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Stone … I wish … I do so wish…
The death of the mayor did not fuel her far Too soon Neferet’s fleetness faltered Waves of weakness broke over her body with such intensity that she stu for breath
No houses here Where ahtness of the 1920s style streetlights that dotted the park Instinctively, she hts and deeper into the shrubs and winding paths in the heart of the park
It was on the s azalea bushes, that Neferet’s breath finally returned to her, allowing her thoughts to clear enough that she recognized her location
Woodward Park--not far fro for Tulsa’s don skyline The Mayo is too far away I’ll not make it there before dawn And even if she could reach her penthouse before the sun lifted froth, hoould she get past the hu her Uncloaked, she would be a naked, blood-covered vaht their mayor had been killed by a vampyre
Perhaps she should have considered her alternatives more carefully before she’d ended LaFont’s miserable life
Neferet felt her first sliver of panic She had not been this alone and vulnerable since the night her father had killed her innocence
The Tsi Sgili shuddered, reers; and the stench of his fetid breath
Neferet sobbed, reirl, and the Darkness that had soothed her broken innocence "Have all of you deserted me? Have none of my dark children remained faithful to me?"
As if in answer, the bushes before her whispered with ed The creature stared at her with no visible fear Neferet ed by the beauty of its areen eyes
The fox is athered the remnants of her power Silently and swiftly, she struck, breaking the fox’s neck with a single blow While the light faded from its eyes, Neferet laid the body across her lap and clawed open the dying creature’s throat She lifted the fox so that its blood ran sluggishly down her ar rain
"If it is a sacrifice you need, then for you doth this creature bleed! This blood only opens the door Return to me and Tulsa will pay you more … more!"
The deepest shadows beneath the azalea bushes stirred Slowly, almost tentatively, a few threads of Darkness slithered toward Neferet
The Tsi Sgili blinked tears from her eyes They hadn’t abandoned her! She bit her lip to keep froratitude when the first of the tendrils brushed its frigid flesh against her while it sank into the waran to feed Others soon joined it, and though there didn’t come forth the hundreds, even thousands, of tendrils she had once coh of theround around her had been transforht deeply, feeling the power that pulsed through it If she could just remain with her familiar threads she could feed them, and in turn they would hide her and nurture her until she truly regained her strength, and her purpose
My purpose? What is my purpose?
Memories flooded her weakened irl--your purpose is to be Lady of Wheiler House! She was a young High Priestess--your purpose is to follow the Path of the Goddess! She was a un to listen to the whispers of Darkness that seemed to drift to her on the wind--your purpose is to help n at ht and ick--your purpose is to ah!" Neferet cried, burying her face in the soft, h of others tellingthe remnants of her pride and power to her "I killed and you have fed Now to succor and safety I will be led!"
The tendrils of Darkness rippled, wrapping around her bare legs, gently tugging, co her forward Wordlessly, Neferet followed Darkness to a path that led to a wide stone stairway that e until she stood on the street level of the erotto-like area tucked between landscaping and pathways Rock and shrubs rass that eventually led to Twenty-first Street The threads released their hold on her and disappeared into the cleft in the stones Again, Neferet followed therotto She drew a deep, fortifying breath as she crawled into the utter blackness, and paused in surprise at the musty, wild scent that surrounded her within