The excellent wine turned to vinegar in her mouth and the scrumptious food to chalk. A terrible premonition seized Lynette. Her intuition—which had led her from the miserable trailer park life her mother had settled for to a life of opulence and importance—screamed, This is a bad idea!
“What is it, my dear? You look like you might be ill.”
“My lady, I’m terrified. I’m not a magickal being like you. Just thinking about moving from this world to another makes me feel sick. Can’t I stay at Balmacara Mains and be sure things are perfect for your return?”
Neferet stared at her without speaking for so long that Lynette’s fear, which started as a reaction to a possible future event, shifted to a fear of the present. Had she just pushed the vampyre too far? Did Neferet believe she was being disloyal?
Finally, Neferet reached across and covered one of Lynette’s hands with hers. “I understand your fear. Truly, I do. But I need you. You must come with me on this journey to my immortality to remind me.”
“Of what, my lady?”
“Of the importance of our humanity.”
Lynette stared down at their joined hands. Hers was so much more elegant than Lynette’s, who at forty-five was already showing age spots and more wrinkles than she would’ve thought possible just a few years before. She looked up and met Neferet’s gaze and saw only concern there. Is this my destiny? To help a goddess remember her humanity?
“Humanity is something that’s very important for a goddess to remember,” Lynette said slowly.
“There! You do understand! You must accompany me. I feel sure of it. And I shall keep you safe, dear Lynette. Trust me.”
“I’ve put all of my trust in you, my lady, my goddess.”
“Excellent! Excellent! Now, let us feast and discuss the future!”
Though it was decided that she would join Neferet in the Other World, Lynette felt rather numb, but she nodded and agreed with the vampyre—and that was what she continued to do throughout their leisurely dinner. Neferet chattered about immortality and how much she was looking forward to freeing another version of herself in the mirror-world’s Tulsa. She even spoke about the fun she might have aiding that Neferet in taking vengeance on Zoey Redbird.
Lynette said little—though Neferet was too filled with excitement to notice. It took everything in her not to excuse herself to use the ladies’ room. Her fear was still shrieking at her to go! Sneak out the back! Disappear into London! Neferet wouldn’t have time to look for her now, and if Lynette was smart, reinvented herself, kept a low profile and drew no attention, it was possible Neferet would never find her—even if she managed to gain immortality and return to this world.
But Lynette didn’t want a low-profile life. She’d had a taste of magick and of the wealth and power it brought, and she wanted it—wanted it badly. Badly enough that by the time Neferet asked for the bill and had her call their car, Lynette had decided that she was going to ignore the fear that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach. It is my destiny to aid this vampyre in becoming a goddess. I will remain by her side and keep reminding her that humanity—and humans in particular—are important.
Neferet was leaving a wad of cash with their bill when the vampyre suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I have been foolish!”
Lynette shook herself from the introspection that had silenced her for most of their dinner. “Surely not, my lady. You have an excellent plan.”
“It’s not that. I just realized that I do not believe I put the do not disturb sign on the door of the suite.”
“Well, that’s not a big problem. I have the room key in my purse. You go ahead and get in the car. I’ll slip into the hotel and be sure the sign is on the door.” Lynette swallowed past the dryness in her throat that was more excitement at the possibility of seeing Loren’s dead body than fear, and whispered, “I’ll even make a quick call to the front desk and tell them that I’m sleeping late to get over jet lag, so they should hold all calls and all service until I remove the do not disturb.”
“That is very wise of you! We will not be here to be harassed about Loren’s death, but if we know that we have at least a full day more or so before anyone will discover him we can take our time—perhaps even visit Inverness for another lovely meal and some shopping before we travel to free my other self.” Neferet sighed. “I wonder if money is interchangeable between worlds. Poverty is such an inconvenience, though I am quite certain the other version of me will be wealthy.”
“Money makes everything easier,” agreed Lynette. Her phone bleeped with a text message. “The driver is just outside.”
They exited the restaurant and headed for the black limo parked at the curb, waiting for them. Lynette turned to the right to walk the half a block back to the hotel—and she froze.
