Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I have days where I feel better and days where I don't even want to get out of bed. Hopefully, I will be better within the week. I hope you like this chapter. It was a little difficult for me to write, but I managed. Oh, and thank you so much for the get well wishes, and especially houseofnightfan for your story. It did make me laugh, although I am sorry about your ankle. A little time has passed in the second half of the story, just because Zoey has to stay in the tunnels so not much will happen to her. I will probably skip a little time from here on. Hope you guys enjoy!
Neferet
Neferet rode the white bull all the way back to her unknown apartment. They didn't say anything to each other as they went, but she could tell that the white bull had a lot that he wanted to say to her.
She was scared that she had hit Zoey a little too hard. That weak little girl had gone down like a rag doll. How was Neferet to know that a fledgling with so much power would be so physically weak? Neferet couldn't help the power she put behind her blow; she was just so mad. Standing there, watching Zoey walk out of the clinic with her friends - while hidden, of course - all talking about how happy they were that the child was normal had pissed her off.
It wasn't just the fact that the child would probably bring about the destruction of her and the white bull's plans, but also that she was a little jealous. She didn't know where it had come from. She had no lingering feelings for Kalona, although he was one of the hottest men she had ever seen. But for some reason, she hated the fact that her old consort and lover had lain with her enemy. And not only had he lain with her, but he had impregnated her. Although she would never admit it to herself or anyone else, the thought unnerved her to no end. It really wasn't the fact that he had done it to Zoey, but rather the fact that it would be impossible for him to ever impregnate her.
The only way Neferet could tell that the white bull had things he wanted to say to her - bad things, at that - was that he was rigid underneath her. Usually his movements were graceful and lithe, as if he were floating on air. Tonight was different. He moved as if he were trying to fight through the air. She could hear him grunting, something he did when he was bothered.
Neferet suddenly didn't want to be on top of him anymore. She was afraid, which was unusual for her. She wasn't afraid of anything; she was so powerful she could flick her wrist and kill someone where they stood, all without touching them. The white bull was a different story altogether. One didn't mess with the white bull, for he was Darkness personified, pure evil.
After what seemed like forever, they arrived at her apartment. The bull had a strange power that Neferet had never come into contact with before. Although she knew that magick existed, this was one thing she thought was only capable of in the movies. The white bull could teleport. Of course, it wasn't really teleporting. At first she thought he had just cloaked himself until he got to the spot where he wanted to be seen, but then she experienced it with him.
He would literally pull himself apart. Not by ripping off limbs or anything, but by calling Darkness to help him disintegrate, molecule by molecule. Those molecules would then go to where he wanted and put themselves together again. He couldn't teleport very far, only the distance of about a few buildings, but it was helpful anyways.
When he did, and Neferet was on top of him, she would disintegrate, too. The only way she could think to describe it was like falling really fast from very high up, and then suddenly not. She couldn't really think of anything while it happened. It was as if she would exist one moment, then not exist, and then suddenly she did again, this time in a different place.
Tonight, the white bull did not disintegrate with her. Instead, he stopped in front of the building and whispered in her mind, Go inside. I will be there when you get in. His words were very clipped, as if he were trying to keep himself under control.
Neferet did not understand. "But, Consort-"
He cut her off. This is not up for discussion. Do it.
She felt the sting of his words as if he'd slapped her, but she slipped off of him without another word. She called Darkness around her and slipped, not so gracefully this time, into the building. Inside, there was a staircase that led upstairs with a hallway right next to it leading to the apartments on the ground floor. There were a couple of college-aged kids in front of the hallway, holding a newspaper and talking about the wanted ads, but they didn't even look up when she walked in. It was a good thing the door didn't make a sound when she walked in because they would have been very confused.
The white bull was standing in her living room when she walked in, just as he had said he would be. He rounded on her as soon as the door was closed.
What have you done?
"Consort-"
My lord. he corrected her.
Again, she felt as if she had been slapped. "My lord," she said slowly, "I did not know that she couldn't take that hard of a blow. I am so, so sorry."
He didn't look like he believed her. I told you that you were not to kill her. But you couldn't help yourself, could you? Perhaps I have chosen the wrong one to call Consort…
"No, my lord! I swear to you that I meant no permanent harm to the girl." Neferet pleaded.
Do you realize that not only did you almost kill her yourself, but that I could barely maintain my control on the Darkness that I have given to you, and it wanted to kill her, also? Your hatred for that girl has caused you to slip up. The Darkness that you control will soon control you if you let your anger get away from you that way again.
He hadn't been whispering in her mind, as he usually did. No, it was a full-blown yell that ran through her mind, making her want to make herself as small as possible. He had never been like this to her. He had shown her nothing but fondness for her, while still letting her know that he was the one in charge. Now she knew what true Darkness was like.
"I am sorry, my lord." she said, bowing her head down in a sign of respect, but also not wanting to look at him. Her voice was just over a whisper. "I have shamed you. I will take whatever punishment you deem necessary without protest."
