“What are you doing?” Kevin asked her.
“Trying to figure something out.” Then her head snapped up and she took a step into the bushes and disappeared for an instant. “Ah, shit!”
Zoey didn’t hesitate. She pushed through the bushes to join Aphrodite with Kevin close behind.
Aphrodite was pointing at the icy ribbon of a stream that hugged the ridge and pooled at the base of the clump of azaleas. “That’s not a weird mirror,” she said.
“No. It’s a stream. What are you talking about?” asked Zoey.
“My vision. Remember when I said the only glimpse of Lynette I got was in what I thought was a mirror?”
Kevin and Z nodded.
“I recognize this. Z, what I saw in my vision happened right here. Lynette was here. Other Neferet was here, and so was our creepy, spidery Neferet.”
“Ah, hell. Does that mean she’s dead?” Z said.
“I honestly don’t think so. I know we didn’t do anything to change the vision—or at least if we did, we don’t know what it was, but my gut tells me that Lynette isn’t dead. At least not yet. Where’s her body? And that’s not her blood—it’s Other Neferet’s.”
Zoey paced, though she could only walk a couple feet before she had to turn around again. “Okay, according to your vision, Lynette was here with Other Neferet. They broke our Neferet out. Let’s say none of those piles of bones are Lynette—so, where is she now? And where is Other Neferet? And why the hell did you get that vision if it wasn’t so that we could change it?”
Kacie gasped as she peeked through the azaleas. “Wow! Can anyone else feel that?”
“Ah, good. Ice Cream Shoes,” Aphrodite brightened and pushed back through the bushes with Kevin and Z following. Intrigued, Kevin watched the young priestess hold her hands out, palms down, exactly where Aphrodite had been. “It’s the residue of something, right?” Aphrodite said.
Kacie nodded. “Totally. It was only here for a second, but it was crazy powerful.”
“Powerful enough to open a portal between worlds?” Aphrodite asked.
Kacie looked up at her. “This is Old Magick.”
“Exactly what I thought.” Aphrodite turned to Z, and Kevin was struck by how much more confident this world’s version of his Aphrodite was. My Aphrodite would have been strong enough to live if she’d had her confidence, he thought. And then he realized what she was getting at.
“My Neferet called Old Magick to take her—and Lynette—back to our world,” Kevin blurted.
“I wonder why? You think it was because she was hurt?” Zoey mused.
Aphrodite huffed. “Well, for whatever reason it seems to have saved Lynette’s life—and that was the important part of my vision.”
“Oh, shit! Do you think that means your Neferet went with them?” The thought made Kevin’s stomach flip-flop.
Zoey’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and said, “It’s Marx,” before answering. “Yeah, we’re still at the park.” She paused and then said. “Yeah, yeah, I know where you mean.” And paused again. By the time she spoke again, all of the color had drained out of her face and her voice was thick with dread. “That’s horrible. Okay, I understand. See you soon.”
As Zoey disconnected, Darius jogged up to them with Stark beside him—both looking grim.
“We found the body of the Warrior who had been on duty. His throat was ripped out and he’d been drained of blood,” said Darius.
“Shit, that’s awful,” said Kacie.
Zoey wiped more rain from her face. “One of the Neferets is still here—and I’m pretty sure it’s ours. Detective Marx just got a call from the TPD. They’re just down the street a few blocks. You know those apartments that face Twenty-First before you get to the river?”
Stark and Darius nodded.
Zoey swallowed before she continued, like she was trying not to throw up. “It’s a slaughterhouse down there. There was one witness. She said things swarmed the complex. Awful things. They killed everyone. Maybe even took hostages with them. Marx can’t be sure yet because the woman is completely hysterical.”
“What does she mean by things?” asked Kevin.
“She means disgusting wormlike things with mouths full of teeth and no eyes,” said Z.
“Fuck! That’s what our Neferet’s tendrils of Darkness looked like in my vision,” said Aphrodite.
“Our Neferet’s tendrils are fat and big—like supersized water moccasins.” As Kevin spoke he watched Aphrodite, and not just because he was obsessed. He’d noticed that she looked more waterlogged than the rest of them and kinda wonky. Then she flipped back her hair with a shaking hand.
Stark was saying, “Neferet wouldn’t go anywhere without those tendrils, and after being entombed for a year they’d definitely be ravenous enough to eat an apartment complex full of people.”
“She might be weaker than we think though,” said Z. “Otherwise, Neferet would be with them. She calls them her children.” She shuddered in disgust.
“Our Neferet is still here, but I’d bet this season’s Louboutin boots that Other Neferet and Lynette are not. I’d also bet breaking cray Neferet out of her tomb didn’t go anything like your Neferet planned,” said Aphrodite.
The prophetess was trying to sound normal, but Aphrodite was clutching her hands together to keep them from trembling. As she spoke, she looked up at Kevin. The rain washing down her face had turned pink with tears. And then all he saw were the whites of her eyes as they rolled back, and she collapsed. Kevin surged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
19
Aphrodite
Coming back to herself after a vision was always horrible, and this time was definitely no exception. Aphrodite had the mother of all migraines. Her eyes burned and watered uncontrollably, and, as per usual, she felt dizzy and confused—which made sense. She’d just experienced someone’s death with them, and it was almost always a really violent, really awful death. This time violent and awful were understatements.
“I don’t know why I can’t—just once—have a nice vision. Like one where the good guy or girl wins? Or even a sweet, easy death in someone’s sleep. I don’t mean to be
