by P. C. Cast
Aphrodite nodded once more. Slowly, Dragon took his hand from her mouth.
“You asshole!” Aphrodite whispered at him. “You saw me tell you to get away. You knew I wasn’t going to call the army. You’re just acting like a fucking douchebag coming up here and grabbing me!” She turned her attention to Kevin. “I knew you were different. What the hell is going on here?”
“It’s a long story,” Kevin said, “but I promise I’ll tell you everything. First, Dragon and the rest of his people have to get away.”
“And she still needs to come with us,” Dragon said.
“I am not fucking going with you.” Aphrodite glared at him. “So, you might as well slit my throat right now.”
“And if you do that you’re just like them,” Kevin said. “Plus, I’ll bet Anastasia will be super pissed at you.”
“Not to mention what will happen if I don’t go back up there very soon. Stark will come down here looking for me. And what the hell do you think he’s going to do if he finds me missing? Just let you and your group swim home?”
Dragon frowned at Aphrodite, but he took the knife from her neck.
“Now what?” Dragon asked.
“Now you need to get out of here. Fast. Stark’s going to—”
“Aphrodite! Heffer! Dammit, where the hell are you two?” From above them, Stark’s annoyed voice drifted down.
Aphrodite didn’t hesitate. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled up the bank. “Go away! I’m peeing! As if it’s not bad enough that a stinking red vampyre is following me around and I broke my fucking Jimmy Choos out here in this stupid wilderness. Can I get not one tiny bit of privacy?”
“She’s fine, General!” Kevin added. “She’s just around the other side of a clump of bushes. I can almost see her and—”
“Do not fucking look!” Aphrodite shrieked, making the whole line of retreating people freeze and stare back at them. “I swear to Goddess, if you two do not get off my last nerve I’m going to report to Neferet that you treated me like shit—with zero respect. No matter how pissed she may be at me, she’s definitely not going to tolerate her Prophetess being disrespected!”
There was a pause while all three of them held their breath, then Stark’s voice—just as annoyed—finally answered. “Just hurry up! This isn’t a damn picnic.”
“I will not hurry up! I will take my time peeing! And you can take the stinky lieutenant back there with you!” Aphrodite shouted, then she whispered to Kevin. “Get up there quick and be sure he doesn’t come down here.”
“Got it.” But before he left he looked at Dragon. “You’re going to let her go, right?”
“Yes. I’ll let her go,” he said with obvious reluctance.
Then Kevin scrambled up the bank and sprinted through the junipers. Aphrodite and Dragon remained very still until they heard the sounds of two men moving away from the creek.
Aphrodite breathed a long sigh of relief and then realized Dragon was staring at her.
“What?” she snapped.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because I don’t want anyone else slaughtered by those damn red vampyres.”
“Aren’t you on Neferet’s side?” Dragon asked.
“No. I’m on my side.”
“Then how can I trust you won’t betray us?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. You’ll just have to take a leap of faith. My guess is it’s the same kinda leap of faith you took to trust Kevin.”
“He proved himself trustworthy,” Dragon said.
“Isn’t that what I just did?”
They stared at each other until finally Dragon looked away. “I’m leaving now. With my people.”
“Fine. I’ll wait as long as I can push Stark, and then go back to the field. Oh, the Red Army is hiding in the pecan grove across the street, so don’t come back.”
“We won’t.”
“Did you get one truck out of here before the soldiers showed up?” she asked.
He hesitated, but answered, “Yes.”
“Good. That’s what I hoped when I only saw one up there.”
“Did you tell them that there was another?”
“Oh, for shit’s sake, no. Like I said, I’m tired of people being slaughtered by the Red Army,” Aphrodite said.
“But you are still telling Neferet about your visions,” Dragon said.
“I’m doing what I have to do to survive. Just like you.” Aphrodite paused and then had to ask, “Is Anastasia okay?”
“Yes. She is safe.”
“Tell her I’m glad.”
He kept staring at her before saying, “You could join us, you know. After what you did here today, we’d accept you.”
Aphrodite ignored the flutter of hope she felt. What would it be like to be part of something noble like the Resistance? To have friends? To not be so alone all the time?
But they wouldn’t want her. Not if they knew the truth.
“I’ll keep that in mind. And, um, thanks for the invite.”
He nodded with a grunt before turning away and getting back in the creek. He motioned for the line to get moving again, and Aphrodite watched them disappear as the water curved to the right. Then she brushed dirt and leaves and Goddess only knew what off her butt and limped back up the bank and out into the hayfield.
Stark and Kevin were standing in front of the lead Hummer. The rest had disappeared—presumably into the grove across the street.
With no hesitation Aphrodite marched up to Stark.
“I’m leaving.”
“Sorry. No. This night’s just getting started,” Stark said.
“Oh, you misunderstand me. I didn’t ask your permission. I don’t need your permission. I am a priestess and a Prophetess of Nyx. Our society is still matriarchal, correct?”
Stark looked surprised at the question. “Yes, of course it is.”
“Exactly. So, I outrank you. Actually, I outrank all of you except for Neferet. So let me repeat. I’m leaving. Oh, and this stinky kid is going to drive me home. I am feeling the Xanax and booze—best I don’t drive.”
