A/N I apologize for the long wait. But I have been struggling with this chapter. So, this is basically another filler chapter. And this is all Kalona. I will try and update in a few days but I make no promises. Until then please review. Happy Reading!
Kalona
Kalona, please, I beg of you. I need you. Come to me! I might be dying. You were right, I need you to survive!
Zoey's frantic and terrified words erupted through Kalona's head. He sensed her peril. Something terrible was happening to her, and all Kalona wanted to do was go to her. But Neferet's dark bonds kept him from moving. He was trapped.
I know you are probably angry with me for sending you away, but please, forgive me!
With all his strength, Kalona tried to move, he tried to spread his enormous wings and fly, but no, Neferet's Darkness kept him on the ground. His High Priestess was calling for him. He had to get to her. Not only was Zoey Redbird his High Priestess, but also they were Imprinted. If he lost her, he would not have the strength to move on. It wasn't love that made him want to go to her, no, it was a twisted sense of honor and lust. Kalona groaned in frustration. Would he ever be free of Neferet and her dark powers?
All he knew was that if he did not find a way to break free, then something terrible might happen to his High Priestess. And Kalona couldn't stand for that. He had never wanted her dead, no; he had only wanted to possess her. But now this was something much more important. She couldn't die, she was too important to die. Without her, Neferet would win; meaning she would have control over not only him, but also the rest of the world, and other than that, Kalona felt a strange mixture of emotions for the young fledgling. He did not know what they were, nor did he really want to know at the moment. But she couldn't die. He was sure of that.
He could hear her frantic and desperate words in his head. Oh, how he wished he could see Zoey now, begging for his return, just as he had told her she would. He had known it would only be a matter of time before she asked him to come back to her. However, her words sounded urgent, there was no denying that she was in trouble, but he had no idea what kind of trouble she was in. Yes, he had know she would call him back, but he had imagined she would do it in a state of peace and longing, not in a state of danger and urgency. That didn't matter at the moment. He needed to get to her.
Click, clack! Once again he heard the sharp noise of high stiletto heels on marble: a sound that haunted him. Neferet was coming for him. Was she coming to gloat? Did the Tsi Tsigli woman know something about Zoey's circumstance that he didn't? He was sure that there were some vampyres that remained loyal to her at the House of Night. Someone must have told her. But whatever she was coming for, he was about to find out,
Neferet walked into the room exuding happiness. Her smile was cruel, her eyes dark. Kalona recognized the glimmering veil of hate that covered her all around exquisite features. Yes, she was beautiful and powerful. But she wanted to rule over him, to have complete control over him. More than anything else, Kalona hated being controlled. Zoey, unlike Neferet, did not try to control him, no; she was all about the power of free will and choice. While Kalona didn't completely agree with her somewhat foolish beliefs, at least she wasn't trying to control him. He relished that difference between Neferet and Zoey Redbird.
Neferet came over to where the great winged immortal was held. She smiled as more tendrils of darkness uncoiled like vicious snakes from her fingertips, wrapping around him, thus reinforcing the bonds that entrapped him. She was about to tell him news that would bring on further conflict. "The foolish little twit is dying," said Neferet, sounding gleeful. "Soon that little wretch will be out of our lives forever. And you, my love, will no longer have a reason to be foolish and disloyal."
"Neferet," said Kalona, his voice dark with rage and something strange (worry?). "I care not about the weak fledgling. I want more than a foolish fledgling. I want my freedom, I want my power. Zoey Redbird is nothing to me." The words were only half true, and Kalona did not feel good about denying his feelings, even if he wasn't quite sure what they were, for Zoey. But deception was the only way he could see to get free. He had to fight fire with fire; he could not allow Neferet to discover his plans.
"I will give you your freedom, and your ultimate powers of Darkness shall once again be restored. But I shall not do this until that foolish little whelp is out of my hair forever. I will not allow you to betray me once more. You will not choose Zoey Redbird over me."
"I don't want either of you. I do not need any woman, no matter how powerful she is, to complete me. Rather, it is you and Zoey Redbird who seem to need me."
Neferet scowled at Kalona. "I do not need you as you claim. I can destroy you anytime I wish. My powers of Darkness even allow me to destroy immortal life."
It was a bluff, Kalona could tell. Perhaps if he mocked her further, she would submit to his will. "It seems to me that you do not understand the powers of Darkness. Nothing can end immortality. Nothing but spirit, and you, Neferet, do not have an affinity for Spirit."
Neferet scowled. "I know your weaknesses, but Darkness is much more powerful than the weak elemental powers of the imbecile goddess. Surely, you have allowed the fledgling to make you believe that Nyx is more powerful than I am? Well, whatever that idiotic little whelp has told you, it is untrue. Do not be persuaded by her naïveté."
