Loved

by P. C. Cast

  I blew out a long breath. “All right, where was I?”

  “You just finished telling me about the weapons in the basement of the House of Night. I got it. They’re worth a fortune, and a fortune is what the resistance needs. I’ll figure out a way to get down there, and if there’s gold and jewels in them thar hills, I’ll pawn it.”

  “You are a goofball,” I said.

  “But tall. I have that going for me. And Aphrodite says I got game.”

  “No one listens to Aphrodite.”

  “Uh, Zo, she’s your prophetess.”

  “And still. Okay, so, you’re taking a copy of Neferet’s journal back with you.”

  “Yep.” He patted the inside pocket of the jacket Damien had found for him. “It’s right here.”

  “None of that may have happened to her in your world. Or maybe just a part of it. But we found out stuff from her past is one way to get at her, especially when it’s stuff no one knows.”

  “I’ll do some digging and see if she’s from Chicago. If she is I’ll do a search into her past. If it’s there I’ll find it. I’m damn good with computers.” He grinned.

  “And you have to find your Nerd Herd,” I said. “That’s the most important thing.”

  “Yeah, so you say, but I’m worried about that. Stevie Rae isn’t alive in our world. I remember when she rejected the Change because I was at the House of Night. And I don’t know any Shaylin. Like my world’s Jack says, Damien’s dead, too. That leaves Shaunee. She’s cool, but she’s always with a girl she calls ‘Twin.’ And she seems like a totally different person than the Shaunee who’s fire here.”

  “Wait, is Twin a white girl from Tulsa?”

  “Blond, real hot, and kinda slutty?”

  “That’s her! Okay, that means you have fire and water.”

  “The slut’s water? Somehow that makes sense.”

  “Oh! In the car Other Jack recognized Aphrodite. Only he asked where her Mark was—so she’s in your world, too.”

  “There’s no vampyre in my world with a red and blue Mark like hers.”

  “No, but she is in your world. Remember, Kev, who we are deep inside is the same. It’s just that we’ve had different experiences, so our personalities might be different. Find Aphrodite. She can stand in for any of the elements, but she was air when we called you—so that’s probably what I would have her personify for you, too.”

  “She should be fire as smokin’ hot as that girl is.”

  “Eew. Just stop. Now all you need is earth.”

  Grandma joined us, sitting beside Kevin on the cushy velvet love seat in front of the fire that crackled happily in the professors’ lounge. Other Kevin and I had come to the lounge to wait while my circle rushed around gathering spellwork elements. As they found each one—again—they ran in, placed it on the table in front of us, and then took off again. So far the table held the five ritual candles, matches, a crystal pyramid/tetrahedron (which Shaunee pilfered again from another trophy case) and an athame.

  “I found it, Zoeybird. I knew I had a second one in my room. I just had to search for it.” Grandma added a redbird feather to the growing group of things.

  “So, all you need is to find one more person who can personify an element—hopefully earth.” I thought for a second and then added. “Think about Stevie Rae when you look for him or her. Stevie Rae’s a real Oklahoma girl—she’s tied to the red earth—feels it in her soul. Remember that, ’kay?”

  “’Kay, I will. Stop worrying.”

  “It’s what I do best,” I said.

  “What of those poor souls who came through with Kevin?” Grandma asked.

  “Kev and I already talked about that,” I explained. “It’d be good for him to have an ally, but none of them are ready to go back now.”

  “They won’t ever be, Zo. Jack’s the only one who was able to save his sanity. The rest of them are broken. Promise me you won’t make them go back.”

  “Hey, I’d never force anyone to go there,” I assured him.

  “Kevin, I want you to come directly to my farm as soon as you return. Tell me everything that has happened. Give me this.” Grandma took from around her neck a small beaded pouch on a string of braided leather and placed it over Kevin’s head so that the pouch rested in the middle of his chest, near his heart. “I would believe you anyway, but this will speed things up.”

  “Thank you, G-ma.”