“Look, Aphrodite, Neferet said you are supposed to—” Stark began, but Aphrodite shut him up with one abrupt gesture.
“I know exactly what Neferet said. I was supposed to join you on this mission. I did. I was supposed to locate the correct field for you and your red creatures. I did that too. And now I’m done. I did not come here to camp. I did not come here to sit around and ‘Kumbaya’ with a bunch of soldiers. And I just broke a boot that cost almost two thousand dollars trekking around in nature. Goddess! I just can’t with this anymore. I’m leaving. And you, General Bow Boy, may go straight to hell.” She looked at Kevin. “Let’s go, Stinky.”
Kevin glanced at Stark. Stark ran a hand through his thick hair and sighed. Again. “Fine. Go. But I’ll let Neferet know that I advised you stay.”
“Whatever. Like you think Neferet would stay out here all night if there wasn’t any action?” She turned her back to them and went to the passenger’s side of the Hummer, where she waited, foot tapping manically, for Kevin to open the door for her, which he did before jogging around to get behind the wheel.
She let him maneuver out of the field and start down Lone Star Road before she spoke.
“Tell me everything. Now.”
20
Other Kevin
Kevin told her everything. He started with the fact that he’d been different since he was Marked—that’d he’d managed to retain some of his humanity even after he Changed into the youngest red vampyre in history. He told her about getting pulled into an alternate House of Night world, and what happened to the other red vamps and red fledglings who went over there with him.
And then Kevin told her about her own Other World twin—or at least as much about that other Aph
rodite as he knew—that it was her sacrifice that had saved the red fledglings in her world, and that it was her gift from Nyx that saved him and the red vampyres who were still alive and in Zo’s world.
Kevin also told her about Neferet—how she’d become immortal and almost destroyed first Tulsa, and then that entire world—and how Zoey and her group had outsmarted and imprisoned her. For good.
Then silence filled the inside of their vehicle. He glanced at Aphrodite. She wasn’t drinking. She was staring at him with an expression that was wide-eyed but indecipherable.
Finally, she spoke. “So, the Zoey who is your sister over there, she and I work together at the Tulsa House of Night?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s more than that. You two are friends. Good friends.”
She kept staring at him, and as he took his gaze off the road for another quick glance, he saw a grimace of pain flash across her face. Then, very quietly, Aphrodite said, “That’s why Neferet thought you looked familiar. And now that I’m looking—I see the resemblance too. You’re Zoey Redbird’s brother. The Zoey Redbird who was killed more than a year ago.”
“Yep, that’s what I’ve been telling you. Only she’s alive in that Other World. So, you knew her before she died?”
“No. Not really.”
“But you say we look alike—and Neferet kinda recognized me too. Zo must have made some kind of impression on you.”
“Yes. She did. Or at least her death did.” Then Aphrodite pointed to the Quick Trip on the corner of Fifth and Denver. “Pull into that parking lot. I need to tell you something and I don’t want you to freak and cause a wreck.”
“Hey, you don’t need to worry about me. I don’t freak easily.”
“Just do it,” she said.
He pulled into the parking lot.
When he put the Humvee in park, Aphrodite turned in her seat so that she could look into his face. “Okay,” she said, “I don’t want to tell you this, but chances are you’re going to find out anyway. I’m pretty sure Anastasia knows.” Aphrodite shrugged, and looked defeated. “And I hate lying. I don’t even particularly like omitting. So, here goes. I didn’t know your sister. Neferet disbanded the Dark Daughters before Zoey came to the House of Night. I didn’t have any reason to get to know her because once the Dark Daughters weren’t a thing, there wasn’t any reason for fledglings to suck up to me. Then I made the Change and didn’t have any reason to hang out with fledglings anyway. But I remember her face because I had a vision about her. And Neferet remembers her face because I told her about the vision.” Aphrodite paused as if she was having difficulty choosing her words. Then she blurted, “In the vision I was Neferet. I saw a fledgling, one that wasn’t even a vampyre yet, cause Neferet’s death.”
Kevin felt sick. “That fledgling was my sister?”
“Yes.”
“So, Zo was right when she told me that she was sure the Neferet in our world had killed her and made it look like human People of Faith did it as a hate crime.”
He hadn’t phrased it as a question, but Aphrodite answered him. “Yes. Neferet killed Zoey because of my vision.”
Kevin didn’t know what to say. He looked away from Aphrodite, focusing on the steady flow of mostly trucks that pulled in and out of the Quick Trip.
“Did you like me over there?”
Aphrodite’s question surprised Kevin into an automatic response. “Yes. I more than liked you.”
“And I’m assuming I liked you too?”
“You kissed me goodbye and told me to find you over here.”
“Okay, look, you must be telling me at least mostly the truth. You’re obviously different than the rest of the red vamps. And you didn’t stink last night, so you must also be telling the truth about that.” She shuddered delicately. “And that nasty blood crap you use as perfume. But you’re sixteen. A kid.”
“I’ll be seventeen in August,” he added quickly.
