Destined

“I call upon the power of the spirit of ancient immortals, which is mine by birthright to command. Take me to the blood of my blood, the son of my spirit. Take me to Rephaim!”

Zoey

“Help Rephaim! The bull’s gonna kill him!” Stevie Rae screamed and dropped the phone, which was instantly engulfed in the scarlet glow. She tried to get to her feet and go to Rephaim, but her body was trapped within the circle’s power. Desperately, she yelled at me, “Close the circle! Let me help him!”

I didn’t hesitate. We’d seen the truth of Mom’s murder. The circle could be closed. “Spirit, earth, water, fire, air—I release you!”

But my words made no difference. The red glow still imprisoned us.

“What’s happening?” Stevie Rae was sobbing and struggling futilely to stand.

“Death has put this spell in motion,” Thanatos repeated. She sounded sad, resigned. “Only death can release it.”

“You represent death. You release us!” I said.

“I cannot.” She looked old and defeated. “Forgive me.”

“No! That’s not good enough. You have to—”

Before I could complete the words, Aurox lowered his horrible head to charge at Rephaim again. Bleeding and battered, Dragon Lankford staggered between the boy and the creature, taking the blow meant for Rephaim. Aurox’s horn caught Dragon in the middle of his chest, lifting him off his feet as the bull gored completely through the Sword Master. Aurox stepped back, shaking his head so that Dragon’s body came loose and slid to the ground. We watched Dragon shudder, cough, and with his last breath he looked toward our circle and said, “If only death can release you, then my death releases you…”

Aurox roared his victory and circled around Dragon to resume his attack on Rephaim.

But Dragon’s death changed everything. The red glow lifted from the circle. It went so high that it seemed to touch the moon. In the sky it exploded and a pure silver mist fell back to earth bathing everything gently in a warm, spring-scented rain.

The instant she was released Stevie Rae ran forward, calling, “Earth, come to me! Protect Rephaim!”

But the green glow that appeared instantly around Rephaim wasn’t needed. As the silver rain washed over the bull, the creature’s body jerked and twitched and then stumbled. I blinked and wiped my face, trying to clear my vision, but I realized there was nothing wrong with my sight. The bull-thing was melting, changing, shifting, and within moments Aurox, the boy who’d saved me from the falling branch, was standing in his place.

He blinked several times and looked around as if he was confused, as if he didn’t know where he was.

“Stay away from him!” Stevie Rae snarled at Aurox as she stood between him and Rephaim. Her hands were glowing green.

Aurox took a hesitant step back, shaking his head. He was looking around, still obvious dazed. I saw the moment his gaze found Dragon’s gored body.

“No!” Aurox said. “No.” He looked from the Sword Master’s battered body and his gaze found me. “Zoey! I chose a different future. I did!”

Then Stark and Darius were there, descending on him with swords raised. Aurox was still shaking his head and saying over and over again, “I chose a new future … I chose a new future…” but no matter what his words said, I could see that his body was beginning to ripple again. He was shifting back into the bull. Stark and Darius were going to kill him.

Darkness does not always equate to evil; light does not always bring good. See with true sight, child … see with true sight …

Nyx’s voice filled my mind and I knew what I had to do. I lifted the seer stone from where it hung between my breasts, drew a deep breath, and looked through it at Aurox.

Seen through the stone the boy’s body radiated a moonstone glow from its center, near his heart. The glow expanded until it shielded Aurox completely. And then I realized what the glow actually was—it was the image of another body, one that was ghostly, ethereal, and it wasn’t so much shielding Aurox as overshadowing him because it was so bright.

And familiar.

“Heath!” I screamed his name. Aurox, already partially changed into the creature, swung his head around to look at me. The glowing vision of Heath moved with him and, just for an instant, our gazes met. I saw Heath’s eyes widen in surprise. “Earth!” I borrowed from the elemental energy Stevie Rae had already manifested. “Protect Aurox. Don’t let Stark and Darius hurt him!” Some of the green glow that hovered around Rephaim spread through the ground and then lifted in front of Aurox, forming a wall between him and the two Warriors.

“Zoey, what in the hell are you doing?” Stark said, trying to get around the wall of protection.

“I know what I’m doing,” I told Stark, but my gaze never left Aurox. But Aurox wasn’t human anymore. The creature was fully formed and the image of Heath was gone. The beast roared with rage and agony and despair, dropped his head, and charged directly at me.

I know it was moronic, but I didn’t move. Instead I kept staring into his eyes and sounding way more calm and certain than I felt as I said, “You won’t hurt me. I know you won’t.”

At the last instant Aurox veered to the side. Missing my body by inches, he passed so close to me that I could smell the blood and death on him, and feel the brush of his skin. Then he disappeared into the night.

I don’t know whether it was adrenaline or stupidity that had kept me on my feet up ’til then, but both suddenly deserted me and I went down smack on my butt. The green wall disappeared and Stark ran to me.

“Are you hurt? Are you okay? What the hell is wrong with you?” Stark crouched beside me and fired questions at me as he ran his hands all over my body. “Are you bleeding?”

I grabbed his hands, holding tight to him, hoping he couldn’t tell how badly my own hands were shaking. “I’m fine. Really.”

“You’re stupid. Really,” Aphrodite said, looking down her nose at me. “Seriously, Z. It’s either that or you’re delusional. Bullboy is not Heath.”

“Hell no he’s not Heath,” Stark said, looking at Aphrodite like she’d lost her mind.

So he didn’t hear me. Good, maybe no one else heard me. I can handle Aphrodite. Later. Just then I ignored her, which was easy because Grandma was hurrying up looking as worried as Stark. “Did he harm you?”

I tugged on Stark’s hands and he helped me up. Then I hugged Grandma. “No, I’m okay.”

She gave me a reassuring squeeze and didn’t call me stupid. Instead she said, “Rephaim is not.”

“Uh-oh.” Damien, Erin, and Shaunee had joined Stevie Rae where she knelt at Rephaim’s side. We started over to them. Under her breath, Aphrodite said, “This is gonna be bad. Really bad.”

I meant to keep my eyes from looking at Dragon’s body, but they didn’t listen to me. He’d fallen not far from Rephaim. Just seeing his face I would have thought he was sleeping. I mean, except for the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth he actually looked more at peace than he had since Anastasia’s death. It was his body that was a disaster. Both arms had wounds in them. Aurox’s horn had ripped through the fabric of his pants leaving one of his thighs a hamburger meat–looking mess. His chest was a terrible thing to see. His ribs had splintered around the hole. From his chest down, blood was everywhere.

I was standing there, staring, when Thanatos’s velvet cloak swirled into view. She’d unclasped the brooch that held it over her shoulders and, with a flourish, the High Priestess covered Dragon’s body. She had an odd expression on her face, and I was trying to figure out what was going on, when she spoke.

“You may move on now. You were destined to either die this night with your oath reclaimed, your path true —or to emerge from this night with your body alive, but your spirit dead to all that is honorable.” Thanatos smiled, and I realized her expression looked odd because she was talking to the air above Dragon’s body. “By sacrificing yourself for Rephaim you found mercy again, and through it, our Goddess.” Thanatos made a sweeping gesture up with her arm, and I thought she looked incredibly graceful and totally beautiful. “There is your path. Move on to the Otherworld and your new future.”

Then I gasped as the sky above Thanatos shivered. Night parted and a familiar tree came into view. It was green and lush, a rowan and hawthorn twined together. The pieces of cloth that were tied to its massive umbrella of branches kept changing colors and lengths as they waved gently in a warm breeze that smelled of earth and