Chapter Eight

Everyone took their seats in the Vampyre High Court, Zoey and Stark together, Aphrodite and Darius, Shaunee and Erin, and Damien and Jack sat at the back, Jack on the isle seat so that he could keep Duchess; whom lay at his feet, under control.

As the seven members of the High Court gathered in silence; you could hear a pin drop. Then the big antique double doors crashed open and in walked Neferet, minus her other half. She sat in her usual seat, she seemed depressed, Zoey thought.

"Maybe Kalona is dead" Zoey whispered to Stark, but Vampyre hearing allowed the rest of her friends to hear her, she spoke too soon.

Kalona burst into the room and everyone gasped, Neferet literally flew out of her chair and flung herself at him, which looked quite pathetic from Zoey and her friend's perspectives. The first thing that everyone noticed about Kalona was that his huge black immortal wings were missing from his back.

Neferet hugged him and caressed his face, and all the while Kalona ignored her and kept staring at Zoey. He was not mad, he was surprisingly calm. As soon as Zoey's eyes met his she noticed that she was no longer drawn to him, his gaze was not seductive and mesmerizing. Kalona seemed to notice this, which frustrated him. He took Neferet's hands in his and looked down at her.

"what happened to you?" Neferet asked Kalona

"I don't know, I flew up to the roof and then I fell in pain, just like I fell as a warrior to Nyx. And the next thing I knew was that I was no longer immortal" he told her, Neferet gasped.

"Not…immortal? How is that possible?"

They were not speaking quietly so everyone had heard what they had said and they too gasped in shock.

Then the voice of the leader of the Vampyre race spoke and immediately the court hushed and took their seats again.

"Kalona, can you please explain to us all how this is possible?"

But before Kalona could answer, Zoey spoke.

"because I banished him, and when the spirit affinity hit him, our souls collided and swapped, and now I am immortal and he is just human"

"Kind of like me" Aphrodite chimed in.

"Hush! You may not speak in the High Court, human!" Neferet told her. But the leader's voice corrected her.

"No you hush Neferet, you have no authority here, as you are no longer a High Priestess, Zoey Redbird is" she nodded in acknowledgment to Zoey and put a hand over her heart in salute to the Goddess Nyx, Zoey returned the gesture. And Zoey also tried not to laugh when the leader of the High Court told Neferet off, priceless.

"You may speak Aphrodite" the leader told her.

"Thank you. Well the reason I am human again is because Nyx took my mark and Earth affinity away and gave my soul, as you may call it, to Zoey"

"No I do not think that is true" the leader replied

"Well that's just my theory anyway" Aphrodite told her and sat back down in her chair. "the point is I do not like being human…" she paused when she caught Darius staring at her.

"On second thought, scratch that, I do not mind being human, because I have been accepted and loved" she smiled at Darius, who smiled back at her.

Then a thought occurred to Neferet and she looked away from Aphrodite and Darius and looked back up at Kalona and put a hand on his cheek, which made him look at her.

"I think that is true" Neferet spoke to the court while still looking at Kalona.

"I agree" added Kalona,"I guess I could get used to being human, I think good things can come out of this" he smiled at Neferet, then at Zoey, who reluctantly nodded at him. She was shocked, what had happened? it was like they were entirely new people.

A change had swept through the Vampyre High Court, and Zoey knew that feeling, she had felt it before, when she learned to love Stark. It was Nyx's love. And from that moment on, Zoey realised that love truly could conquer all.