“No, damnit, I’m going too!” Stark growled the words. Kevin had to hide a smile because, for a moment, the Warrior sounded way too much like Seoras.
“Well, I’m definitely in. So, let’s do this thing. No telling what kinda shit-pot Neferet has already stirred over there.” Kevin paused as a thought came to him. “Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?”
She nodded benevolently.
“My sister told me that she was able to imprison her Neferet through the sacrifice of an immortal—a strange creature called a Vessel. He willingly gave his life to seal Neferet into a grotto. I really don’t know the details, but I was wondering, do you have any idea how, or even if, a seal like that could be broken?”
As Sgiach considered her answer, her fingers restlessly stroked the hilt of the sword that rested against her throne. Her fingernails were long and rounded but completely bare of polish. Her hands were strong and graceful—a perfect reflection of the queen—and he felt a rush to serve her and realized that feeling, that desire to stand for and defend a vampyre High Priestess, or in this case a queen, must have been what kept Stark from acting against Neferet for so long.
Sgiach’s voice interrupted his inner musings. “It would be difficult to break such a seal, but not impossible. I could be wrong, especially as I do not know the details, but it seems to me that the key to the seal is not the immortality of the creature who made the sacrifice, but his willingness to make it. Thus, to break it there would need to be an equally willing sacrifice made.”
“You mean by another immortal?” Stark asked.
“Not necessarily. You’re not trying to kill an immortal. That life was already willingly given. I doubt if one person’s sacrifice could break a seal like that, but should several people give themselves willingly—be they vampyres or even humans—and there were enough power behind that sacrifice, well, the seal could break.”
“Thank you. I’ll let Zoey know.” He looked at Stark. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, tell us what we need to do.”
“Very well, then. Let your journey begin.” Sgiach lifted her hand and commanded, “Raise the Seol ne Gigh.”
There was a sound like wind rushing through trees accompanied by strange, mechanical clicking. The floor directly in front of the dais, just a couple feet away from where Kevin and Stark stood, slid open, and a rust-colored hunk of stone, big enough that a person could lay on it, rose from beneath the floor. The boulder was covered with knotwork that was beautiful, though somehow disturbing. The more Kevin stared at it, the more restless he felt—like someone was staring back at him, and that someone was within the rock. Or maybe it was the rock itself doing the staring.
On either side of the floor surrounding the huge stone were curved grooves. Their hornlike shape instantly brought to mind the massive black bull that decorated the flag over the castle. As Kevin continued to study the rock he realized that it wasn’t rust colored at all. It was more of the island’s silver-veined white marble, but it had been permanently stained by—
“Blood,” Stark said.
“Yes,” said the queen, rising to stand before the ancient stone. “This is the Seol ne Gigh, or Seat of the Soul. For longer than I have reigned it has been a place of sacrifice and worship—and a conduit to pure Light and Darkness. Through it you can call the bulls, the embodiment of good and evil.”
“Which is which, and how do we call them?” asked Kevin.
“Well, ye dinnae want to be callin’ the White Bull unless yer willin’ to traffic with Darkness,” said Seoras.
“And that would require an entirely different type of sacrifice,” added Sgiach. “You will call the Black Bull—the embodiment of Light. Should your spirit and your love be strong enough,” she nodded to Kevin. “And your sacrifice accepted,” she turned her gaze to Stark. “Well, then he will take you to the Realm of the Goddess where your guide will meet you and show you through the grove to the Other World you seek—if she answers your call.”
“My spirit will be strong enough because I know my love is, and Aphrodite will answer my call,” Kevin said firmly.
“And I’ll bleed,” said Stark. Then he quickly added, “Willingly. My sacrifice will be strong because I have a lot to make up for.”
“Uh, hang on,” Kevin said. “How do we get back?”
“If the Black Bull accepts your sacrifice and your spirit is strong enough to enter the Goddess’s Realm, it will earn you a return trip,” said Sgiach. “When your business in your sister’s world is complete, Stark will need to cut himself and allow his blood to flow freely on the ground. Then Kevin will summon spirit and ask it to call your lost love. She will return both of you to Nyx’s Grove and, once again, guide you through. Then you simply remember your tie to your own world and follow it home.”
“What if we get stuck? Either over in Z’s world or in Nyx’s Realm?” Kevin asked.
Sgiach explained. “If you remain in your sister’s world your days will eventually run out. Your life will be half lived. You will die. And as the living do not belong in Nyx’s Realm, if you remain there, you will be unable to eat or drink and you will waste away until you die.”
“Okay, so, we need to get over there, warn Zoey, and then return here,” said Stark.
Kevin said nothing.
Sgiach’s brows rose expectantly as she studied him, but when he remained silent she sighed and gestured to the Seol ne Gigh. “All right then, come to the stone.”
Kevin began to walk forward and then hesitated. “Can we take our backpacks?”
“You could take a car with you, should you drive it into this room and your sacrifice be accepted,” said Sgiach.
Stark and Kevin exchanged looks, hefted their backpacks,