Police cars filled the street in front of the Covent Garden Hotel.
“In the car. Now!” Neferet commanded.
Lynette’s legs unfroze, and she joined Neferet in the back seat.
“Driver, avoid that mess in front of the hotel.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, and before you put the privacy window up, which I want you to do immediately, do you know the cause of all the excitement over there?” Neferet fluttered her fingers nonchalantly at the police presence.
The skinny driver, whose teeth were very bad, caught Neferet’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Me bloke’s been textin’. He says there’s been a murder at the hotel.”
“A murder! How dreadful. Who died?”
“They haven’t released a name yet, ma’am. Would ya like me to let you know if they do?”
“Oh, don’t trouble yourself. I was just curious. We shall be sleeping most of the way back.”
“Very good, ma’am. Anythin’ else?”
“No. We’ll let you know when we need to stop, but we are in a hurry, so let us make this return trip as swift as possible.
The driver touched the brim of his black hat, nodding respectfully to her. “Yes, ma’am.” He flipped a switch that raised the privacy partition and then backed down the narrow street until he could turn around and head away from the hotel.
“Well, my dear, it appears we will not be having another leisurely dinner before we leave, nor will we be shopping in Inverness.” Neferet sighed with annoyance.
Lynette couldn’t speak. All she could think of was her credit card—the one that had reserved the suite in which a dead man had just been found.
“Lynette, my dear, we need clothes to travel in.”
Neferet was speaking, and Lynette heard her words, but she couldn’t make her mind hold their meaning. There are traffic cameras all over this city—and on the highways taking us north. Neferet walked out of that hotel with her hair and face uncovered. She is too beautiful to be forgettable—and she met me just down the street. They’re going to find me. They’re going to lock me up!
“Contact Mrs. Muir.” Neferet continued to drone on and on as Lynette tried not to hyperventilate. “Have her send wee Denise to Inverness. I’ll need black slacks and a dark—but tasteful—cashmere sweater. I shall also need some lovely black leather boots. Something flat, though. I have no idea how much walking we will have to do, but I would be prepared. You should have her get travel wear for you too. You definitely cannot go in one of your stylish suits. Those heals you wear are quite attractive but are not good for the out-of-doors.”
“I’m sorry, my lady. What did you say?”
“Lynette, I gave you explicit instructions to pass along to Mrs. Muir. Whatever is wrong with you?”
“My lady,” she turned to face Neferet, “I’m worried. It’s my room they found Loren’s body in. They’ll be looking for me.” Lynette thought she might be sick all over the limo.
Neferet’s smile was a cat licking cream. “Then it is a very good thing that you won’t be in this world to find. Now, lis
ten carefully this time. This is what we shall need for our lovely trip …”
20
Other Kevin
“Kev! Wake up! Kev!”
Kevin shot up and stumbled to the door. He’d fallen asleep on the couch in Aphrodite’s room, which was now his room, thanks to the generosity of Anastasia. But Kevin still hadn’t been able to make himself sleep in the bed—her bed.
The truth was he rarely slept at all these days.
“Yeah, I’m coming!” He pulled on a sweatshirt and sweatpants before opening the door.
“Blake is dead,” Stark said with no preamble as he tucked his laptop under his arm and brushed past Kevin into the opulent room. “I know it’s not sunset yet, and it’s tough for you to be really awake until then. But this is important.”
“Dead? Seriously?” Kevin yawned, rubbed his eyes, and headed to the minikitchen for some coffee. “Don’t worry about waking me up. I don’t sleep much anymore.”
Stark glanced around with open curiosity. “Damn. This is nice.” He plopped onto the couch and immediately opened his laptop and started typing.
“So, what happened to Blake?” Kevin returned with two mugs of black coffee.
“Anastasia got an emergency call from the London House of Night.” Stark took a drink before setting the mug on the coffee table. “Seems our Poet Laureate was discovered at the Covent Garden Hotel with a gash in his neck and a dagger between his ribs.”
Kevin stopped midsip and set his mug on the arm of the couch. “What the hell?”
