Neferet bent and lifted the weapon. It was icy to touch, but surprisingly light and perfectly balanced. Then she curtsied low again to the bull. “My lord! You honor us with such a gift. Thank you.”
Do not thank me, my heartless one. Amuse me …
When she rose from her curtsy, the bull was gone. Her smile was fierce and feral. She twirled the spear, admiring how the streetlight glinted off the deadly tips. “Oh, children, we are very pleased with this. Imagine how delightful it will be to skewer the impostor.”
Her children wriggled around her, reflecting her pleasure.
“But first, let us begin to gather our army. Once Tulsa is ours, we will expand from here and we shall order our soldiers to scour the world for that lesser one than us and our Lynette. One thing at a time, children. One thing and then the next.”
As she spoke to her children, Neferet moved to a rusted steel grate that was the exact duplicate of the one that had been used to guard the basement of the depot in her world before it had been renovated by Zoey Redbird and the traitors who followed her. She struck her new weapon against it and was delighted when the rusty iron shattered. The tendrils of Darkness descended into the basement before her, sweeping aside what remained of the grate. Neferet followed, frowning with distaste at the rubble and filth that littered the basement. She was quite certain she smelled feces and vomit.
“This will not do. Not at all,” she muttered, and her children mirrored her annoyance by slithering restlessly around her feet. “No matter, children,” Neferet said. “It is only temporary. Soon we shall rest comfortably in our suite at the House of Night. We do so hope the impostor has adequate taste.” She shook herself. “Be ready, my dears. And show yourselves. The vampyres here understand one thing—power.”
Neferet took position in the middle of the basement. She lifted the double-pointed spear and brought one end of it down, hard, on the broken cement floor. It collided with a thunderous clang that would’ve deafened a lesser being.
She raised the lance again—and again struck the floor with it. She repeated the action a third time and as she did she called, “Vampyres, come to us!” Then Neferet waited.
It wasn’t long before they poured up from the hole in the far end of the basement that led to the extensive tunnel system below. They had weapons drawn and looked ready for a fight. The soldiers were led by a tall, thin vampyre who was completely familiar to Neferet.
“Ah, Dallas, we are pleased that our information was correct, and you and your soldiers are here.”
His eyes went huge as he staggered to a halt several yards from her. Behind him was a group of mean-looking soldiers—all with blue Marks. They milled together by the tunnel entrance, staring at her.
“Neferet?”
“Yes and no.”
“What are you?”
“I am of another world. I am your goddess. And we have much to do.”
“I—I don’t understand,” he paused and then added, “Goddess.”
“Oh, we think you do, General Dallas.” She watched his expression change at the title. “How would you and your soldiers like to fight for us—a Goddess of Darkness—who will rule two worlds and subjugate all who stand against us? We know you have had a small taste of power—and then that taste was stolen from you and you have been denied more—relegated to this pathetic cleanup detail to ready these tunnels for vampyres too weak to live. We are offering you more—an entire feast of power and the freedom to partake of it as much as you desire.”
Dallas’s smile was a baring of teeth. He approached her and dropped to his knees. “Goddess, I would like that very much.”
“Excellent. Now, let us talk weapons, and we do not mean archaic swords and knives. We mean modern weapons of war our less powerful but progressive namesake stashed in the basement of the House of Night.”
Dallas’s face lit. “Finally! A goddess willing to do what it takes to win!” He bowed deeply to her and then continued. “They’re still in the basement. Neferet didn’t get a chance to use them before she was run out of town.”
She skittered closer and was impressed when her new general didn’t flinch back. Her long fingers reached out and stroked his cheek. His bright, mean eyes met hers and the immortal easily read his soul. This one desires accolades and power more than sex or even blood. His need for violence is his addiction. “Tell me, General Dallas, could you and your soldiers reach the basement undetected to coordinate an attack with us?”
He shivered with pleasure. “Yes, Goddess. But what will we be attacking?”
“The House of Night, of course. And from there, first one world and then the next.”
“I will do as you command, my powerful Goddess of Darkness.” Dallas bowed deeply to her and all of the vampyres behind him dropped to their knees as well. Neferet was pleased to note a female fledgling or two with the soldiers. Excellent. It is past time I raised my own brand of Dark Priestesses …
“Now, listen closely, we have no time to waste. The faster we take the House of Night—the sooner the world will be ours. Here is what we command you do …”
30
Other Kevin
Anastasia lifted her hand, and the Council Room went silent. “So, our consensus is we are going to have to find this world’s Neferet so that we can fulfill the prophetic poem and raise Kalona?”
Zoey nodded. “Sadly, I really do think so. I mean, we’ve been going around and around about it for a couple hours now, and no one has come up with