He was silent for a long time but Neferet never looked up at him. She knew she had failed him and did not want to see the look of disappointment he held for her. She felt as if this would be the look one would receive from their significant other when they had cheated on them, but knew that there would be one key difference between the two looks. One had hurt mixed with anger, while the white bull's had no hurt in it whatsoever.
Ah, my consort. Do not be so low. You did not kill her and that is what really matters. Go fetch a cup from the cabinet. We have work to do. His voice was a whisper again.
Neferet did as he said, still without looking at him. She felt like a scolded little girl whose parents had just caught her stealing.
She brought the cup back to him and he walked her through what she had to do. Zoey's blood had been nestled in a little vial that Neferet had stored in her pocket. When she hit Zoey, she made sure that she got the blood they needed underneath her long index finger nail. When she had climbed on the bull, she opened the vial and poured the blood in. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to do what they needed.
Neferet poured the blood in the cup and mixed it with some herbs that the white bull had brought her. She also put some different liquids into the cup, also brought by the white bull. It didn't take very long to get the mixture together.
You must call on Darkness and give it a sacrifice. Whoever you sacrifice must be very powerful for the spell to work; we can't have imperfections in this plan if we want it to work. I suggest you kill Thanatos. Not only will she be out of our way then - and not able to tell the council that you are working with me - but she will be the perfect specimen. the white bull whispered to Neferet.
"My lord, I am afraid that she will see it coming. Her affinity is for death itself. She will sense that something is coming for her. She knows it is not yet her time, and she will be on guard. Not to mention that she will have as many Sons of Erebus protecting her as she can. There is no way we can use her." Neferet explained.
The white bull thought for a minute. Perhaps one of Zoey's friends would do… One with an element. They are powerful. What do you think, lover?
Neferet thought about this for a moment. "I suppose it would be easy enough for me to get into the tunnels undetected. Although, they are a part of Zoey's circle. She is very close to each of them. When her consort was killed, her soul shattered. If that happened again, she wouldn't be fit to go through with our plan."
The white bull was obviously upset that they could think of no one to sacrifice. They sat there, thinking, until Neferet realized something she had not thought of before.
"Consort, why do we have to sacrifice someone now? I thought you said that we would have to do the spell right before the child is born?" she asked.
That is true. We are going to do the spell right as Zoey goes into labor, but the spell has to work itself up. Zoey will give birth in less than a month. Neferet gasped. The white bull told her all about how the child was made from an immortal and mortal, and that it would grow faster than a normal human child. That is plenty of time for the spell to work itself up. You see, when we do the spell tonight or tomorrow night, it will go to the child and plant a seed. That seed will slowly bud into a flower. A flower…made of Darkness.
The child will succumb to Darkness, live for it. The spell will notify you when the child is ready to come out in the world, and then you will mutter three simple words: awaken, dark child. It is simple, yes, but it will tell the child when it is to take on its new form. Then it will rip itself out of its mother, killing Zoey and unleashing our new weapon of Darkness into the world.
Neferet shivered. Before she could ask the white bull anything else, he spoke again.
Come, my heartless one. We have to search for a sacrifice…
[BREAK; I AM SKIPPING TIME HERE BECAUSE ZOEY HAS TO STAY IN THE TUNNELS WHILE SHE IS PREGNANT AND THAT IS PRETTY UNEVENTFUL. SO, WE ARE SKIPPING ABOUT A WEEK HERE.]
I woke up in the middle of the day, turning over so that my face could hang over the edge of the bed. Stark had set a little bucket there for me before he went to bed because I had been experiencing some nausea. I hadn't thrown up yet - thank Goddess! - but I would get hit by nausea sometimes that would leave me dry heaving.
We had determined that my baby grew at about nine times a normal baby would, so I was about nine weeks along. My stomach had a very tiny bump at the bottom of it, but you couldn't see it unless I lifted my shirt and turned sideways. I'd done plenty of that in front of a long mirror Darius had gotten me. It was weird to think that there was a little person inside me.
Today was different than other days. I actually threw up. It's what woke me up. I thought I had read somewhere that you were supposed to get morning sickness earlier than nine weeks, but I couldn't be sure. A small film of sweat draped my forehead as I threw up.
When I was done, I sat up, taking deep breaths. I desperately needed to brush my teeth.
"You okay?" Stark asked in a mumble. It sounded more like "Oooh kaaay?" His hand reached out to grab mine. I wrapped my fingers in his.
I nodded, but then realized that his eyes were shut again. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little morning sickness is all."
Stark shot up straight then. "Are you okay? Do you need me for anything? Want me to get rid of that bucket?"
I gave him a small smile. "Slow down, honey. I'm fine. People throw up all the time, especially pregnant women. I'll take care of it, you go back to sleep."
He shook his head. "No, I want to help you. Why don't you go up to the bathrooms while I take care of the bucket? Er, wait. Someone needs to go up there with you." He stopped talking, probably thinking about whether he wanted to go with me or if he should get Darius.
I laughed this time. "Stark, you need to go back to bed. You don't even remember that we got a bowl down here so that I could brush my teeth without having to go anywhere. We also got one of those God awful chamber pots, although I have no idea where Rephaim got it, and have no intention of ever using it."