Stark passed him the computer. “They sent crime-scene photos.”
“Damn, that’s a lot of blood.” Kevin grimaced as he scrolled through the photos.
“Keep going until you get to the close-up.”
Kevin scrolled until he saw it. Blood filled the frame; its bizarre pattern blazed scarlet against the brilliant ivory carpet. “What is that?”
“Flip it horizontally.”
With a few clicks, the image turned right side up. Shocked, Kevin sucked in a breath. “Does that say ‘Skye’?”
“We think Blake wrote the word in his own blood before he died. Pretty impressive, actually, for as big a douchebag as he was. I’m surprised he thought to leave us any kind of clue.”
Kevin looked up from the picture. “It was Neferet.”
Stark nodded. “Scotland Yard gave the London House of Night all the video surveillance and info from the hotel. The suite was booked by Lynette Witherspoon, and the video clearly shows that she’s the same person who used to be our flight concierge.”
“She’s with Neferet?”
“Definitely. Going into the suite we just get a brief glimpse of a tall woman coming up through the stairwell and entering the room. The woman keeps her face averted from the cameras and has dark glasses and a hat on, but it definitely looks like Neferet. Lynette joins her. Champagne is delivered. Lynette even brings more up.”
“So, she’s not Neferet’s prisoner.”
“It sure doesn’t look like it. She comes and goes freely. The video shows Lynette leaving the room and the hotel just a few minutes before Blake gets there.”
“Neferet is still in the room?”
“Yeah. But she’s only in there for a little while with Blake—twenty-two minutes exactly. And when she comes out of the room, she takes the elevator and definitely isn’t hiding anymore.” Stark scrolled down until he got to the still shots from the video.
“Holy crap. That is her. She’s hiding her Mark.”
“Yeah, but that’s the only thing she’s hiding after she kills him.”
“Do you think he told her about the Other World before she killed him?” Kevin’s gut roiled.
“Oh, definitely. There’s audio from the elevator. Check it out.” Stark tapped the link and Neferet’s distinctive voice lifted to them.
“Do your best, simpletons. I will not be in this world to find.”
“Fuck!” said Kevin.
“Yeah, but on the positive side, Blake didn’t make enough of the Council meetings to know hardly anything about Zoey’s world, or about how you got to and from it. Well, except that Old Magick was involved,” Stark said.
“Yeah, Neferet’s gotta be scrambling to put two and two together with what little information Blake had.”
“It’s good for us that he wasn’t the brightest Crayola in the pack,” Stark said.
“True, but Neferet’s smart as hell. She’d have asked the right questions, so he had to have told her that Old Magick was responsible. That’s gotta be why she’s heading to the Isle of Skye. All vampyres know the biggest concentration of Old Magick in this world is on Skye.” Kevin stood. “So, what are we waiting for? Shouldn’t we be heading there?”
“Yep we should, and I’m just waiting for you to pack. Anastasia gave us permission to go to the Isle of Skye. Today. The jet is already on its way here to get us.”
Kevin hurried to Aphrodite’s bedroom where he quickly changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. As he threw clothes into one of Aphrodite’s giant leather bags, he called out to Stark, “Hey, you know, I could conjure Oak and ask her what she knows about our Neferet—if she’s seen her or whatever.”
“Anastasia thought of that and rejected the idea. She said we need to remember that Old Magick is dangerous—the more you use it the more it infects you.”
“Yeah, but this really is an emergency,” Kevin said, grabbing his shaving kit and tossing it into the bag.
“That’s true, which is what I pointed out, but she also said that it’s not wise to let the sprites know we’re on to Neferet. They don’t take sides, and if Neferet asks them the right questions and gives them the right payment—”
“Crap! I didn’t think of that. She’s right,” Kevin interrupted. “Oak would tell her anything for the right payment.”
“Literally. Every damn thing. And we know that Neferet would make whatever sacrifice the sprites require—no matter who or what it is.”
“We need to grab Neferet before she figures out the right questions to ask,” said Kevin, emerging from the bedroom, bag in hand. “Hey, you understand we’ll either be coming right back here with Neferet, or heading to the Other World after her,” said Kevin.
