by P. C. Cast
We went to the cave opening where it was cooler and darker than it was inside.
“It’s always freezing out here,” I said.
“It’s the sprites,” Kev explained. “They keep this ridge cold and foggy, and if someone sketchy gets too close it starts to sleet. It’s awesome, really.”
“Old Magick.” I sighed. “It’s crazy cool, but also just plain crazy.”
“That’s true.” He turned to meet my gaze. “Thank you. I know you’re here because you were worried about me.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to turn out like Neferet.”
He shuddered and cracked his knuckles. “I’d never really had anything to do with her until I came back from your world, and let me tell ya, Zo, that is one creepy vampyre.”
“Hey, before she channeled her powers into being a batshit cray immortal with snakelike children, she could read minds in my world. That was a pain in the butt.”
“Seriously? She doesn’t seem to be able to in this world—thank the Goddess for that. How did you get around it?”
I grinned. “Well, she could never read my mind, but Damien made everyone memorize vocab words and definitions whenever she was around. It was super educational and super annoying.”
“Bet he had fun doing it, though.”
“Yep, he sure did. Damien is really happiest when he’s teaching. And that’s something I need to remember when I get home. So, note to self—be sure Damien has his own classroom and can teach whatever makes him happy.”
“You’re a really good High Priestess.”
His compliment gave me a rush of joy. “Thanks, Kev! Hey, you’re doing awesome here. Because of you the Resistance has all of this, and Aphrodite is heading down the right path.”
“I just hope she’s strong enough to walk it,” he said softly.
“She is in my world. You know that. She’ll be strong enough here too.”
He nodded. “You’re right. One of the things she hates is to be underestimated. I won’t make that mistake.”
“Just like you won’t make the mistake of falling for her?” I said, only semi-teasing.
“Too late for that.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. Just watch your heart, Kev. Darius is her Warrior. They fit together. You’ve seen them, so you know it’s true. When he shows up in this world, you will probably lose her, and I don’t mean to hurt your feelings or make it seem like you don’t matter. I just mean to remind you of the truth.”
“I know,” he said, staring out at the night. “But I can’t help it. I love her, Zo.”
I was afraid of that, so his announcement didn’t shock me. “I get it. Just be prepared. Kev, does she know about Darius?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. She hasn’t mentioned him and I don’t know any Darius in this world.” Kevin sighed. “Warriors are scattered all over the Midwest holding the states Neferet controls. He could be anywhere. Or he could’ve died in battle.”
“And you haven’t told her about her Warrior in my world?”
“No, Zo, because she’s not in your world!” he snapped. Then he sighed again and ran his hand through is thick, dark hair. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like an ass. I’m just trying to do my best. A lot’s happened in a really short time.”
“I get it. Just be careful of your heart, ’kay?”
“’Kay. So, we have a few hours until sunset and I thought I’d see if you wanted me to take you home.”
I blinked at him. “Home?”
“Yeah. Home. Um, our old home. 1405 East Fargo in Broken Arrow. Do you want to see Mom?”
I felt like he’d knocked the air out of me. “Mom?”
“We can take Tina’s truck. I’ll bet G-ma would go with us too. You know—as a buffer.”
“Mom’s still married to the step-loser here?”
“Yep.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “How was she at my funeral?”
“Hysterical. That stupid pastor talked shit about what a shame it is that you chose a pagan demon over Jesus Christ or some other such nonsense, and she lost it.”
“Wait, at my funeral the pastor said I went to hell?”
“Yep. You know how those People of Faith are. If you don’t believe exactly as they do, you’re doomed to hell or worse. Zo, that idiot pastor actually said that if you’re not a believer and you don’t follow the Bible—and of course, by the Bible he means his interpretation of it—that you have no … um … wait, how did he put it? Oh, I remember! He said if you don’t follow the Bible you have no moral boundaries and no way of knowing that being a pedophile or rapist is wrong.”
“You have got to be kidding.”
“Nope. It sucked. Big time.”
