“Batshit. I like it. It suits her. Oh, that’s why Zoey’s Aphrodite is coming to your world. I assume she’s with Zoey?”
“Yeah, and her circle and some other help.”
“Good. You’ll do fine.”
They’d come to the edge of the grove, and when they stepped out of it, they were on a small patch of ground that led to a cliff—that led to nothing.
Aphrodite walked to the edge of the cliff with Kevin and James following more slowly behind.
“How do you know I’ll do fine?” Kevin asked.
“Oh, that’s easy. Because you have the most powerful force in the universe on your side—love. And you’ll be surrounded by your friends who also are on the side of love and Light. Kev, Darkness may seem unbeatable, but think about it. People who have given themselves over to Darkness to gain power have actually lost anything that is actually powerful, like honor and courage and truth. The bad guys may win some battles—may defeat some of us—but they won’t win the war. They have no substance. They fight for no one but their own selfish desires. How could that ever be stronger than the power of love?”
“When she puts it that way, it does make sense,” said James.
“You’re right,” said Kevin. He turned to Aphrodite. Today she was wearing a pair of jeans that were baggy and decorated with embroidered flowers that kept blooming over and over again. Her top was a tank that showed her tanned shoulders. Her hair was wild and wavy and free—and her feet were bare. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Her lips turned up and her blue eyes shone. “Thank you. I love your face too.”
“Hey, uh, how do we get home from here?” James was peering over the edge into unending blackness.
“You just have to ‘Dorothy’ and step off the edge,” she said.
“Dorothy?” James asked.
Kevin laughed. “Dorothy! Like in The Wizard of Oz.”
“Exactly.”
James frowned. “We click our heels together?”
Aphrodite sighed. “Oh, Bow Boy, your attitude is better, but you still have a lot to learn. And FYI—Ice Cream Shoes can help you if you let her.”
James’s body jerked in shock. “How do you know about Kacie?”
“Us ghosts—we know things,” she teased. “So, Kev, do you know how to Dorothy?”
“It’s not about the shoes. It’s about wanting to go home for real,” he said.
“Your brain was half the reason I fell in love with you,” she grinned.
“What was the other half?” he asked.
“That gorgeous chest and those muscly arms—of course. Now, you have to go. And you can’t come back this way again.”
Kevin felt his stomach clench. “Wait, why not?”
Her hand started to lift as if she would touch his cheek, but it dropped to her side instead. Her voice was kind but firm. “Because it’s not good for you. You’re alive, Kevin. Live. Someday, after a life filled with love and adventures, I’ll see you again. But not for a long time. Remember that part.”
He bowed his head, struggling with his emotions.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Also, remember that love will be here, waiting for you, just like I waited for your call today. Do something for me?”
He lifted his head, wiped away his tears, and nodded. “Anything.”
“Open yourself to the flame of love. Let it burn away your sadness so that only the memory of happiness is left. And, someday, we’ll meet again.”
“Will we?”
“Of course. Love always finds a way,” she said. “Now go, and take my love and my blessing with you. Merry meet, merry part, and we will merry meet again.”
Aphrodite backed quickly into the grove and disappeared.
Feeling old, Kevin turned to face the cliff. James was beside him and he bumped him with his arm.
“You okay?”
Kevin nodded. “I think I will be. You know how to do this?”
“Well, if I get the analogy right, we just have to think of home and really want to be there.”
“You got it right,” Kevin said.
James met his gaze. “Can you do that?”
“Yes. There are people at home waiting for me—counting on me to return.” As Kevin spoke he realized that he did want to go home—he did want to live. “Aphrodite was right. I do have a life I need to live.” He moved to the very edge. “Let’s go home.”
Kevin Redbird and James Stark jumped.
Time had no meaning. Kevin couldn’t tell if a minute or a month had passed before his feet landed against solid ground. He didn’t even fall. It was like he’d just stepped off the side of a curb. Feeling disoriented, Kevin opened his eyes to see his g-ma standing before him at the big tree near the east wall. He felt James land beside him and heard him mutter, “Wow, that was easy.”
But his focus was on his g-ma. She opened her arms. Kevin stepped into her embrace and let her love round off the last sharp edges of his grief, leaving just the bittersweet ache of missing Aphrodite, which would remain with him for the rest of his life.
29
Neferet
At dusk, as she awoke from a deep sleep, Neferet called her children to her and began the final preparations for their journey to the Other World.
“Go, quickly. Feed. We do not care who you kill, just be certain they are not our neighbors. We will not have what we plan inconveniently interrupted by the banal TPD. Hurry, now, my darlings. There is no time to waste. We have things to do and worlds to cross.”
While the tendrils of Darkness hunted, Neferet bathed and dressed carefully. She chose a lovely gown from one of the closets in the expansive villa. It was a simple Grecian-style dress that left one shoulder bare and was made of a cream-colored fabric that draped alluringly—almost hiding the fact that she was emaciated. She left her auburn
