“And also allied with Neferet. Again,” said Damien.
“Your last vision,” I spoke urgently. “When you saw Neferet shifting back and forth between looking normal and looking like she’d just broken out of that tomb—you weren’t seeing one Neferet, were you?”
Aphrodite shook her head. “No. I realize now that I was seeing two Neferets—one who had just escaped from the grotto, and a second one who had just helped her escape.”
Stevie Rae gasped. “Other Neferet! From Kevin’s world.”
“Oh, Great Earth Mother, no.” Grandma Redbird paled.
“Sadly, yes,” I said. “If Other Lynette is here, that means Other Neferet must be too.”
At that moment, there was a whoosh like a giant had just inhaled, and a swirling sphere of dark glitter appeared before us, floating directly in front of the statue of Nyx. The kids who were skating started to yell and point.
Stark cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Sons of Erebus! To me!” As Stark positioned himself between the swirling orb and me, Warriors flooded the rear courtyard. “Protect the fledglings!” Stark commanded as Darius and Rephaim rushed to Aphrodite and Stevie Rae, with Jack between them. He looked terrified and flew into Damien’s arms.
The floating disc-like thing looked like galaxy soup. I had zero doubt about what it was. The only question was who, or what, would step through. A figure became visible, with a second close behind, and as they emerged I breathed a long, gasping breath of relief and rushed around Stark to throw myself into my brother’s arms.
“Kevin!”
“Zo!” He caught me and lifted me off my feet and we hugged and laughed for a moment. Then I glanced over his shoulder and realized who was with him as he put me down.
“Stark. Hi,” I said only semiawkwardly. “Welcome to my world.”
“Thanks.” He nodded at me and then I watched his eyes widen as my Stark reached my side. “I guess we don’t need introductions.” Other Stark held out his hand.
I felt the jolt of shock go through my Stark, but he took Other Stark’s hand, grasping his forearm in a traditional Warrior greeting. “You’re bleeding,” he said.
Other Stark glanced at his mangled bicep. “Yeah. It’s a long story.”
“We’re here to tell you—” Kevin spoke quickly, but Aphrodite was quicker.
“That your Neferet is in our world.” She’d moved up to stand beside me with Darius close behind her.
Kevin’s gaze shot to her. He swallowed, cracked his knuckles, and nodded. “Yeah, that’s why we’re here. We had to come warn you.”
“And help you,” Other Stark added.
“We just figured it out, but thanks for coming to confirm,” said Aphrodite. “And, hi. It’s good to see you again.”
“Um, hi,” Kevin said.
I felt bad for him. I could see his hesitancy and I’m pretty sure he didn’t know whether he should hug her or keep his distance.
Darius surprised me by approaching Kevin and taking his forearm in a warm, respectful greeting. “It is good to see that you are well.”
“Thanks,” Kevin said, clearly as surprised as I was.
Darius spoke solemnly. “I, more than anyone, understand and am sorry for your loss.”
Kevin’s jaw clenched and he nodded. He tried to say something, but Darius shook his head.
“There is no need to speak of it. Your pain is too fresh. I will ask Nyx to help you through it.” Then Darius dropped Kevin’s arm and returned to Aphrodite’s side.
Aphrodite surreptitiously wiped at tears that had escaped onto her cheeks, but she said nothing.
My Stark called to the Warriors, who had surrounded the frightened-looking fledglings in the pretend skating rink. “Escort the fledglings to their dorms. The House of Night is currently on high and immediate threat alert.”
I added, “Then stand by for more instructions. We will be leaving for Woodward Park immediately—and with this weather we’ll be going on foot. How many Warriors should come with us?” I asked Stark.
“Besides Darius, Rephaim, and me—a dozen.”
I nodded to Darius. “Get a dozen of our toughest Warriors. Arm them. Meet in the foyer ASAP. Do you know which Warrior is on duty at the park tonight?”
“Yes, that would be Max. He’s young but dependable and talented with the sword.”
“Call him while you’re gathering the Warriors.” As Darius saluted me and hurried away, I turned back to my brother from another world. “Come inside. We’ll wait in the foyer for the Warriors. We have a bunch to tell you.”
“Yeah, we have a lot to tell you too,” Kevin said. He hugged me again quickly. “It’s really good to see you. I just wish it wasn’t because your world’s in danger.”
“Yeah, well, sadly, that’s nothing new,” I said. “And it’s really good to see you too.”
Then Grandma pushed past me and was hugging Kevin, leaving me to stare at Other Stark.
“You should go to the infirmary and get that cleaned up,” I said.
“It’s okay.” Other Stark’s gaze kept going from my Stark to me. I didn’t blame him for being shell-shocked. It was super weird to see the two of them together.
“Don’t be stupid,” my Stark said gruffly. “That gets infected and you won’t be able to shoot a bow. You, uh, do have the same affinity I have, don’t you?”
“That I can’t miss? Yeah,” he said, sounding like a weird recording of my Stark.
“If you can’t pull the damn bow, you can’t loose an arrow. And I have a feeling we’ll need all the Warriors we can get—in this world and yours—so you’re gonna get it looked at before we leave for the park. Come on.” Stark turned to me. “We’ll meet you in the foyer. We won’t be long.”
Before I could say anything, they headed toward the door to the infirmary.
“Z, I’m going to take Jack to our room,” Damien said. Jack was sobbing in his arms, and I realized how difficult it must be for him to see Other Stark, who had been in charge of the Red Army he’d been slated to join—and
