Redeemed

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m staying here,” Aphrodite said.

“You have to. If she gets past us, you and Darius and Marx have got to get the people out of here. Go to the Benedictine abbey. Hide in the tu

Aphrodite took me by the shoulders and met my gaze. In a firm, loud voice she said, “I’m going to pray that you’re as smart and strong as I’ve thought you were since the first day I met you. You can stop her. I know you can. Just believe in yourself.”

“And us,” Stevie Rae said. She and the rest of my circle were standing by the door. “Believe in all of us, Z. We won’t let you down.”

“Then let’s go,” I said. “Let’s stop her for good.”

“Where are we going?” Stark asked.

“To Woodward Park.” I looked at Marx. “Get on your radio. Tell your men to pull back. And tell them while they’re getting out of her way they need to shout to each other that Zoey and her vampyres are circling in the park, waiting to trap her.”

“She’ll come straight to you,” Marx said.

“That’s the plan,” I said.

“Blessed be,” Darius said.

“Merry meet, merry part, and we will merry meet again,” I said. And then we sprinted to the parking lot and piled into the Hummer.

It only took a few minutes to get to Woodward Park. “Drive the Hummer over by the ridge, the one that faces downtown.” As I gave Stark direction, I had a burst of realization. Holy crap! That might be it!

“Isn’t that where you thought you killed those men?” Stark said.

“Yes!” Get us there, fast!”

Stark barreled over the curb and floored the Hummer, fishtailing to a stop under a blackened oak. We all rushed out of the vehicle.

“Okay, listen guys,” I said. “I have a plan—it’s a small one, but at least it’s something. At the base of the ridge is the grotto Neferet hid in before she killed the two men I thought I’d killed.”

“Want us to circle around it, Z?” Stevie Rae asked.

“No. I’m going to stand at the top of those stone stairs, right over there.” I pointed. There was only one streetlight working in the park—the place had been pretty messed up by the fire the lightning had caused. But that one light was enough for us to see the stone path that led between clumps of scorched azaleas and emptied into wide, rough stairs descending to street level and the grotto. “Get your direction set, fast.”

“North’s that way!” Stevie Rae pointed in front of us.

“The rest of you have your positions from there?”

Air, Fire, and Water nodded. “Okay, spread out. Call your elements to you. I’m not going to cast a circle, not until she’s close enough to be caught inside it.”

“You mean caught inside the grotto,” Aurox said.

I nodded.

“Our crystal cave,” Damien said.

“How are we go

“Old Magick,” I said, with lots more confidence than I felt.

“How are we going to get her close enough to the grotto?” Stark asked, watching me closely.

“Well, her Achilles’ heel is going to stand at the top of the stairs and talk crap to her until she’s pissed enough to get close,” I said.

“You’re Neferet’s Achilles’ heel,” Damien said.

“Yep,” I said. “She’s gone after me since I was Marked. She’s go

“I don’t like you being bait,” Stark said.

“Then keep me safe until she’s close enough for me to cast a circle around her,” I told him.

“She’ll have to go through me to get you,” Stark said.

“And me,” Aurox said.

“Thank you,” I told them. “I believe in both of you.” I turned to Stevie Rae and Rephaim. “Rephaim, keep Stevie Rae safe. We’re going to be trapping Neferet inside the earth—that means Stevie Rae’s element is going to be the key to this.”

Rephaim nodded. “I’ll always keep her safe.”

“Damien, Shaunee, Shaylin—get your elements to conceal you until I let you know you can call them to the circle. The three of you will be the least protected of all of us.”

Damien took Shaunee and Shaylin’s hands. “We understand. And we won’t let you down.”

I went to Shaunee and took her hand. Stevie Rae joined me, completing our circle. “I love you. All of you. No matter what happens to me, if our circle breaks, get the hell out of here. Go to our tu

“Not without—” Stevie Rae began.

“No!” my voice was filled with power, making the four of them jerk in surprise. “You have to listen to me. If the circle breaks, I’ll be like Thanatos. It’s my circle, my spell. It’ll kill me.” As I said it, I knew it was true. My gaze found Aurox. “If I’m dead, protect them.”

Aurox said nothing, he only nodded once.

My eyes met my Stark’s. “If you’re still alive, help Aurox get them to safety.”

“I will, my High Priestess, my Queen, and then I will follow you to the Otherworld,” Stark said, bowing somberly to me.

“At least this time you’ll know where to find me.” I smiled at him. “At the entrance, under the wishing tree. I’ll wait for you.”

A shrill scream sounded in the distance.

“Neferet’s coming,” I said. “I’m your center. Circle around me, but hide! Now! And may all of you blessed be.”

My circle scattered north, south, east, and west, leaving me alone with Aurox and Stark. I took the Seer Stone out from under my T-shirt and pulled the thin platinum chain over my head. Holding it securely in my hand, I looked from Stark to Aurox. “If this thing starts to change me, kill me before I’m like her.”

“It will be as you say,” Aurox said.

Stark looked pale, but he nodded. “I won’t let it make a monster of you.”

“Thank you,” I said. “And now let’s stop this bitch before she hurts anyone else we love.”

Stark and Aurox followed me as I walked quickly down the stone path. I felt a weird sense of déjà vu. Had it only been a few days ago that I’d stomped down this path, pissed at the world? It seemed a century ago, and I seemed a totally different person.

I am a different person. What happened here changed me. What happened here made me grow up. I realized.

I came to the top of the wide stone stairs and stopped. Pointing down over the lip of the ridge, I said, “There, see it? Inside that rounded stone area over there is the grotto. That’s where we’re going to trap her.”

We heard another scream, this one closer to the park.

“I’m going down.” Aurox pointed. “I’ll hide behind the stones at the base of the stairs. Neferet will expect to see Stark. She won’t be looking for me.” He looked at Stark. “I’m going to change. If I lose control and turn on any of you, do whatever you have to, but stop me.”

“Aurox, you will not lose control.” Words whispered through my mind and I repeated them aloud. My voice didn’t even sound like my own—it was older, wiser, stronger, and utterly filled with love. “Your bull has changed. It is no longer a creature of Darkness. Your Old Magick is now that of Light.”

“Who are you? How do you know this?”

The whispers left me, and in my own voice, I said, “Well, I’m a Priestess of your Goddess. She tells me things. This time she also told you.”

“It will have all been worth it if that is true,” Aurox said.

“Then it’s been worth it, because our Goddess never lies,” I said.

Stark extended his hand to Aurox. “Good luck. I’m glad you’re here with us in the end. It’s only right that you help me protect Zoey.”