meddling bulls have something to do with his survival.
The black and white bulls? Darkness and Light? Rephaim tasted the bile of fear at the back of his throat as he remembered the slick, eerie coat of the white bull, the unending evil in his eyes, and the white-hot pain the creature had caused him.
What is it? Kalonas perceptive gaze skewered his son. Why do you look thus?
They manifested here, in Tulsa, just over a week ago.
What brought them here?
Rephaim hesitated, his heart beating painfully in his chest. What could he admit? What could he say?
Rephaim, speak!
It was the Red Onethe young High Priestess. She invoked the presence of the bulls. It was the white bull who gave her the knowledge that helped Stark find the way to the Otherworld.
How do you know this? Kalonas voice was like death.
I witnessed part of the invocation. I was wounded so badly that I did not believe I would recover, that I would ever fly again. When the white bull manifested, it strengthened me and drew me to its circle. That was where I observed the Red One getting her information from it.
You were healed, but you didnt capture the Red One? Didnt stop her before she could return to the House of Night and aid Stark?
I could not stop her. The black bull manifested and Light banished Darkness, protecting the Red One, he said honestly. I have been here since, regaining my strength and, when I felt that you had returned to this realm, I have been awaiting you.
Kalona stared at his son. Rephaim met his gaze steadily.
Kalona nodded slowly. It is good that you awaited me here. There is much that is left undone in Tulsa. This House of Night will soon belong to the Tsi Sgili.
Neferet has returned, too? Is the High Council not holding her?
Kalona laughed. The High Council is made up of naïve fools. The Tsi Sgili blamed me for recent events, and has punished me by publically lashing me and then banishing me from her side. The Council has been pacified.
Shocked, Rephaim shook his head. His fathers tone was light, almost humorous, but his look was blackhis body weakened and wounded. Father, I do not understand. Lashed? You allowed Neferet to
With immortal speed, Kalonas hand was suddenly around his sons throat. The huge Raven Mocker was lifted off the ground as if he weighed no more than one of his slim, black feathers.
Do not make the mistake of believing that because I have been wounded I have also become weak.
I would not do that. Rephaims voice was little more than a choked hiss.
Their faces were close together. Kalonas amber eyes blazed with angry heat.
Father, Rephaim gasped. I meant you no disrespect.
Kalona dropped him, and his son crumpled at his feet. The immortal lifted his head and threw his arms wide as if he would take on the heavens. She still imprisons me! he shouted.
Rephaim drew in air and rubbed his throat, then his fathers words penetrated the confusion in his mind and he looked up at him. The immortals face was twisted as if in agonyhis eyes were haunted. Rephaim slowly got to his feet, and approached him carefully. What has she done?
Kalonas arms fell to his sides, but his face remained open to the sky. I pledged to her my oath that I would destroy Zoey Redbird. The fledgling lives. I broke my oath.
Rephaims blood felt cold. The oathbreaking held a penalty.
He didnt phrase it as a question, but Kalona nodded. It did.
What is it you owe Neferet?
She holds dominion over my spirit for as long as I am immortal.
By all the gods and goddesses, we are both lost then! Rephaim couldnt stop the escaping words.
Kalona turned to him and his son saw that a sly glint had replaced the rage in his eyes. Neferet has been immortal for less than a breath of this worlds time. I have been so for uncountable eons. If there is one lesson I have learned over several lifetimes, it is that there is nothing that is unbreakable. Nothing. Not the strongest heart, not the purest soulnot even the most binding of oaths.
You know how to break her dominion over you?
No, but I do know that if I give her what she most desires, she will be distracted while I discover how to break the oath I made her.
Father, Rephaim said hesitantly, there are always consequences for an oathbreaking. Will you not simply incur another if you break this second oath?
I cannot think of a consequence I would not gladly pay to rid myself of Neferets domination.
The cold, deadly anger in Kalonas voice caused Rephaims throat to go dry. He knew when his father got like this, the only thing he could do was to agree with him, to aid him in whatever he sought, to ride the storm silently, mindlessly, at Kalonas side. He was used to Kalonas volatile emotions.
What Rephaim was not used to was feeling resentful of them.
Rephaim could sense the immortals gaze studying him. The Raven Mocker cleared his throat and said what he knew his father expected to hear. What is it that Neferet most desires and how do we give it to her?
Kalonas expression relaxed a little. The Tsi Sgili most desires lording power over humans. We give it to her by helping her begin a war between vampyres and humans. She means to use the war as an excuse for the destruction of the High Council. With them gone, vampyre society will be in disarray and Neferet, using the title of Nyx Incarnate, will rule.
But vampyres have become too rational, too civilized, to war with humans. I think they would withdraw from society before they would fight.
True enough for most vampyres, but youre forgetting the new breed of bloodsucker the Tsi Sgili created. They do not seem to have the same scruples.
The red fledglings, Rephaim said.