“Whatever. You’re still a kid. And you’re telling me your sister and I are friends over there and you and I had a thing. That just doesn’t sound like me. Any version of me. No offense.”
“I’m not a kid. I’m a lieutenant in the Red Army who has seen more death than even you have—only with me it was real death, happening in front of me. I stopped being a kid a long time ago. And you need to define thing. We didn’t hook up or anything like that. But we did have a connection, and I promise you that kiss was more than just a peck on my cheek. Oh, and over there you’re not just friends with my sister. You’re respected and loved by a lot of people. You’re friends with everyone.”
“Are you super sure about that? I don’t make friends very easily. Mostly because most people are peasants.”
Kevin was surprised to hear himself laugh. “I don’t know the full story about how it happened. I didn’t have time to get it from Zo, but you’re definitely part of her group, and it’s a pretty big group. Actually, you’re friendly with all the High Priestesses I met.”
“Wait, what? I thought you said your sister was High Priestess.”
“She is, but there are lots of High Priestesses at her House of Night—Stevie Rae, Shaylin, Shaunee, Kramisha, Lenobia—”
“Lenobia? The equestrian professor? She’s alive over there?”
“Yep. So is Travis and all their horses.”
Aphrodite wiped a shaking hand across her face. “I’m glad they’re alive somewhere.”
Kevin studied her. “Ah, I get it. No one from the Resistance leaked the Keystone location. You had another vision. You told Neferet. And Neferet sent the Red Army to wipe them out.”
“Yes. Do you want to turn around and take me back to Dragon for retribution?”
She spoke steadily—she even sounded haughty. But Kevin saw the way her face paled and her hands trembled so badly that she had to clutch them together in her lap.
He didn’t answer her question. Instead he asked one of his own. “Actually, I don’t think you like all this killing. So, why did you do it?”
“I told Neferet about Zoey because back then I still believed Neferet was doing Nyx’s work. I mean, smacking down some humans sounded good. Who doesn’t get sick of their idiotic racism and misogyny? Please. That shit needs to become as extinct as the dinosaurs.”
“What does that have to do with telling Neferet to kill my sister?”
“That’s my point! I still believed that Neferet was basically good. And I didn’t know she was going to kill your sister.”
“But you knew she’d kill Lenobia and Travis. You had to have seen that in your vision.”
“I did. I also had that horrific fucking vision when I was with Neferet. I—I was Lenobia. I spoke as Lenobia. I died with Lenobia. I experienced everything with her. The death of her mate. The death of her horses. The death of her friends. It was beyond awful. I didn’t even realize I was describing everything to Neferet until after—after I’d recovered from the vision and she’d already sent the Red Army to wipe them out.” Aphrodite drew a deep breath and wiped away the tears sliding down her pale cheeks. “But you’re right. I’m responsible for their deaths. I’m responsible for all of their deaths.”
“I don’t get it. If you know how awful Neferet is, why do you keep telling her about your visions?”
“I try not to! And when I can’t hide that I’ve had one I try to leave out any detail that can lead that fucking army of monsters to the people I see them slaughtering—but I want to survive too! I hated telling her about the Resistance hiding people in those bales of hay, but I knew I’d pushed Neferet as far as I could. She was going to make me live in those tunnels with those creatures. I can’t do that. I just can’t.”
Kevin couldn’t say anything. He wanted to tell her she could stand up to Neferet. She could be that strong. He knew an Aphrodite who was that strong, but as he watched her he realized that she wasn’t that Aphrodite. Not ye
t she wasn’t.
He put the Hummer into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, turning north toward the heart of downtown.
“You’re not taking me to Dragon?”
“No.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the depot. You can drive the Hummer back to the House of Night,” he said.
“You’re seriously not going to turn me in to the Resistance?”
“Seriously.”
“Why aren’t you?” she asked.
“Because I’m not a monster,” he said. “I have the capacity to love and to forgive. I forgive you. You did what you thought you had to do to survive. You’re still doing that. I guess we all are.”
“Is it as bad in those tunnels as I think it is?”
“Worse,” Kevin said.
“Will they be able to tell you’re not like them?”
He sighed. “I hope not.”
“But if they find out you’re different they’ll probably kill you. Or eat you.” She shuddered. “Or something hideously awful.”
“Well, I do have that blood goo stuff, and I’m used to hiding how I really feel when I’m around other red vampyres. You say I stink, right?”
“Yes. Absolutely. Can’t you smell it?”
“I try not to.”
Aphrodite snorted a laugh, then as Kevin was getting ready to take the turn that would lead them to the depot, she said, “Don’t turn here.”
“But it’s the quickest way to the depot.”
“I know. Turn right instead.”
“That’s not the way to the depot.”
“Again. I know. Go to Saks instead.”
“Huh?” He was gawking at her in surprise and almost hit the curb.
“Oh, for shit’s sake! Watch where you’re driving and close your mouth,” she said.
“Why do you want me to take you to Saks?”
“Ssh. I’m thinking. Just drive.”
Kevin did as he was told, making his way to Utica Square and the Saks Fifth Avenue that was the cornerstone of the outside shopping square. “Park over there in the shadows on the side, not in the front,” Aphrodite told him.