  Stevie Rae jogged into the room, waving a rowan stick. “Found it! Sorry it took so long. It was in the very bottom of the spells and rituals chest.” She ticked off the items on the table. “So, we just need the grooved rock.”

  “In the shape of a heart,” I said.

  “I have an idea. I’ll go find Shaylin.” And Stevie Rae was off.

  “Okay, let me think. What else …” My mind was a cacophony of thoughts warring with an orchestra of emotions.

  “Kevin, you said you do not know a Dragon or Anastasia Lankford?” Grandma asked.

  He shook his head. “No. The Swordmaster at our House of Night is a really old vampyre named Artus. He’s super scary.”

  “So, no Dragon was killed at your House of Night this past year?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  Grandma and I exchanged a smile.

  “Find Dragon Lankford and his Consort, Anastasia. They’ll help you, and I’d bet a plate of Grandma’s cookies that Anastasia can either stand in for earth or can help you find someone with an earth affinity.”

  “Okay, got it. I’ll remember.”

  “And Kevin, no matter what, do not underestimate Neferet. She became immortal in this world. She commanded threads of Darkness to do her nasty bidding. Hell, I even saw her turn herself into about a zillion spiders.”

  “That’s seriously disgusting.” Kevin shuddered.

  “Right? So, be overly careful. Oh, and in this world she had major psychic powers, but she could never read my mind—and if other people, like Damien and Stevie Rae or the rest of the Nerd Herd, if they kept their minds busy thinking about by-rote stuff—vocab words and whatnot—that messed up her mind-reading abilities.”

  “Okay. Got that, too.”

  “We did it!” Stevie Rae and Shaylin rushed into the room. They were grinning and holding a fist-sized sandstone that had a perfect imprint of a wavy, watermarked heart on it.

  “Where did you manage to find that?” I asked, running my hand over the heart, which I could swear felt wet.

  “Shaylin made it.”

  “Because Stevie Rae helped. We got earth and water together, and we marked the rock!”

  “That’s perfect. It really is,” I glanced up at the cool grouping of international time and date clocks on the wall. “I can hardly believe it, but we’re on time.”

  Kevin’s gaze followed mine to see the Tulsa Time Zone clock that read 11:15 pm—December 24. “Hey, Z! I just now realized—happy birthmas!”

  “Oh, great Earth Mother. I totally misplaced your birthday,” Grandma said.

  “That’s okay. There’s been a lot going on today. I misplaced it myself.”

  “But you’re eighteen, now, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am. I thought I’d feel different, but I don’t. Maybe that happens at twenty-one.”

  “No, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, that happens at sixty-one,” Grandma quipped, before leaning over and kissing me. “Happy birthday, my Zoeybird.”

  “Dang, Z. We kinda missed your birthmas.” Stevie Rae almost looked like she was going to cry.

  “That’s okay—I’m used to having a crappy birthmas. At least this one wasn’t boring.”

  “You got me for your birthday. And I’m not even a Christmas-themed present,” Kevin said, punching my arm.

  “Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes at him. It was either that or burst into tears, and then he might start crying.
Again. And we both snot when we cry. A lot. So, just no. “Okay, guys, tell Damien, Shaunee, Aphrodite, and Stark that we’re ready. We’ll meet you down at the SUV.”

  After they left, Grandma stepped into Kevin’s arms. “I’m going to say goodbye here. I cannot go with you to the park. I wasn’t there the first time. And I—I do not want to see you leave.” Her voice trembled, but she blinked hard as she tried to keep her tears from falling. “I love you, Kevin. Dearly. Always. In any world. Come find your G-ma. She will be waiting for you.”

  Kevin smiled through his own tear-filled eyes. “With lavender chocolate chip cookies?”

  “With lavender chocolate chip cookies. I promise.”

  They hugged for a long time. Then Kevin bent, brushed the tears from Grandma’s cheeks and kissed her gently. “I love you, too, G-ma.”

  Grandma patted the medicine pouch she’d given him, and then slowly, sadly, she walked away.

