"Why is he not under guard? Or at least locked in a room?" Kalona said.

"I do not need a guard or a prison any more than you do! I chose to come here-to turn from Darkness-just as you did!" Aurox shouted at Kalona. "And if I'd gotten to Grandma Redbird's home sooner, or not left at all, I wouldn't have let Neferet steal her away. I would have fought harder for her!"

Kalona strode to him, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, and tossed him to the ground at the statue's feet. "You could not even stop yourself from killing Dragon. You attacked Rephaim. You cannot fight Darkness, you foolish creature. No matter what your brave words and your oh-so-noble intent, you were created from Darkness!"

"And yet I do not have to be told that an old woman's life is not only important because of how her granddaughter could be used!" Aurox hurled back at him.

Kalona reached for him, wanting to shake Aurox by the scruff of his shirt again, but Thanatos interceded. "No, the boy is being truthful. He does care for Sylvia."

"He is also a creation of Darkness!"

Thanatos's eyes widened. "Yes, he absolutely is. And that, Warrior, may very well prove to be Sylvia Redbird's salvation." The High Priestess began walking quickly away, leaving Kalona and Aurox staring after her. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come with me!" she called without pausing.

Kalona and Aurox shared a confused look, and then did as their High Priestess commanded.

Zoey

I couldn't sleep. All I could do was worry about Grandma. I tried not to think about everything that Neferet could be doing to her, but my mind was filled with images of Grandma being hurt-or worse.

Neferet could have killed her.

"Stop thinking that!" Stark had told me sternly when he and I curled up in bed together. "You don't know that's happened, and you're driving yourself crazy thinking it."

"I know. I know. But I can't help it. Stark, I can't lose her. Not Grandma!" I'd buried my face in his chest and hung on to him.

He'd tried to reassure me, to comfort me, and for a while I had found comfort in his touch. I'd focused on his love and his strength. He was my Guardian, my Warrior, and my lover. He grounded me.

Then the sun rose and he fell asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Not even Nala's purr machine could turn my mind off. Seriously, all I wanted to do was to curl up in the corner and cry into my cat's soft orange fur.

But that wouldn't get Grandma back.

I knew my restlessness would wake up Stark, and while the sun was up that wasn't a good thing, so I kissed Nala on her nose and tiptoed quietly from the room. My feet automatically took me to the kitchen where I foraged for a can of cold brown pop and a bag of nacho cheese Doritos. I sat at the table for a while, wishing someone would wake up and talk to me. No one showed up. I didn't blame them. We'd been up early the day before, and everyone was stressed out. They needed to sleep. Hell, I needed to sleep.

Instead I stared at my phone, drank brown pop, and ate a bag of chips.

I also cried.

If Neferet had Grandma it was my fault. I was the one who'd gotten Marked and caused a bomb to explode in my human family.

"I shouldn't have kept in contact with any of them." I hiccupped a little sob. "If I'd broken from them, Neferet would have never known anything about my mom or my grandma. They'd be safe ... alive..." I wiped the Dorito cheese on my jeans and used a paper towel to blow my nose. "I brought all of this vampyre crap on my family." I put my face in the paper towel and bawled like a two-year-old. "That's what I feel like-a damn toddler. Helpless! Stupid! Useless!" I sobbed. "Nyx! Where are you? Please help me. I need you so much!"

Then grow up, daughter. Be a woman, a High Priestess, and not a child.

Her voice filled my mind. I lifted my head, blinking quickly and wiping snot from my face. The earthen walls of the tunnel were glowing. Directly across from me an image began to surface. As if I was looking into a pool of dark water, something started to form and lift from the concave depths. It was the figure of a woman! Under normal circumstances I would have described her as fat. She was naked and she had enormous boobs, wide soft hips, and thick thighs. Her hair floated around her, as full and dark as her body.

She was absolutely and completely beautiful-every single pound and curve of her, which totally made me rethink my idea of "fat."

She opened her eyes, and I saw that they were amethyst crystals, kind and warm and the color of violets.

"Nyx!"

Yes, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, that is one of my names. Though your ancestors would know me as Earth Mother.