"How exactly are you planning to manipulate him?" Aphrodite asked as Rafe moved closer to our circle once more. Stark raised his bow and arrow and both Dragon and Darius took defensive positions with their weapons as well. As far as I could tell we were at a standstill as long as we kept our circle together. He was out numbered for a physical attack and couldn't spiritually attack us as long as we stayed in the circle. The worst he could do is pull us to another reality, but since Marla had withdrawn her gift he was no longer able to do that either. He could only do that if we remained in spirit form.
The problem was that neither could we. We couldn't attack him without breaking the circle and we couldn't pull him to another reality without Marla's gift. That left me and the elements Nyx had given me.
"The same way we tricked the demons," I said softly. "We make him think he's winning."
"Again, I say, how?" Aphrodite said under her breath and I shook my head. Several scenarios ran through my mind, but each plan was filled with holes. Every move we made I could see his counter move and I felt as if we were playing one big game of chess. All our pieces were on the board and we were nearing the finish, but each move I thought of held some sort of loss.
"I leave the circle," Neferet said softly breaking through my strategic planning.
"What?" I asked looking at her. She had to be kidding. There was no protection outside our circle and he was a whole lot more powerful now than he had been the first time Neferet had fought him.
"You want him to think he's winning?" She asked looking at me and knowing I had only seconds to decide. "Give him me," she said and then began to move through the circle effectively distracting Rafe.
"Neferet?" Natasha's voice questioned and I could see Lenobia and Anastasia's looks of concern.
Neferet lifted her hand silencing any protests and then crossed the barrier. Rafe's eyes sparkled with delight as they traveled up and down Neferet's body making the rest of us thoroughly sick. I could still see the desire that played across his features and knew in my gut what he had with Neferet had been an obsession more than it had been love.
"I never expected you to be the self sacrificing type," Rafe laughed a little too amused at his own joke. Neferet's gaze stayed steady and her face cold. I shivered feeling the anger and wrath moving away from her body and spirit, and I wondered if there would ever be a day that I still didn't fear Neferet at least a little.
"Who said anything about sacrificing?" Neferet asked raising an eyebrow. She grinned for a second herself and then stepped back into a defensive position.
I had seen her fight the demons only hours before and knew the deathly grace at which she was able to move. Still I was fairly certain that her powers were nothing compared to what Rafe had tapped into. At least not anymore. Had Kalona still been around and had she still been the Queen Tsi-sgili she might have stood a chance, but those powers were gone. I had cleansed her of them and the evil that tainted her heart and soul. I never thought I would wish that I had left them in place.
I took a deep breath in when Dragon tossed Neferet a sword, my mind reeling as I tried to figure out what to do. Neferet swung her sword in a deathly arch and was blocked by another sword that seemed to appear in Rafe's hand out of thin air. I heard Kalona's seductive laugh in my mind and shuddered at the memory if that's what it was.
Wishing now that you hadn't trapped me aren't you A-Ya? His voice asked me. I shook my head. Kalona may have had the power to defeat Rafe, but the question would have always remained who was the lesser of the two evils? No, Kalona was where he was supposed to be. He was trapped forever in the earth he hated so much and that was where he belonged. We had defeated him and we could defeat Rafe too. We had been depending a lot on Marla's gift, but we each had gifts of our own and our circle had never failed us before.
"I'm guessing that you have about two seconds to come up with some sort of plan," Stevie Rae said in her Okie twang. Her blond curls bounced around her shoulder when she jumped back at the sound of clanking metal.
I glanced up watching for a second the fierce battle in front of me.
"Already have one," I said smiling as my mind started putting the pieces together. We would only have one shot at this and a lot of it depended on how long Neferet could keep Rafe distracted.
"What are you thinking, my U-wi-tsi-a-ge-ya?" My grandma asked as she too watched the "fight-for-her-life" that Neferet was engaged in.
"Tell everyone to be ready to help Marla pull him through the portal when I give the word," I said looking at my grandma, Aphrodite, and Stevie Rae. "Marla when I tell you, I want you to cover yourself with your gift. Trying to cover us all would be too obvious and too dangerous. I want you to concentrate on the portal and keeping it open and then follow my lead." I turned back to Stevie Rae and Aphrodite, "All of our efforts are going to have to be on getting him through and since we can't use Marla's gift like we did before that means each of you are going to have to ask your elements to help."
They both nodded and then began playing a circular game of telephone as the message traveled from one person to the next. I watched the fight before me hoping I would be able to get the timing right. Our plan would only work once Rafe thought he had the upper hand, which meant I had to let Neferet get beaten pretty badly while making sure she didn't get killed. It was only in those last moments that Rafe would be cocky enough not to be paying as close enough attention to us as he should have been. It was then I would attack.
Neferet swung her sword high. The blade directed right towards Rafe's neck and for a second it looked as if she might have gained the upper hand. I knew personally I would have been dead long before and I made a commitment to take my fencing lessons more seriously. Neferet's fighting skills were amazing. The only problem was that so were Rafe's and he was quick. He saw her intended goal and with a flurry of movements he deflected her attack and had her on the defense. She blocked each of his strikes, but I could tell that she was beginning to tire. The back and forth of the duel was taking its toll on her.
She lifted her sword blocking a jab to her chest and then moved forward starting a new series of attacks of her own. Rafe blocked every one. He stepped back on his left foot and twisted his sword around Neferet's. With a quick pull her sword flew from her hand landing several feet away. She looked at it, but didn't show any signs of fear. I saw her emotions once again for what they were, acceptance. She was accepting that she may have to die to right the wrongs that she had done. I saw the fire burning in Rafe's eyes as he lifted his sword above his head.