  We watched her, both sniffling. I sighed and reached into my pocket, pulled out two balled-up old tissues, and handed one to Kevin. While we wiped our eyes and blew our noses, I asked the question I’d been struggling with for hours.

  “Kev, do you know Heath Luck?”

  He tipped his head to the side and actually grinned at me. “You mean your grade school and high school sweetheart, quarterback, and all-around studly guy, Heath Luck?”

  “Yes. You know that’s who I mean,” I said, trying to pretend my hot face was beet red from embarrassment and not from the racing of my heart and the fluttering of my stomach.

  “Of course I know him.” Then Kevin looked closer at me. “Wait, is he dead in this world?”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice.

  “Oh, Zo. I’m so sorry. He’s totally fine in my world. Completely alive. In college playing OU football.”

  “Even with a war going on?”

  “Vamps love them some sports—especially football. It’s become like a weird hobby of theirs. So as long as you’re a jock or a cheerleader, or majoring in something else vamps in general—or Neferet in particular—think is important, or at least amusing, they leave you alone. Well, pretty much. Heath’s doing great.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad. I’m really glad.”

  “He was at your funeral. He was real broken up.”

  I met Kevin’s eyes. “Don’t tell me anymore, ’kay?”

  “’Kay. Anything for the birthmas girl.” He put me in a pretend headlock and started giving me noogies. “And I have your birthmas noogies right here.”

  “OHMYGOD stop messing up my hair!” I was smacking him when Stark came into the room.

  “Uh, we’re waiting for you two.”

  “Good thing,” I said, trying to fix my totally screwed up hair. “I was just getting ready to go all Ninja Turtle on him.”

  “Scared. I’m super scared.”

  “Yep, she’s frightening when you mess with her hair,” Stark said.

  The two of them giggled like little boys and I looped my arm through Other Kevin’s on my right, and Stark’s on my left. Then, off to see the wizard–like, the three of us headed for the SUV.

  Zoey

  Woodward Park was like the rest of midtown we’d driven through—completely deserted. It was still snowing. The flakes had gone from small and sparkly to heavy and lazy.

  Just like the night before.

  I stared out at the winter wonderland as we trudged through the park. It was like nothing bad had happened—like the snow had covered all of our mistakes and made things new again.

  The thought held as we looked down on the spot that had caused so much to go wrong—and right—the night before.

  Oh, my Goddess! How could it have all happened in only twenty-four hours?

  In the distance I could see snowy mounds and the reflection of streetlights off of yellow crime-scene tape, and understood that the storm had made it impossible for the wreckage that the vampyres had caused to be cleared. From this far away it looked so benign—almost like toys children had abandoned because they’d been called from their play to get ready for bedtime.

  Get your head in the game, Zoey! Tonight a mistake could hurt Kevin. I shook myself mentally and checked with Stark.

  “Is it time?”

  “Yep.” Stark went to Kevin and held out his hand. “It was really good to know you. I wish you could stay. Hey, when you see Other Stark and you want to get through to him, tell him William Chidsey would be ashamed that he’s working with Neferet. He won’t like it, but it will get through to him.”

  “Who’s that?” Kev asked.

  “He was my mentor, and a big part of my life. More importantly, he was a good man. A very good man. And no matter what world—I can’t believe he’d be for Neferet.”

  “Thanks. I’ll remember. It was good to know you, too. Take care of our Zo, will ya?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Then Kevin pulled Stark in for a manly, back-slapping hug.

  “I have to stay up here, like I did last night. I’m glad we met, too. Stay safe, okay?” Damien didn’t hold out his hand. He went straight for the hug, which Kevin returned.

  “I’m glad Jack is with you. Don’t let him come back to our world. It’s not good for him there,” Kevin said.

  “I won’t. He’ll stay here with me. Always,” Damien assured him.

  Kevin turned to me. “I’m ready.”

  “That wall is surrounding Neferet’s grotto,” I explained to Kevin as we made our way carefully down the snow-covered stairs.