Ah, but they arent all fledglings, are they? I hear another of the boys has Changed. And then there is the new High Priestess, the Red One. I am not so sure she is as dedicated to Light as is her friend Zoey.
Rephaim felt like a giant fist was closing around his heart. The Red One evoked the black bullthe manifestation of Light. I do not think she can be swayed from the Goddesss path.
You said she also conjured the bull of Darkness, did you not?
I did, but from what I observed she did not call upon Darkness intentionally.
Kalona laughed. Neferet has told me that Stevie Rae was quite different when she first was resurrected. The Red One reveled in Darkness!
And then she Changed, like Stark. Theyre both committed to Nyx now.
No, what Stark is committed to is Zoey Redbird. I do not believe the Red One has formed any such attachment.
Carefully, Rephaim remained silent.
The more I think on it, the more I like the idea. Neferet gains power if we use the Red One, and Zoey loses someone close to her. Yes, that pleases me. Very much.
Rephaim was trying to sift through the mixture of panic and fear and chaos in his mind and conjure a response that might distract Kalona from his pursuit of Stevie Rae when the air around them rippled and changed. Shadows within shadows appeared to quiver briefly but ecstatically. His questioning eyes went from the Darkness lurking in the corners of the rooftop, to his father.
Kalona nodded and smiled grimly. The Tsi Sgili has paid her debt to Darkness; she has sacrificed the life of an innocent who could not be tainted.
Rephaims blood pounded in his ears, and for an instant he was savagely, incredibly afraid for Stevie Rae. And then he realized No, it could not be Stevie Rae Neferet has sacrificed. Stevie Rae has been tainted by Darkness. For now, from this one threat, she is safe.
Who is it Neferet has killed? Rephaim was so distracted by relief, he spoke the words without thinking.
What possible difference could it make to you who the Tsi Sgili sacrificed?
Rephaims mind refocused on the here and now swiftly. I am simply curious.
I feel a change in you, my son.
Rephaim met his fathers gaze steadily. I came close to death, Father. It was a sobering experience. You must remember that I only share a measure of your immortality. The rest of me is human and, therefore, mortal.
Kalona nodded briefly in acknowledgment. I do forget that you are weakened by the humanity within you.
Mortality, not humanity. I am not humane, he said bitterly.
Kalona studied him. How did you manage to survive your wounds?
Rephaim looked away from his father and answered as truthfully as possible. I am not entirely sure how or even why I survived. I will never understand why Stevie Rae saved me, his mind added silently. Much of that time remains a blur for me.
The how is not important. The why is obviousyou survived to serve me, as you have done your entire life.
Yes, Father, he said automatically. Then, to cover the hopelessness even he could hear in his voice, he added, And in serving you I must tell you that you and I cannot remain here.
Kalona raised his brow questioningly. What is it you are saying?
This place, his arm swept around them to take in Gilcrease grounds. There are too many humans present since the ice has gone. We cannot stay here. Rephaim drew a deep breath and continued. Perhaps it would be wisest for you and me to leave Tulsa for a time.
Of course we cannot leave Tulsa. I have already explained to you that I must distract the Tsi Sgili so that I can free myself from her bondage. That is best done here, using the Red One and her fledglings. But you are correct to note that this place is not adequate for us.
Then would it not behoove us to leave the city until we can discover a better location?
Why do you continue this insistence that we depart here when I have made it clear to you that we must remain?
Rephaim drew a deep breath and said only, I grow weary of the city.
Then draw on the reserves of strength you have within you as legacy from my blood! Kalona commanded, clearly annoyed. We remain in Tulsa for as long as it takes to achieve my objective. Neferet has already considered where I should stay. She demands that I am close, but she knows I must not be seen, at least not right away. Kalona paused, grimacing in obvious anger at being so thoroughly controlled by the Tsi Sgili. We will move, tonight, to the building Neferet has acquired. Soon we will begin hunting the red fledglings, and their High Priestess. Kalonas gaze shifted to his sons wings. You are able to fly again, are you not?
I am, Father.
Then, enough of this useless talk. Let us take to the sky and begin climbing toward our future, and our freedom.
The immortal spread his massive wings and leaped from the roof of the deserted Gilcrease Manor. Rephaim hesitated, trying to thinkto breatheto understand what he was going to do. From the corner of the rooftop an image flickered and the little blond spirit that had been haunting him since hed arrived, broken and bleeding, manifested.
You cant let your father hurt her. You know that, right?
For the last time, begone, apparition, Rephaim said as he unfurled his wings and prepared to follow his father.
You have to help Stevie Rae.
Rephaim rounded on her. Why do I have to? Im a monstershe can be nothing to me.
The child smiled. Too late, she already means something to you. Plus theres another reason you have to help her.
Why? Rephaim asked wearily.
Because youre not all monster. Youre part boy and that means someday youll die. When you die, theres only one thing you take with you into forever.