"A fledgling cannot influence me anymore than you can. You are both insignificant beings compared to me." Kalona could see the rage growing within the Tsi Sigli woman. He feared he was taking on more than he could handle in his weakened state. He had to continue to build up her rage. "You, Tsi Sigli are nothing but a tool of Darkness. I am its master here on earth. I am endowed with all of its powers. There is nothing from stopping me from destroying you right now." He prayed that Neferet wouldn't see through his façade.
After a moment, the immortal realized that his bluff had done its job. Neferet was livid. His words had affected her even more than he expected. The Tsi Sigli woman looked absolutely deranged as she raised her hands and called forth Darkness. "Entrap the winged immortal. Silence his treacherous words. He shall not destroy me. I am the Tsi Sigli Queen, Darkness, and all its powers, is mine to control."
Tendrils of darkness poured out of Neferet's fingertips. Her eyes glowed the red of hellfire. Her mouth twisted into a cruel smile. The Darkness enveloped her with an aura of ebony. Her thick curtains of sheer black hair swirled around her head. She was a woman possessed. The Darkness bound Kalona to the ground. The Tsi Sigli woman towered over him. Despite himself, Kalona could not help but feel terrified of the powerful near-immortal being before him. She was as gorgeous as she was terrible. He wanted nothing more than to get away from her. But Darkness gripped his heart, his soul, and his very being.
Despite the fact that he had been an agent of Darkness for centuries, this was much mo0re ancient and powerful than the force that he had mastered ages ago. He feared for his immortal life, but even more urgent, he feared for Zoey's mortal life. If Neferet was telling the truth about Zoey, than she was dying. It all made sense. He frantic and desperate pleas, the fear in her voice. But he could not get to her. He could not defend his High priestess, not when the Tsi Sigli woman, with her vast knowledge and powers of Darkness, was keeping him her on Capri against his will.
No, Zoey was doomed to die. Kalona could do nothing.
Kalona . . . please!
Zoey's vice erupted in his mind. Her cry reverberated in side his head. Neferet, in all her fury, was still in the process of binding him. He lifted his well-muscled arms against the Darkness. It scaled his tanned skin. He cried out in agony. No, for the first tome in his immortal life, well, ever since he had fallen from Nyx's realm anyway, he had to fight against the Darkness. He had to fight against his cruel, harsh, master.
Zoey's image flashed in his mind's eye. He dark curtain of hair was drenched in blood, her already pale skin was stained and ghastly. Was she making the Change? If she was, by this time she should be a full-fledged vampyre? If this was so, why did he still sense her peril? Did she not want to make the Change? Was she subconsciously resisting the Change? Was she killing herself on purpose? If this was so, then he had to break free. He had to get to her. He had to prevent her from killing herself. But Neferet's darkness seemed too strong.
No, he would not be kept from his destiny: the destiny of possessing a woman that was supposed to belong to him. He had not allowed the foolish mortal to stand in his way. He was infinitely more powerful than the Tsi Sigli woman, why should she be any different. Why should he bend to her will?
He heard Zoey's voice in his head. He saw her body convulsing, She was drenched in fresh blood, her gorgeous tattoos, the sign of the Goddess he had loved, were barely visible. She looked utterly defeated and she was on the edge of life.
No, for some reason, the thought of Zoey dying was unbearable to him. He looked up at Neferet. He heard her piercing and victorious cry. "Darkness tells me that little Zoey will be dead in mere moments. In mere moments, nothing will stand in my way, you will have no one to betray me for, and we shall put the world back as it was meant to be. In mere moments, they path to my immortality will be clear of all obstacles. In mere moments this day will become a glorious day of triumph. Today shall be celebrated as the day where Darkness envelops the world. And with the world shrouded in Darkness, it will not be too long until I destroy Nyx, the weakling goddess who dared to diminish my power!"
Neferet was a madwoman. Kalona realized her madness at that very moment. No, Zoey Redbird could not perish. Even Kalona realized that a world enveloped in Neferet's terrible, treacherous darkness would be utterly disastrous. True, he had originally wanted to achieve the goals that Neferet had. But now it seemed that the Tsi Sigli woman had even more twisted goals then originally planned.
The Darkness pulsated throughout his body, his soul, and his heart. He saw Zoey once more, and the faint glow of Light in his heart flared up. He heard her voice, weak, and defeated.
Kalona. . . please.
She had very little strength left. She was on the edge of life. The faint glow flared up within his soul. With all the strength he could muster, he raised his arms and broke the bonds of Darkness. Neferet shrieked with blind fury. Kalona spread his ebony wings.
"No!" screamed Neferet. "You will not leave me for Zoey Redbird. I shall not be betrayed."
Kalona ignored the Tsi Sigli and rose a few feet above the ground. The woman grabbed his foot. He shook her off and with another burst of energy powered by the faint glow of Light within his soul, he rose higher into the air, and disappeared. He only hoped that he wasn't too late. . .