Burned

me.

Aphrodite felt a warmth begin to build under her palm, and then it was like she’d slipped from her own body and slid into Zoey’s. She was only within her friend for a moment—no longer than one heartbeat—but what she felt and saw and knew shocked her so badly that, in the next instant, she found herself back in her own body. She cradled the hand she’d been pressing against Zoey to her chest, gasping with fear. Then, with a moan, she doubled up with vertigo, dry heaving while tears and spit spewed from her face.

“What is it, Prophetess? What did you see?” Thanatos asked calmly as she wiped Aphrodite’s cheeks and steadied her with a strong hand around her waist.

“She’s gone!” Aphrodite bit back the sob and began pulling herself together. “I felt what happened to her. Just for a second. Zoey threw the full power of spirit at Kalona. She tried to stop him with everything inside her, and it didn’t work. Heath died in front of her. That ripped her spirit to pieces.” Feeling weirdly light-headed, she looked hopelessly through her tears at Thanatos. “You know where she is, too, don’t you?”

“I believe I do. You must confirm it, though.”

“The pieces of her spirit are with the dead in the Otherworld,” Aphrodite said, blinking hard against the stinging of her red-tinged eyes. “Zoey is completely gone. What happened out there, she just couldn’t handle it—she still can’t.”

“You saw nothing more? Nothing that might help Zoey?”

Aphrodite swallowed back rising bile, and lifted her trembling hand. “No, but I’ll try again and—”

Darius’s touch on her shoulder held her back from touching Zoey.

“No. You’re still too weak from the breaking of your Imprint with Stevie Rae.”

“That doesn’t matter. Zoey’s dying!”

“It matters. Do you want your soul to become as Zoey’s?” Thanatos said quietly.

Aphrodite felt a stab of new terror. “No,” she whispered, and covered Darius’s hand with her own.

“And this is exactly why it is often unfortunate that the young are given great gifts by our loving Goddess. They rarely have the maturity to know how to use them wisely,” Neferet said.

At the sound of Neferet’s cool, patronizing voice, Aphrodite saw a jolt go through Stark’s body, and his gaze finally lifted from Zoey.

“This creature shouldn’t be allowed in here! She did this! She killed Heath and shattered Zoey!” Stark sounded like he had to grind the words around gravel to speak them.

Neferet shot him a cool look. “I realize you are under duress, but you cannot be allowed to speak to a High Priestess in that fashion, Warrior.”

Stark surged to his feet. Darius, lightning fast as always, held him back. Aphrodite heard him whisper urgently, “Think before you act, Stark!”

“Warrior,” Duantia addressed Stark, “you were present when the human boy was killed, and Zoey’s soul shattered. You have borne witness to us that it was the winged immortal who did the deed. You said nothing of Neferet.”

“Ask any of Zoey’s friends. Call Lenobia and Dragon Lankford at the Tulsa House of Night. All of them will tell you Neferet doesn’t have to be physically present to cause someone’s death,” Stark said. He shook off Darius’s restraining hand and swiped angrily at his face as if he just noticed he’d been crying.

“Sh-she can make really horrendous things happen even when she’s not there,” Damien spoke up hesitantly from across the room. The Twins and Jack tearfully but forcefully nodded their support.

“There is no proof that Neferet had a hand in this deed,” Duantia said gently to all of them.

“Can’t you tell what happened to Heath? Couldn’t you talk to his ghost or whatever and find out?” Aphrodite asked Thanatos, who had returned to her throne when Neferet had begun to speak.

“The human’s spirit did not tarry in this realm, and before it departed, it certainly didn’t seek me out,” Thanatos said.

“Where’s Kalona!” Stark ignored everyone else and shouted at Neferet. “Where are you hiding your lover, who caused this?”

“If you mean my immortal consort, Erebus, that is exactly why I have come to the Council.” Neferet turned her back to Stark and spoke only to the seven Council members. “I, too, felt Zoey’s soul shatter. I had been walking the labyrinth and mentally preparing myself to depart San Clemente Island for what might be a very long time.”

Neferet had to pause because Stark snorted sarcastically, and said, “You and Kalona plan to take over the world from Capri. So, no, you probably won’t be returning here in the near future unless you mean to drop bombs on the place.”

Darius touched his shoulder again in a silent warning to be careful, but Stark shook him off.

“I do not deny that Erebus and I wish to bring back the ancient days, when vampyres ruled from Capri, and the world revered and respected us, as is our due,” Neferet began by addressing him. “But I would not destroy this island or this Council. In truth, I wish for its support.”

“You mean its power, and now that Zoey’s out of the way, you have a better chance of getting that,” Stark said.

“Really? Did I misunderstand what passed between your Zoey and my Erebus earlier today in this very Council Chamber? She admitted he was an immortal seeking a goddess to serve.”

“She never named him as Erebus!” Stark shouted.

“And my immortal Erebus kindly named her as fallible instead of a liar,” Neferet said.

“So what did you do, Neferet? Force him to kill Heath and shatter Zoey’s soul because you were jealous of the bond between them?” Stark said, though it was obvious to Aphrodite that it was tough for him to admit there had been so much between Zoey and Kalona.

“Of course not! Use your mind and not your pathetic broken heart, Warrior! Could Zoey have forced you to kill an innocent for her? Of course she couldn’t. You’re her Warrior, but you still have free will, and you’re still bound to Nyx, so you must ultimately do the Goddess’s will.” Without allowing Stark to speak, she turned back to the Council. “As I was explaining, I felt Zoey’s soul shatter and was returning to the palace when I came upon Erebus. He was badly wounded and barely conscious. There was only time for him to say these words: ‘I was protecting my Goddess,’ and then he was gone.”

“Kalona’s dead?” Aphrodite couldn’t stop herself from blurting.

Instead of answering her, Neferet turned to look up at the entrance to the Chamber. Standing there were four Council Warriors carrying between them a litter that sagged with the weight of its occupant. One black wing spilled over the side of the litter and dragged on the floor.

“Bring him forward!” Neferet commanded.

Slowly, they descended the steps until they laid the litter on the floor in front of the dais. Stark and Darius automatically moved together to stand between Zoey’s body and Kalona.

“Of course he isn’t dead. He is Erebus, an immortal,” Neferet began in her familiar, haughty voice, but then she broke, and on a sob said, “He isn’t dead, but as you can all see, he’s gone!”

Almost as if she couldn’t control herself, Aphrodite stood and approached Kalona. Darius was beside her in an instant.

“No. Do not touch him,” he warned.

“Whether we call him Erebus or not, it is obvious that this being is an ancient