This final chapter is dedicated to my ever faithful kikudog6 – thanks for the massive support!

Zoey's POV

All of us started screaming along with Mathew – not out of choice, but automatically. The sheer noise of his scream, climbing higher and higher, was enough to twist my gut so I felt like I could almost throw up.

I was clutching Stevie Rae close to me to keep her from throwing herself and Mathew and hurting them both – but also, it felt, for my own safety. I felt like if I even attempted to help Mathew I would be pushed back and end up slamming against the wall like Stevie Rae had earlier. The thought sent a great shudder through me. God, please let this work . . .

I watched Mathew, waiting for the injuries Aphrodite had to appear on his currently smooth skin and start seeping blood through his already drenched clothes. The process seemed to be taking longer than usual, and I could see panic in Mathew's eyes as he started to worry that it was no longer working.

But Aphrodite's injuries were healing – at least it seemed they were. I could see her start to relax as her breathing became slower and more regular.

After what seemed like an agonisingly long time, Mathew took his hand away. We all looked up at him for conformation of either that Aphrodite was dead, or that she was healed. He wiped his hands on his jeans, then gently lifted her head and gently felt where she had been hit. When his hand came away, it was covered with dry blood. Which meant that it had stopped bleeding. I'm no expert, but shouldn't it have been bleeding for way longer to have killed her? Plus, she was breathing.

"Aphrodite?" Stevie Rae whimpered, shuffling forwards. I unwrapped my arms from around her and stared intently at Aphrodite's face. Her eyes flickered.

"Aphrodite!"

Then Neferet appeared. She leant against the wall, casually trying to mask her surprise with a cruel smile.

"Well, well." She shook her head. "I seem to have underestimated you, children. But have you underestimated me?"

She took a sudden lurch forward, but then lurched to a stop. The rest of us froze, awaiting our fate.

With a deafening crack, Neferet's torso suddenly twisted round to make her look like an abused doll. Then another jolt shook her, slapping her head upwards. Blood began to pour down from her head, clumping the long waves of her mane of hair together. Then she suddenly choked as her chest jutted outwards and blood started pouring out. She took her hand and felt the blood; as if checking it was really there, and looked up at me with the only genuine look she could ever give in this instance – shock, fear and dread. Then her knees crumpled beneath her and she fell onto the stone floor, causing an eerie echo to sound throughout the tunnels.

We all sat in silence, not believing what had just happened. What had that been? As we gawked, we smelt burning as we saw Neferet's body disintegrate before our very eyes and evaporate into the air. Wow. Neferet was really gone?

From the ground, Aphrodite coughed and opened her eyes. To our surprise (which we didn't have much left of) she suddenly looked rather normal. She gave her usual bitchy expression, which made us all laugh.

"What did I miss, then?" she asked, with mock annoyance.

"Well", I stated simply. "Neferet won't be bothering us anymore. She's gone – for good."

Thank you everyone who ever reviewed this story – thanks for all the support. Please feel free to check out my other stories: Repeated Mistakes (Vampire Diaries) or Cracking The Code (Sherlock) and let me know what you think. Thanks as ever, I hope you enjoyed reading!