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Kalona
"The clouds clear froood oh Priestess of Death, as standing before the busload of fledglings and vampyres who still had not left for their depot hoet our butts back to the depot," Stevie Rae said "But we all wish you good luck I just know if Neferet has Grandet her back!" She smiled that innocent, joyful sreement, then the bus&039;s doors closed and Darius drove away
Zoey said nothing before they left Nothing at all She&039;d just sat on the bus while everyone else talked and collected their schoolbooks and finished loading the bus But he could feel her eyes watching hih the her grandht as the school bus disappeared down Utica Street She could have at least wished me luck
"Nyx, I ask that you watch overthe Goddess&039;s nah Priestess was standing before him, arms raised, face lifted to the pre-dawn sky
"He has chosen to bind hih Priestess He is iven doht, Kalona has become its protector as well"
Thanatos&039;s voice was rich with power and as it brushed over Kalona&039;s skin, he tre! He held his breath as she continued
"Thus, I beseech your aid, benevolent Goddess of Night I ask that you strengthen his Allow his choice to shine and, like rayness of ht cloud his judgment and distract his intent Do not let hiht"
Kalona fisted his hands so that Thanatos would not see how they had begun to tre presence was tangible He could feel the sweet goodness that stirred the air in the wake of the Goddess It had always been so Wherever Nyx turned her iht, power and laughter, joy and love Always love
Kalona bowed his head How I haveof Nyx!"
The swirl of energy that followed Thanatos&039;s invocation washed against theh Priestess was s beatifically at hirateful his voice did not sound as shaken as he felt
"She did indeed," Thanatos said "And that is ood omen"
"I will not disappoint either you or the Goddess," Kalona said, then he sprinted and launched hi, not this time-I will not disappoint her this tiht and true The balcony of the Mayo ide and high He dropped easily to its cold stone surface froainst his naked back Yes, he&039;d come to her with his chest bared She preferred him that way
"Goddess, your Consort returns!" Kalona called, thankful for who or whatever had shattered the glass of the penthouse&039;s doorway It saved hi to aardly break it open should she not welcome hied failure" Her voice came from the shadows behind him in the far corner of the balcony, well away from the entrance to her penthouse
He turned slowly to face her, allowing her tiht of his naked chest and his powerful wings Neferet was a lusty creature She craved men, but even more than the physical pleasure she took fro doive her power, but a bull was not athe eons of s I haveyour side, Goddess," Kalona spoke truthfully, though the Goddess foremost in his mind was not Neferet
"So now you call me Goddess and you crawl back tohis wings to stir "Do I appear to be crawling?"
Neferet tilted her head She hadn&039;t moved from the shadows and all he could really see of her were her emerald eyes and the flaan to rise behind her
"No," she said, sounding bored "You appear to be flapping"
Kalona unfurled his wings and opened his araze and he focused his will on her Neferet had not long been immortal She would still be susceptible to his allure
"Look again, Goddess Gaze on your Consort"
"I see you You are not as young as I reet to whom you speak!" He tried to teotten how very much he had colided from the corner of shadows "It is you who comes to me Did you actually believe I would welcome you?"