  He studied it curiously. “The grotto’s inside there?”

  “Yep.”

  “It’s smaller than I pictured it.”

  “The Woodward Park Association told me it was a fox’s den.”

  “Weird. It’d simplify things if I could just stuff her in there and seal her up.”

  “Yeah, it sure would,” I said.

  “Good luck with that,” Shaunee told him. “She’s a lot harder to stuff than you’d think.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Kevin muttered.

  “Hey, you’re a resourceful guy. You’ll figure it out.” Aphrodite sent him a flirty grin.

  Kevin lit up like a Christmas tree. “Well, Goddess of Love—if you say it, then I believe it is so.”

  Darius snorted and mumbled something under his breath.

  “See,” Kevin whispered to me. “He’s totally worried.”

  I shook my head at him and almost slipped down a step. Kevin took my hand and steadied me, and then he didn’t give it back.

  I didn’t mind. At all.

  We didn’t talk much as we worked to ready the space. It was harder than it had been the first time. We were dealing with snow that in some places had drifted to our knees. We were also moving through a myriad of emotions—fear, anticipation, worry—and all the while I kept reminding my circle to focus on our intent. We took our places. I was concentrating super hard, trying to remember exactly what words I’d used in what order to invoke the elements—and feeling relieved that I hadn’t made up some elaborate craziness that I’d never remember.

  When we were ready, I called Other Kevin into the center of the circle with me.

  “This is going to be like what we did in Nyx’s Temple, only I’m going to be using different words and each of them is going to give me something. It’s going to be weird, because we’re working backwards. I’ve never called elements this way, or cast a circle like this. I’m not sure it’s going to work.”

  Kevin’s gaze was full of confidence. “I’m sure. One hundred percent. This is going to be easy. The hard part was the first time. Now, you know what you’re doing.”

  “That’s a real good way to look at it,” Stevie Rae said, dimpling at him.

  “Thank you.”

  Kevin looked super pleased with himself, and I
suddenly realized that my friends liked him. Really liked him.

  And I had to struggle not to burst into tears.

  “Okay, everyone think what we were thinking then. Protection. We’re casting a protection spell. Got it?”

  “Got it!” the four of them echoed.

  “Okay, we call spirit first.” I closed my eyes, concentrated, and centered myself. Please, Nyx, help me get this right. I opened my eyes and knelt in the small area Kev and I had cleared of snow. “Oh, strong and powerful, all-knowing spirit, I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Spirit, come forth and complete my circle!”

  I lit my purple candle and felt the soft, familiar brush of spirit rush through my body. Kevin’s intake of breath told me that he’d felt it, too.

  I thought that was an excellent sign.

  Then I reached up and released the braid that held my redbird feather, just like I had the night before, saying, “I offer this feather—the spirit of my people—free and strong. It is my wish that it fills our circle and focuses our intent for our spellwork tonight.”

  I stood, and with Kevin by my side we went to Stevie Rae. I spoke the words to call earth, and Stevie Rae did her part, handing me the rowan twig. She smiled at Kevin and mouthed, Bye—we’ll miss you, then she brushed away a tear.

  We went to Shaylin next, and collected the rock with the watermark.

  “Stay safe,” she whispered to him.

  Shaunee and fire were next. When she handed me the crystal tetrahedron she told Kevin, “Watch your back. We’ll miss you.”

  Then we were standing in front of Aphrodite.

  I called air and lit her yellow candle, and Aphrodite handed me the wickedly sharp athame. Then she looked up at Kevin.

  “When you talk to Other Aphrodite, be exactly who you are. She’ll love you, too.”

  Then she totally shocked me by kissing him. Softly, sweetly, right on the lips.

  “Goodbye, my Goddess of Love.” The kid stepped forward, cupped Aphrodite’s face in his hands and kissed her—not sweetly, not softly—sexily. I didn’t look at Darius, and was real glad he’d taken the same position he’d had last night—outside the other side of the circle.