“No problem.”
Stark hit the down button and the back of their limo filled with cold, wet air that smelled of earth.
Kevin stared out at the gray world as it sped by. “Wow. That’s a lot of mountains. Where are we?”
“Only about thirty minutes from the bridge to Skye.”
“So, do you think the queen’s gonna let us on the island?” Kevin repeated as he stared out the half-open window.
Stark shrugged. “Anastasia seems to think she will. She said Sgiach was pleased we’d kicked Neferet out of power.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely no love lost between Neferet and Sgiach, which is why I was surprised she’d go to Skye.”
Stark ran his hand through his shaggy hair. “Well, it’s not like Neferet went to Skye for the queen’s help. It’s more like if she’s here—or was here—she’s sneaking around trying to use Old Magick.”
Kevin grimaced. “Old Magick. That stuff is bad news. I am not looking forward to using it again.”
Stark studied him. He understood the pain that crossed his face. Kevin had lost Aphrodite to Old Magick—just days before—and the kid was definitely not over it.
“Maybe we won’t have to. She might still be here.”
Kevin snorted. “Not likely. If Neferet had planned on hanging around, she wouldn’t have taunted us in the elevator video after she killed Blake. And you heard what the London House of Night Warriors found out—that she’d ordered and eaten an entire dinner at a restaurant right down the street just minutes after she killed him. Let’s hope that douchebag’s last written words weren’t meant to throw us off.”
“I don’t think he was smart enough for that. Plus, Neferet killed him. Pretty gruesomely too. That’s fact. The video shows that the two of them were alone in that hotel room. They both went in. Only Neferet came out.”
“While I was sleeping was there any word from Dragon about a Neferet sighting around Skye?” Kevin asked.
Stark shook his head. “No word on a sighting, but the pilot finally opened his mouth.”
Kevin barked a laugh. “Did Dragon persuade him with his fists?”
“Actually, no. Anastasia got to him. Dragon said less than ten minutes alone with the guy and he told her everything. Neferet and Lynette Witherspoon, the human who was the flight coordinator at the private airport in Tulsa, had him fly them to London, where they deplaned. Neferet sent the jet on to Venice to await further instructions, which never came. He said he overheard the two of them talking about hiring a car to drive them to Skye. The human planned everything while Neferet slept for most of the flight. He heard her booking an entire B&B somewhere close to Skye, but she didn’t say the name of the place—or at least not so that he could hear it.”
“Yeah, Neferet was definitely lurking around Skye. She had to be messing with Old Magick.”
“Dragon said the pilot told Anastasia that not only was Lynette obviously with Neferet willingly, but she called her ‘goddess’ several times.”
Kevin’s gaze went from the darkening scenery to Stark. “Shit. That’s bad. The Neferet in Zo’s world became immortal.”
“Yeah, Anastasia’s guess is that’s Neferet’s goal—to become immortal too, and then return to Tulsa when she’s so powerful we won’t be able to stop her. And there are plenty of assholes like Loren Blake—”
“And your buddy, Dallas,” Kevin added.
“He’s not my damn buddy. But, yeah, there are plenty of assholes like him who would flock to an immortal Neferet so they’d be back in power.” Stark hesitated. The subject made him feel sick. When he supported Neferet and her war against humans he’d been doing what he thought was right—at first. But if he was honest with himself, he’d been questioning Neferet’s methods for quite a while. “I shoulda spoken against her. I shoulda stood up to her.”
“You did when it counted most. You were part of the reason all of the red vamps and fledglings got their humanity back. If you’d stood up to Neferet before then, I don’t know how we woulda stopped her,” Kevin said.
Stark picked at the jacket of the Koontz book. “I know that, but it still makes me feel like shit. Looking back, I don’t know how I let it go on for so long.”
“What could you have done?”
“Stood up to her,” said Stark, his voice grim with self-loathing.
“She would have killed you.”
“I could’ve joined the Resistance like Dragon and the rest of you.”
“Like I said, if you had, who woulda stopped Neferet from giving the order to the Red Army to kill the humans at the TU stadium?”
Stark moved restlessly in the cushy leather seat. “I hear ya, but I still hate that it took me so long to get it right.”
“Dude, forgive yourself and move on.”
One corner of Stark’s mouth lifted in the ghost of his cocky smile. “Except for the dude part, you sound a lot like your grandma.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The driver’s voice interrupted their conversation as it came through the speaker system in the rear of the limo. “Gentlemen, we’re approaching the bridge to the Isle of Skye. Remember that I will drop you off, but I will not wait there. I’ll be at the Lochalsh Hotel for one full day before returning to Inverness. You have my card. Call if you’re ready to return.”
Stark tapped on the raised, tinted glass that separated the driver from the rear of the limo. Silently, the panel slid down so that Stark could see the driver, who had an adult Mark that looked like sapphire smoke.
“Hey, what’s the problem with waiting by the bridge?” Stark asked.
The vamp gave him a dismissive glance in the rearview mirror before responding gruffly. “You’ll see soon enough. Anything else?”
“No, I guess no—” The driver didn’t wait for him to finish to put the partition up.
“Sheesh,” Kevin said. “Have you noticed no one over here is very friendly?”
“Yeah, but I don’t really blame them. It was our High Priestess who started a war with humans that is still not resolved. I
