Awakened

“Okay, I think I get that. I get to pick something, but once I pick it I’m pretty much on my own?”

“With my blessing,” she added.

Heath gri

The Goddess didn’t return his smile. Instead she met his gaze, and he saw all humor was gone from her expression. “I give you my blessing, but only if you find my path. I ca

“Why would I do that? It doesn’t even make sense,” Heath said.

“Hear me out, my son, and consider the choices I offer you; you will understand then.”

“Okay,” he said, but something about the tone of her voice made his gut tighten.

“Choice one is that you stay here in this realm. You will be content, as you have been. You will frolic eternally with my other joy-filled children.”

“Content doesn’t mean happy,” Heath said slowly. “I’m a jock, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” said the Goddess. “Choice two: you fulfill your original intent and are reborn. That may mean you stay here and frolic for a century or more, but you will eventually leap from this precipice and return to the mortal realm to be reborn as a human who will eventually find his soul mate again.”

“Zoey!” He spoke the one word that filled his mind, and as he spoke her name Heath wondered why it had taken him so long. What was wrong with him? Why had he forgotten her? Why hadn’t he—

Nyx’s hand touched his arm gently. “Do not punish yourself. The Otherworld can be intoxicating. You did not truly forget your love—you never could. You simply allowed the child within you to rule for a time. He would, eventually, have given way to the adult, and you would have remembered Zoey and your love for her. Under normal circumstances that is the way of things. But the world today is not normal, nor are our circumstances. So, I’m going to ask the child within you to grow up a little more quickly, if you so choose.”

“If it has to do with Zo, then I say yes.”

“Then hear me out, Heath Luck. You can find your Zoey again if you choose to be reborn as a human; I give you my promise on that. You and she are destined to be together, whether it is as vampyre and mate, or vampyre and consort. It will happen, and you can choose to make it happen in this lifetime.”

“Then I—”

Her upraised hand silenced him. “There is a third option from which you may choose. As I speak to you the mortal world is shifting and turning. The great shadow of Darkness in the form of the white bull has gained an unexpected foothold. Good and evil are no longer balanced because of it.”

“Well, can’t you just zap something and fix that?”

“I could if I hadn’t gifted my children with free will.”

“You know, sometimes folks are stupid and they need to be told what to do,” Heath said.

Nyx’s expression remained serious, but her dark eyes sparkled. “If I begin taking away free will and controlling the decisions of my sons and daughters, when does it end? Will I not simply become puppet master, and my children marionettes?”

Heath sighed. “I guess you’re right. I mean, you are a goddess and all, so I’m pretty sure you know what you’re talkin’ about, but it does sound easier.”

“Easier is rarely better,” she said.

“Yeah, I know. And that sucks,” Heath said. “So what about my third choice? Are you trying to tell me it has something to do with good and evil?”

“I am. Neferet has become an immortal, a creature of Darkness. This night she has allied herself with the purest evil that can manifest in the mortal realm, that of the white bull.”

“I know about that. I saw something like that try to get to us when I was first dead.”

Nyx nodded. “Yes, the white bull was awakened by the shifts of good and evil in the mortal world. It has been eons since he roamed between realms as he is doing today.” Heath was disturbed to see the Goddess shiver.

“What’s going on? What’s happening down there?”

“Neferet is being gifted with a Vessel, an empty, golem-type creature, created by Darkness through a terrible sacrifice and lust and greed and hatred and pain—that she can control completely. He will be her ultimate weapon, or at least that is what she desires. Had her sacrifice been more perfect, the Vessel would be the perfect weapon of Darkness, but there is a flaw in his creation, and that is where your choice comes in, Heath.”

“I don’t get it,” Heath said.

“The Vessel is meant to be a soulless machine, but because the sacrifice that fed his creation went awry, I am able to touch him.”

“Like he has an Achilles’ heel?”

“Yes, a little like that. Should you choose this option I would use the flaw in the creature’s creation, and through that weakness I would insert your soul into an otherwise empty Vessel.”

Heath blinked, trying to take in the enormity of what the Goddess was saying. “Would I know I’m me?”

“You would only know that which all reborn souls know—the most refined essence of what you are. That never fades, no matter how many lifetimes you circle through.” Nyx paused, smiled, and added, “And, of course, should you choose, you will also know love. That, too, never fades. It is only suppressed or missed or set aside to circle back around.”

“Wait, hang on. This creature is in Zoey’s world? Right now?”

“He is being created this night in Zoey’s modern world, yes.”

“By Neferet, Zo’s enemy?”

“Yes.”

“So Neferet is go

“I am quite sure that is her intent,” Nyx said.

“Huh,” he snorted. “With me inside him, she can try, but she’s not go

“Before you make your final choice, you must understand: you will not know yourself. Heath will be gone. Only your essence will remain—not your memories. And you will be dwelling within a being created to destroy that which you love most. You may very well succumb to Darkness.”

“Nyx, bottom line: does Zo need me?”

“She does,” the Goddess said.

“Then I pick the third choice. I want to be put in the Vessel,” Heath said.

Nyx’s smile was radiant. “I am proud of you, my son. Know that you return to the modern world with my very special blessing.”

From the air above her, the Goddess plucked a single strand of something that Heath thought looked like a shimmering thread of silver so bright and shining and beautiful that it made him gasp. She circled her fingers, so that the strand grew to a quarter-sized orb that glistened and glowed with an ancient, special light like a moonstone illuminated from within.

“That’s so totally cool! What is it?”

“Magick of the oldest kind. It is rarely present in the modern world; it does not suffer civilization well. But the white bull’s ancient magick created the Vessel, so it is only right that my ancient magick be there, too.”

As Nyx continued to speak, her voice took on a singsong tone that seemed to mix with and complement the beauty of the orb.

A window within the soul to see

Light and Magick I send with thee

Be strong, be brave, make the right choice

Though Darkness shouts with a terrible voice

Know that I am watching from above

And that always, always, the answer is love!

The Goddess flung the glowing orb at him and it filled Heath’s eyes, blinding him with its magick light and causing him to stagger backward so that he felt himself toppling over the edge of the gorge and falling, falling …

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Neferet

Her body ached, but Neferet didn’t mind. The truth was, she enjoyed the pain. She drew in a deep breath, automatically pulling to her the remnants of the white bull’s power that slithered in the shadows forming in the gloaming of predawn. Darkness strengthened her. Neferet ignored the gore that covered her skin. She stood.