“Yep,” said Stark. “And if you go—I go with you.”
Kevin shrugged. “Whatever. It’s your funeral.”
“I hope you didn’t mean that literally,” Stark said.
“Me too, dude. Me too.”
Zoey
I decided that the Gathering Place was the coolest thing to happen to T-Town since The Outsiders was filmed here—and that was about a zillion years ago. The place stretched for miles and miles along the Arkansas River, and was filled with parks and nature trails, awesome stuff for little kids to play on—like a literal castle—and restaurants and such for those of us not so little anymore. It even had a lake in the center of it (which was currently where Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, and I were). The whole place was still so new that it smelled like cedar mulch and possibilities.
Stevie Rae spread out her arms and twirled around on the dock. “I love these kind of days. You know, when it’s the middle of the winter, but it feels like spring. And this place is awesomesauce!”
Aphrodite grabbed Stevie Rae’s arm, stopping her twirl—and also keeping her from tipping off the dock and into the water. “Careful, bumpkin. Don’t fall in and miss the one time I agree with you. And, Z, I’m glad you approved giving the city money to help finish the Gathering Place,” Aphrodite said. “It turned out way cooler than I thought it was going to be.”
“Right?” I said. “I mean, the drawings for it made it look great, but the real thing is even better. Hey, you guys want to know what I like best about it?”
“Totally,” said Jack as he and Damien strolled up to us. “Do tell!”
I grinned at Jack. He was hand
in hand with Damien. Both of them almost glowed with happiness—even though Damien was perpetually stressed about the pending opening of the new Depot Restaurant.
“I like best that this giant river park is basically in the backyard of one of the richest parts of T-Town—as in, there’s pretty much only one kind of person who can afford to live just a few steps east of here—but this park is open to everyone. It’s filled with all different colors and kinds of people.”
“And fledglings and vampyres,” added Stevie Rae. “With almost no issues from humans.”
Aphrodite snorted. “Don’t get too starry-eyed. It hasn’t been open long. Give it a year or so without some upper-middle-class white woman making a hysterical call to the TPD because fledglings are being fledglings.” She rolled her eyes. “Goddess forbid a different type of person is having fun.”
“Maybe the TPD will be cool enough to fine anyone asshole-ish enough to do that,” said Jack.
“One can hope,” I said.
Stevie Rae sighed. “People can be a pain in the butt.”
“Speaking of pains in the butt, how’s Ice Cream Shoes doing tonight?” asked Aphrodite.
“She’s not a pain in the butt; she’s unique,” Stevie Rae said firmly. “And she’s good. I’m workin’ with her to deal with her new affinities. Kacie is super powerful—especially for a newly Changed vampyre. And that power’s gonna take some gettin’ used to.”
“I totally get that,” I said.
Stevie Rae turned to face me. “Z, would you maybe spend some time with Kacie? I think it’d really help her.”
“Sure. I’d be happy to help.”
Stark called from the booth at the end of the dock. “Hey! Four boats are finally available! Let’s hurry. They’re going to set off the fireworks in just a few minutes and the view from the lake is the best.”
I waved and yelled, “Coming!” We’d been waiting for about thirty minutes for enough paddleboats so we could all paddle around the man-made lake that was at the heart of the enormous park and watch the latter of the two nightly fireworks displays. Because I’d sent a hunk of House of Night cash to Tulsa specially for the completion of the park, the city had very nicely added a second and later fireworks show to the schedule. They had also approved my request that the park be open until 3 a.m. Tonight it was filled with vampyres and fledglings. Some were at the skateboard park, zooming up and down things that looked like giant empty swimming pools. Others were playing basketball or checking out the many trails. And still others—especially the youngest, newly Marked fledglings, were exploring the forts and bridges and crazy slides that filled a huge, rambling jungle-gym type area. Basically, fun was being had by everyone—even the young humans who braved the late-night hours to mingle with fledglings. I’d been sure the Sons of Erebus Warriors were visible to discourage any hazing by humans—as well as any biting by fledglings. So far—so good …
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