“Wow. That’s one of the stupidest, most narrow-minded things I’ve ever heard. Kev, was that my eulogy?”
“Yep. And that was the nice, least judgmental part.”
“Gross.”
“Yep again.”
“No one else said anything?” I asked, not sure why I felt so upset. I mean, I wasn’t dead, and the dead Zoey was hanging out with Nyx in her Goddess Grove in perfect peace. But still. It pissed me off.
“Are you kidding? The People of Faith don’t even let anyone take communion who hasn’t taken all their classes and kissed the rings of the male leaders of their church enough. Oh, and by rings I mean asses.”
“Right, I got that.”
“So, no. They didn’t let anyone else speak.”
“That doesn’t really surprise me.” I glanced at my brother and then blurted what I hadn’t told anyone. “I saw Neferet kill her.”
“Her?”
“Me her. Other Zoey. Your sister over here.”
“What? How?”
“I don’t know how, but she reached me through a dream. That Zoey let me watch what Neferet did to her.” I shuddered and wiped my suddenly wet palms on my jeans. “It was awful, Kev. But fast. She didn’t suffer. And in the dream vision thing, she looked right at me and told me I needed to get over here and help you defeat Neferet.”
“Damn, that musta been horrible.”
I nodded. “Yep. Even worse than my sucky funeral.”
That lightened the mood and made him chuckle. “Hey, you will be happy to know that Heath and a whole group of us walked out of your sucky funeral when they did their call for us sinners to come forward and accept Jesus Christ as our savior crap.”
“They turned my funeral into an event to proselytize?”
“Pros … what?”
“Kev, you really gotta read more and increase that vocab of yours. Proselytize—save, redeem, preach to recruit—in other words, to convert people to the way they believe.”
“Oh. Yep. That’s what they did. And that’s when a big group of us walked out.”
“Well, that was nice of you. Thanks. Uh, where did they bury me?”
“Floral Haven. They cremated you. You have a little drawer-like cubby thing that says your name on it—Zoey Heffer.”
“Oh. My. Goddess! Zoey Heffer! That is not my name.”
“Exactly what I told Mom. The step-loser overruled me. He said he was paying for it, so it would say what he wanted it to say.”
“I’d like to slap that bastard’s face.”
“Get in line. Hey! Want to go do that? I can use my cool red vampyre mind-control thingy on him and you could slap him as much as you want. I could even zap Mom into being nice to us. Temporarily.”
“Did she come see you after you were Marked?” I asked.
“No, but, you know—the red fledgling thing is scary.”
“Okay, I get that. But how about this—did she come see me after I was Marked? Even once before I died?”
He shook his head. “Not that I know of, and I’m pretty sure I would’ve known, becau
se she and the step-loser would’ve argued about it.”
“Yeah, they always thought we couldn’t hear them because their room was on the other side of the house.”
“They were wrong.”
“Massive parenting fail on their part,” I said.
“So, wanna go?”
I didn’t need to give it any more thought. “Nope. But thanks for asking. They’ll just hurt my feelings, and they did enough of that in my world. I don’t need it in this world too.”
“Okay, I get it. How about Heath?”
“Heath?” My stomach clenched.
“Yeah, Heath. Your childhood and teenagehood—and I’m pretty sure if you had lived he would’ve been your adulthood—sweetheart. You know he’s alive here. He lives in Headington Hall on the OU campus. He’s super easy to find because he’s a big-deal quarterback.”
“Wait, he’s a freshman. He can’t be a big-deal quarterback. Not yet.”
“Oh, yeah he is. He’s kicking ass. OU is undefeated this season with him leading the team.”
“Holy crap! That’s awesome. His dreams are coming true.”
“Yeah, it’s cool. So, wanna head to OU?”
“Um, well, um, we can’t get to Norman and back in three hours,” I said lamely.
“I know, but you can drive back, right? I’ll bring some blankets to cover up with. It’ll be fine.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, Zo. Of course. He was your guy. I figured you’d want to see him.”