I called fire to me letting the element fill me and circle me as I watched the smile that touched Rafe's lips. He knew he had won. I waited until he began to swing his sword forward and then attacked.
"Now!" I yelled swinging my own arm back and feeling the fire rope travel across my skin. I threw it forward watching in the amazement I always felt as it wrapped around Rafe temporarily ensnaring him. I heard the rest of my friends call to their elements and saw silver wisps dancing around Marla as she concentrated on the portal. I nodded at her and she threw her arm forward echoing my movements. The silver ribbons sprang from her joining my fire as they swirled around Rafe's shocked form.
He kicked and screamed, but my fire was enough to hold him.
"Quick, before he uses his own spiritual powers to escape," my grandma said wisely and I mentally kicked myself for not thinking of that beforehand. Rafe could easily become spirit as Marla had and slip away.
I saw what I wanted in my mind and that was for him to burn with the creatures he had tried to release at the House of Night we had created. I knew the silver mist Nyx had helped me design would trap him. The power in it was unbreakable and un-crossable for anyone's heart that was filled with hate. I looked at Marla who nodded at me. "Take him there," I told the elements and heard Damien, Shaunee, Erin, Stevie Rae and Aphrodite echo my request.
The silver around him began to sparkle and shimmer. His body began to grow more transparent with each passing second making him appear to be a ghost. His screams of rage filled the night sky and with a flash he was gone. Marla nodded again when he had crossed the portal and arrived through the gates of the burning House of Night. I thanked the elements and asked the mist I had made out of Nyx's love to trap them and tighten its hold.
I took a deep breath in and then turned to Aphrodite who began releasing the elements and closing the circle. For the first few minutes I wasn't sure what to do. We had been living in darkness for so long again that it felt strange to be able to exist without the constant weight of evil or danger pressing down on us. I watched as Stark and Darius helped Neferet back to our group making sure she was ok and laughed out loud when the first signs of Nyx's joy touched our spirits. I heard gasps echoing from all around me and soon my laugh wasn't the only sound of joy and pleasure.
"You did it, Zoeybird," my grandma said hugging me tightly.
"Once again she proves to us that miracles do exist in the world," Erik said giving me a cheesy grin that was anything if not adorable. "Way to go, Z," He said giving me a little nod, "I never lost faith in you." He gave me a huge hug and a light kiss on the lips that made my skin tingle. He smiled at my obvious reaction once more enjoying the fact that there would always be something between us and then moved out of the way as Stevie Rae threw herself into my arms.
"We did it!" She said in her okie twang practically jumping up and down.
"You give a whole new meaning to leaping for joy," Erin said as she, Shaunee, Damien and Jack approached me.
"I'd say we have a lot to be jubilant about," Damien said grinning.
"Would it kill you just to say 'happy?'?" Shaunee asked giving him and annoyed look.
"There is never a reason to let your vocabulary become underdeveloped. The use of circumlocution is…"
"He's kidding, right?" Shaunee asked looking at Erin.
"He has to be, twin, because I know he doesn't want the ass whippin I'm about to give him if he's not," Erin said narrowing her eyes to which I found myself laughing at even harder. Even my friend bickering wasn't enough to stop the joy moving through my soul.
I moved around the rest of my group smiling and accepting the "well done's" and "congradulations" that came my way. I watched as Aphrodite and Darius kissed passionately both seeming to be savoring this small moment of bliss. I turned away blushing and smiled at Neferet who was being bombarded with words of amazement and endearment herself. She really had been incredible and I made a small note to make sure I told her so later.
"Some battle, huh?" Stark asked moving to my side after I had thanked Sister Mary Angela and the rest of the nuns for their help.
"You could say that," I said smiling at him. I felt the familiar jumping around in my stomach and fluttering in my heart as I thought about Starks lips on mine. As if sensing exactly what I was feeling Stark moved forward wrapping his arms around my waist. I brought my own arms up to gently move around his neck and smiled on the inside when his lips found my own. His tongue brushed my lips and I opened my mouth allowing our kiss to deepen and our movements to become more passionate. Our kiss dragged on for minutes but to me it only seemed like seconds. Still I knew I would have time for more private celebrations later and right now I still had things to take care of.
I pulled back letting our foreheads rest together as our breathing returned to normal.
"I figure we'll be having a big celebration tonight," Stark said breathlessly. "So I was thinking tomorrow maybe you and I could…"
"Yes," I said before he could even finish his sentence. "I'd love to," I breathed back and then moved away a few inches as more people approached me.
I thanked Lenobia and Anastasia for their support and then moved to speak with Natasha who was admiring both Jaylynn and Marla.
"You were both amazing," Natasha said smiling at the girls as I approached.
"You really were," I said touching Marla's arm and kicking myself for not congratulating her sooner. "Not many first year fledglings could handle doing what you did or have gone through what you have in their first month. You are truly an amazing person Marla, and I am honored to be your mentor," I said fisting over my heart and saluting her. I smiled as her eyes teared up and pulled her forward giving her a quick hug. "I am so proud of you," I whispered.
"Thank you," she said back wiping a tear from her eyes, "for everything, Zoey."
"I don't know about everyone else, but I would like to get home," Natasha said smiling at me and giving Jaylynn another reassuring smile.
"Sounds good to me," Aphrodite said finally approaching with Darius still basically attached to her. "This day has done hell on my hair and I will definitely be needing a long hot shower!"
I laughed as we were joined by the rest of my friends glad to be heading back to the House of Night. My stomach growled and I knew that the first thing I was going to do when I got back was eat a huge plate of Speghetti!
Ok everyone a few more chapters. I hope you all are enjoying the story and as promised the last chapter will be between Zoey and the poll winner so if you haven't voted make sure you do! Thanks for the support and the great reviews and as always let me know what you think! ;-)