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candle that sat there, smelling like lavender and my childhood. I breathed deeply. Then I told Stark, “Get dressed and meet me in the basement.”

I walked quickly. I didn’t want to wait for anyone, not even Stark. I needed some time by myself to focus on spirit—to draw strength from the element that was closest to me. I needed to be brave and strong and smart, and the truth was I wasn’t all of those things—or at least I wasn’t all of those things at the same time. I remembered that I’d asked Grandma once how she got to be so smart. She’d laughed and told me she surrounded herself with smart people, and she never stopped being willing to listen and learn.

“Okay,” I said as I climbed up the metal ladder that led from the tunnels below the depot up to the basement entrance. “I have smart friends. I can listen. And, in theory, I can learn. That’s what I’ll do.”

I walked to what looked like the center of the basement, and then sat, cross-legged, and put the candle on the cold, cement floor. Holding the lighter in my hand, I closed my eyes and took three deep centering breaths, in and out, in and out, in and out. Eyes still closed I said, “Spirit, you are my heart. You fill me and give me strength. I ask you, please come to me spirit!” Then I opened my eyes and lit the purple candle.

The flame turned silver. I felt the inrush of the element and suddenly all of the turmoil and confusion that had filled my mind and soul since Aurox had said Grandma was missing dissolved. I was strengthened by spirit as it rushed around and through me as the silver flame of the purple candle danced in what seemed like joyous response. I nodded. “Okay, now I get busy. First step. Find out what the hell is going on.” I pulled the phone from my pocket and punched Thanatos. It might be smart to wait belowground for the sun to set so that I had my red vamp backups with me, but that did not mean I went to bed quietly like a child scampering home before curfew.

Her phone was ringing as Kalona pulled the rusted grate aside and Thanatos strode into the basement, followed by the winged Warrior and Aurox.

I hit END CALL, and stood. I’d opened my mouth to ask Thanatos what the hell she was doing and why the hell she’d brought Aurox here when my mind caught up with my vision. Kalona was covered with pink slashes and spatters of blood. It looked like someone had been beating him with a whip made out of razor blade.

“Grandma? Where is she?”

Kalona halted in front of me. His amber eyes held mine. As he stood there, several of the pink slashes opened and began to cry blood. His body is vulnerable down here, down in the earth, I remembered. It’s difficult for him to heal. But I didn’t acknowledge that he’d willingly entered the earth even though it was obvious he was wounded. He was a Warrior. It was his oath sworn job to protect.

“Where is she?” I repeated.

“Neferet’s penthouse. The Tsi Sgili has her imprisoned by tendrils of Darkness,” he said.

“Why didn’t you get her out of there?” I wanted to raise my fists and beat against his chest and open more of the cuts and make him hurt as badly as I was hurting—as badly as Grandma was hurting. But I didn’t. I only wounded him with my eyes and my words. “You said if Neferet had her, you would rescue her. Darkness has been your BFF for centuries! Why couldn’t you rescue her?”

“The minions of Darkness no longer obey Kalona. He has truly chosen to return to the path of Nyx, thus he is allied with evil no more,” Thanatos said.

“Oh, just fucking great. Talk about shit timing skills, Kalona,” Aphrodite said. She and Darius and Stark had climbed up the ladder, followed by Shaunee, Damien, and, I was surprised to see, Shaylin.

“So why did you run? Why the hell didn’t you fight the tendrils, beat them, and grab Grandma Redbird?” Stark said. “Supposedly protecting Nyx against Darkness used to be your full-time job before you messed that up. Did you forget how to do it?”

Kalona rounded on Stark. “Do I look as if I ran from a battle?”

Stark didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, you’re here. Grandma’s not. You fucking ran!”

Kalona snarled and took a step toward Stark. Darius pulled a knife from his sleeve and Stark lifted his ever- present bow. Pissed as hell, I stepped between them.

“This is not helping, Kalona! Tell me why Grandma’s still being held by Neferet,” I said.

“I could have battled those puppets of Darkness for days. I would have eventually been victorious over them. It would have cost me little except blood and pain. But their command was not to war with me. They had been commanded to feed from my blood to strengthen themselves so that they could break through the earth power with which Sylvia Redbird has girded herself.”

“Go on. Tell me everything.” I sounded strong, but I had to press my hand against my mouth to keep from sobbing. I will not cry!

“Turquoise and silver—earth power. That protects her, but with my blood filling the tendrils, they were able to begin breaking through that protection. Had I stayed and continued to battle them, I would have been victorious, but Sylvia Redbird would have been dead.”

“We must have a creature made of Darkness to break through the cage of Darkness that imprisons your grandmother,” Thanatos said.

“That creature is me.” Aurox stepped forward.

“Oh, for shit’s sake! We are absolutely fucked!” Aphrodite said.

Sadly, I had to agree with her.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Zoey

“I can do it. I was created by Darkness, from Darkness,” Aurox said. “The tendrils will not feed from me—it would be like eating themselves. I may even be able to command them. If they will not obey my command, then I will vanquish them and rescue Sylvia Redbird. Zoey, I care very much for Grandma. I can save her. I know it.”

“You can’t control that shit inside you!” Stark shouted. “Sure, Neferet will let you into her penthouse. Are you kidding, why shouldn’t she? She has plenty of blood from Grandma. She’ll just use some of it to feed Darkness and control you. Again!”

“The tendrils cannot feed from Sylvia Redbird’s blood,” Kalona said. “Neferet admitted it, and I witnessed it myself. I can only guess that her blood is protected by the same earth magick that shields her body.”

“But you can still be controlled, right?” Damien had walked up to Aurox. His voice was clinical and I knew he was accessing all the biology files he had in his very big brain. “You are a Vessel created by Darkness. So the beast within you, which is basically a creature formed from the evil of the white bull, morphs without a sacrifice. We saw it happening earlier when Stark and Darius hit you.”

“The beast feeds on violence and hatred, lust and pain. That is true,” Aurox said.

“But you have some control over it. You did not actually change earlier,” Thanatos said.

“I try not to change. I try to control it.”

“Well, do you have a clue how you’ve kinda controlled it so far?” Stevie Rae asked, joining the rest of us.

“No.” Aurox sounded miserable.

“And that is why we are here. We must teach Aurox to control this change, at least long enough for him to break through the cage of Darkness that binds Sylvia Redbird so that he can throw her from the balcony of Neferet’s lair,” Thanatos said.

“Throw her?” My voice squeaked, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I felt like my head was going to explode.

“I will hover there and catch her and fly her to safety,” Kalona said.

“And how long do we have to figure out how not to push Aurox’s buttons and grab Grandma?” Aphrodite asked.

“I would not expect her to live another night,” Kalona said.

“Well,” I said. “Then let’s get to work.” I looked at Aurox. “Do you really care about my grandma?”

“I do. Very much. I would give my life to save her if I need to.”

“You may need to,” I said. Then I looked from him to Stark and Darius and Kalona. “Sounds like you need to