I breathed out a long breath. “Not before the most important game of his life. It’d mess up his head, and you know Heath.” I added with a shaky smile. “It doesn’t take much to mess up his head.”
“Very true,” he agreed.
“So, no. That’s really nice of you to offer, but I don’t think it’d be the best thing for Heath.”
“Okay.” He gave me a contemplative look. “That’s real grown-up of you, Zo.”
“Well, I’m trying,” I said.
Then from somewhere just outside the mouth of the cave I heard the strangest thing. Kevin had started to say something else, but I put up my hand and shushed him.
“Me-uf-ow!”
“Kev, did you hear that?” I walked a few feet outside the cave, trying to see through the darkness and fog.
“Sounded like a cat. Not surprising, Zo. There’re lots of cats around here.”
“No, not a cat. My cat. Kitty-kitty-kitty! Nala? Is that you, baby girl?”
“Me-uf-ow! Me-uf-ow! Me-uf-ow!” Grumbling like a fat little old woman, an orange cat leaped from one of the boulders and rushed up to us.
I dropped to my knees, holding out my hands for her. “Oh, Nal! You look so wet and cold—and skinny! Come here to me!”
She did, briefly rubbing against my legs. But she didn’t let me pick her up. Instead she padded directly over to Kevin. She circled around and around his legs, rubbing against him and complaining over and over in her old-woman voice.
“Hey there, Nala,” Kevin said, bending to pick her up. “How did you get here?” He sent me a confused look over the top of her wet head as she turned on her purr engine and snuggled in his arms. “Could your cat have followed you?”
I shook my head, feeling happy and sad—and a little jealous—all at the same time. “No, Kev. I promise you my Nala is curled up on my bed probably complaining at Stark right now. This is obviously your Nala.”
He blinked in surprise. “Mine? Seriously?”
I smiled and reached out to stroke her damp fur, feeling her body rumble with her magnificent purr. “Seriously. In this world, you are her person.”
“Wow! That’s really cool. I’ve never had a cat. Animals hate red vamps over here.”
“Not your kind of red vamp. Congratulations, Kev. She’s an awesome cat. She can be kinda grumpy, and she’ll sneeze cat snot in your face, but if you need a snuggle she’ll always be there for you. And she has the best purr engine in any world.”
“Hey! There y’all are!” Stevie Rae rushed up like a mini Oklahoma tornado with Rephaim and Aphrodite following in her wake. “Ohmygoodness! Nala! What are you doing here?” Stevie Rae scratched the top of her head, which made her purr even louder.
“This is Other Nala, and she just showed up, and she chose Kevin as her vampyre,” I said.
“That is wonderful news,” said Rephaim, petting the little orange tabby.
“How do you know this cat?” asked Aphrodite, looking over Kevin’s shoulder at Nala.
“I’m her vamp in my world. So, it totally makes sense that Kev is hers here,” I said.
“She’s a ginge,” said Aphrodite. “Which is unfortunate, but she’s still cute. No cat has ever chosen me, but I do like them.” She reached out tentatively to pet Nala, who flopped over on her back in Kevin’s arms so that Aphrodite could pet her belly.
“Does anyone know if this Tulsa has a cat-rescue group called Street Cats?” I asked as Stevie Rae, Rephaim, and I shared a conspiratorial look.
“Yes, they do. The House of Night supports it. Or they used to before Neferet started her annoying war,” said Aphrodite, still petting Nala.
Stevie Rae’s grin was gleeful. “Well, after we get this Neferet mess fixed maybe you should take a trip to Street Cats. And that’s all I’m sayin’ about it.”
“You’re a strange one, aren’t you?” Aphrodite said. When Stevie Rae opened her mouth to answer, Aphrodite held up her hand. “No, that was rhetorical.”
Steve Rae frowned at her, and then turned to me. “Z, Anastasia said she’ll show y’all to your rooms now so you have plenty of time to eat, clean up, and then get a good day’s sleep.”
Rephaim slid his arm intimately around her waist. “I am finding that sleep is underrated,” he said, as Stevie Rae blushed up at him.