The sun had lifted above the distant horizon, and as she approached him, Kalona was finally able to fully see her Neferet had continued to change She was still beautiful, but anything soft, mortal, human about her had been lost It was as if she were an exquisite statue that had been given the breath of life, but had been animated without a conscience, without a soul She had always been cold, but until now Neferet had er Kalona wondered if he was the only one who could see so clearly that she was beco a conduit for evil
"I did not believe it, but I did hope it, even though I have heard rumors that my place at your side has been usurped" He hoped she would e the shock in his voice for jealousy
Neferet&039;s ser than a bird, though I do ad down the bile that rose in this throat at the thought of touching her, Kalona closed the distance between thes forward so that the cold softness of his feathers stroked her skin
"I aer than a bird"
"Why should I take you back?" Neferet&039;s voice sounded emotionless, but Kalona could feel her skin tremble in anticipation under his caress
"Because you are a goddess and you deserve an i she could feel the frigid power of his moon-blessed immortality
"I already have an immortal Consort," Neferet said
"Not one who can do this" Kalona enfolded her in his wings Slowly, he knelt before her, his lips inches fro flesh "I will serve you"
"How?" Her voice betrayed no feeling, but her hand lifted to stroke the inside of his wing
Kalona closed hisexcept sensation and moaned
She continued to stroke him "How?" Neferet repeated the question and added, "Especially now that you serve another mistress"
He had expected her to know about his oath to Thanatos and he had an answer ready "The only mistress I can truly serve is a Goddess, and ifshe asks of ht his continued play on words would be a Neferet would believe he spoke of her, and actually he could be talking about any of the female deities But the moment he said the words, the truth of Kalona&039;s stateasp and lurch away froa with himself for eons ended with that one sentence I was created to serve one Goddess and one Goddess only Neferet e Nyx represented With his back to Neferet, Kalona buried his face in his hands How could I have ever thought she, or any other woman, could supplant Nyx&039;s place in my heart? I have spent centuries as a broken shell of h violence and lust and power Nothing! Nothing has worked!
He felt her hands on his shoulders They were soft and warently, she turned hi Kalona to face her When he lifted his head his body went very still Neferet had not followed him She had not moved She could not have touched him Neferet had never touched him with such kindness
But Nyx had
Kalona&039;s face felt wet Absently he brushed away the tears
"Hainst her chin, studying hin that Nyx had just been present before hiined his Goddess there? No! I remember her touch-her warmth-her kindness Nyx had been there Kalona willed himself to believe it
"Kalona, I cannot say that I am un how to speak to a real goddess Perhaps I will forgive your betrayal and allow you to love " Kalona spoke the word to his invisible Goddess, hoping that she was still present, still listening
"This tih I don&039;t want her killed, at least not yet I&039;ve decided tor" Neferet walked slowly to Kalona and let her fingernails scrape across his chest, breaking his skin and drawing thin lines of scarlet Neferet turned her hand so that his blood dripped down her fingers and into her pal his chest and closing the wounds Sotten how delicious you taste Follow "
Feeling utterly numb, Kalona did not otten Sylvia Redbird He wanted nothing except his Goddess
I cannot bear Neferet&039;s touch I cannot, even in pretense, open ain
It was the croaking of a raven that returned his focus He glanced behind hi the bird perched on the edge of the stone balustrade It watched hi eyes
Rephaim? Kalona mentally shook himself I swore not to disappoint Thanatos or Nyx, and I will not disappoint my son, either Yet I cannot bear the touch of this twisted version of my Goddess
Kalona couldn&039;t hts ene with you?" Neferet was standing just inside the shattered glass door to her penthouse Her eyes were narroith suspicion She lifted her hand Her pal his blood
"Come, a few of you Feed I ed I no longer tolerate disobedience"
Kalona watched the snake-like tendrils of Darkness slither froulfed Neferet&039;s hand, appearing to absorb it as well as his blood Kalona knew the tendrilsher pain They pulsed and writhed as they fed, but Neferet stroked thely
Kalona looked away Neferet disgusted him
He heard the moan then At first he believed the sound calanced back at her, she was still s the threads of Darkness The ain Kalona looked around the roo ere thick stained glass and, though the penthouse was on the top of the tall building, they let in little light Neferet had lit a few thick, white pillar candles Their flickering flames served as the only real illu except shadows and Darkness
Another tendril quivered fro a break in the inky shadows Solint of silver ht Kalona blinked, not certain he could trust his vision The immortal focused on the darkness and it took for fro Silver within the darkness flashed again, and Kalona saw soht within the cocoon-like shape Eyes-a huether for Kalona when he ed immortal stepped into the room
Sylvia Redbird shifted and, in a whispery, tremulous voice mumbled, "Noaround her, cutting into her skin Her blood dripped to join the pool that had already forry Darkness did not feed from the ready feast below theain, this ti outith her ared with turquoise stones and silver bracelets, ca strand quivered and pulled back quickly, giving off black s so that it released and another tendril slithered to take its place