“Oh, for shit’s sake—get a room. Sheesh.”
Aphrodite sounded so exactly like my Aphrodite that I snorted a laugh.
“Finding our rooms sounds good to me. And it looks like I’m going to need some cat stuff too,” Kevin said. “Right, Nala? Right, little girl cat?” He made kiss noises at her, which had me smiling. “Plus, I need to clean up. I wiped off that gross stinking blood crap I have to wear at a gas station on the way out here, but I swear I can still smell it somewhere under all that lavender Aphrodite squirted on me.”
“Is that what that is? And all this time I thought you were just farting!” giggled Stevie Rae.
“And you’re very, very sure the bumpkin and I are friends in your world?” Aphrodite muttered to me.
“Yep,” I said. “You’re why she’s like this. If our Aphrodite hadn’t sacrificed for Stevie Rae, she’d be a stinky monster and definitely not here with us.”
“Again, I’d really like to have a talk with my other self,” Aphrodite said.
“Hey, I grow on you,” Stevie Rae said. “You’ll see, if we’re here long enough.”
“You mean like a decade or so?” Aphrodite deadpanned.
I stifled a laugh by clearing my throat and quickly changing the subject. “So, where are we meeting Anastasia? I could use some food and a clean-up before bedtime too.”
“This way, Z. Anastasia’s sorting the OU and OSU shirts Johnny B brought back from T-Town. Man, I love me some football. I hope we get to watch at least a little of the game. Boomer Sooner!” Hand in hand, she and Rephaim started walking to where we would find Anastasia.
“She makes my head hurt,” Aphrodite said.
“Sometimes things are freakishly the same in both of our worlds,” was all I said.
“Come on, Zo. Let’s go find our rooms,” said Kevin.
“You guys go ahead. I need a few minutes to myself out here. Praying seems a good idea right now.”
“Okay, no problem. Anyone can tell you where to find Anastasia,” Kevin said.<
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Aphrodite and Kevin walked away, their heads together as they continued to pet and fuss over Nala. And I felt a jolt of surprise. When had Kev gotten so tall? He looks all grown-up! And that thought made my heart squeeze.
He and Aphrodite followed behind Stevie Rae and Rephaim, who were holding hands and sneaking kisses. I watched the two couples—because they were obviously couples. Aphrodite’s gaze sought out Kevin wherever he was in the cave, which was usually not far from wherever Aphrodite was. He was totally crushing on her, which was no surprise at all.
It made me lonely.
It made me miss Stark. Not Heath. Not anyone else. Stark. And with every bit of spirit and will and love within me I thought, I’m coming back to you, Stark! Please know how much I love you. Please believe in me like I believe in you.
I waited, hoping I’d feel something back—even a tiny echo of our connection. But all I felt was empty, and all I heard was the lonely beating of my solitary heart.
“Zoeybird? May I join you?”
“Sure, Grandma. Wanna sit out here with me for a little while?” I pointed to a couple of flat-topped rocks that didn’t look too wet.
“Yes, I would.”
We sat in companionable silence for a while. The night was beginning to turn from black to the predawn lightening that made me think of a dove’s feathers. The ridge was beautiful. I loved that it hadn’t been developed and basically looked like it had one hundred or more years ago.
Thank you, Nyx, for places like this that remind me of my connection to the land and to my ancestors who cared for it. Help me find strength through that connection for whatever comes tomorrow night. Help me do the right thing and to walk your path with integrity and kindness. Whatever happens, please comfort Stark and let him know that I do love him—so, so much.
“U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, you seem very far away, and very troubled. Would it help to talk about it?”
“Well, it usually helps for me to talk to you, so yeah, I would like to. Grandma, I’m worried that Stark will always resent me for coming here. He thinks I’m here because of Heath.”
“Oh, because in your world Heath is dead.”
“Yeah. But that’s not the main reason I’m here. I tried to explain that to Stark before I left, but he didn’t believe me. I hurt him—I’m hurting him right now. And I hate it.”