Stark slipped a sexy smile on then. "Oh, c'mon." he said, sliding closer to me and wrapping his arms around me. "You wouldn't even use it if we'd just…ya know…and you just wanted to go to bed with me?"
I rolled my eyes. "You are such a man! Look, let me brush my teeth, put the bucket outside for Darius to take care of, and then we'll cuddle up and go back to sleep, 'kay?"
He sighed, mumbling an agreement, but got up to take the bucket out anyway. I brushed my teeth while he did. He fell asleep right when his head hit the pillow, and I crawled in next to him. It took me a while to get back to sleep, but when I did, I couldn't contain myself.
I hadn't seen Kalona in my dreams since we had…well, you know. That was more than a week ago. A week and a day to be precise. I had been counting because I'd figured he'd want to see me every night so that he could have an update on the baby. I was beginning to think he didn't want anything to do with me anymore until now.
When I saw him, I couldn't help smiling. I was just so happy to see him! But then I remembered that he hadn't come to me, or sent me any word at all, for a week, and then I became angry again. Well, more sad than angry. This entire week, I acted normal with my friends - they knew now; we had to tell them - and Stark, but on the inside I was crumbling. I had really thought he'd used me just like Loren did. And Kalona was right. The more time that went by, the more I caught myself thinking of him when I was wrapped in Stark's arms - wishing that he were the one holding me instead. It was wrong, but I couldn't help it.
"Ah, Zoeybird, how I've missed you!" Kalona said, wrapping me in his arms.
Even though I wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms forever, I pushed him away. My arms stayed reached out for him of their own account. He saw this before I had a chance to wrap them around myself and my stomach protectively.
"My love, what is wrong?" he asked.
I snorted. "'My love.' Please! You don't love me! If you loved me, you would have come to me sooner." Even though I was yelling at him, it was just a front. I wanted to cry and beg him never to leave me alone that long ever again, but I knew that I couldn't give in like that. Anger was better than sadness at the moment.
He looked hurt, and I automatically wanted to take the words back. "I-I'm sorry. I couldn't come. Please, let me explain."
I made my voice icy. "Oh, go ahead. Not like I'm going to believe a word you say. You abandoned me!"
Suddenly, his face wasn't hurt or apologetic anymore. It was angry. I thought of the first time we had made love, when he was mad at me for making A-ya go away. The thought made me jerk. A-ya was the one thing I had been trying to forget this entire time. She was the other woman - the one getting in the way. But, then, I realized that I was the other woman.
"I did not abandon you. I thought about you every second that I was gone! How dare you say something like that to me?" He closed the distance between us with two large strides and pulled me into his arms. "I love you, Zoey. I wanted to be with you this entire time, but I couldn't."
I was crying now, but he couldn't see it. He had my head tucked under his chin, and he was stroking my face. I wanted to push him away again, but I just didn't have it in me. We stayed like that for a moment, but then I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Were you with her?"
Kalona's hand stopped stroking my face and his entire body went rigid. I knew that I had thought right: he had been with A-ya this entire time. He'd lied to me. It wasn't that he couldn't come to me, it was that he didn't want to because he was with his true love, his A-ya. Well, I was tired of this game. I would have this child, and then I would send it to an adoption center or something. It was perfectly normal, so there was nothing wrong with the plan.
I pulled away from him, the tears drying up as I did. I didn't yell the next words at him, like I wanted to. "Go away. Leave me alone, and never come back. I never, ever want to see you again. I hate you."
In truth, most of the stuff I said was just to hurt him. It wasn't true, I didn't hate him. I loved him. But I wanted him to get the message that I never wanted him around me again. It was just too much. Plus, I figured if he thought I didn't want him, it might keep him from trying to come down here to see me, and thereby destroying the world.
"There is a thin line between love and hate." he said in a calm voice. "And you don't mean what you said."
I stuck my chin out, putting my brave face on as I did. "I do mean it. I don't want you anymore." And then I thought of the worst thing I could ever say to him. "I have Stark."
For a second, it did exactly what I wanted it to. His face fell, and he looked as if he might shatter into a million pieces. I thought he would fly away then and leave me to my dream, but his face became that mask of anger again.
"Oh, really?" he asked. "His child is inside you right now?"
I took a step back. I hadn't expected that. "It may not be his biologically, but we can easily raise it together. I could even get Rephaim to help." I was hurting him on purpose and that was something I'd never thought I would do. I didn't want to hurt him but he gave me no choice.
That did it. He turned around, away from me. His shoulders shook and I instantly felt a pang of sadness. I didn't want him to cry. I found myself taking a step toward him when he rounded on me. In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of me. There were tears in his eyes but none had fallen yet. "Why, Zoey? Why?" he asked.
But I didn't have a chance to explain anything to him. He grabbed the back of my head and brought my face to his. He kissed me hard, making my legs feel like jelly. How could I be so angry and hurt with him, but so attracted and needing of him at the same time? It didn't make any sense. I put my arms up, trying to push him off.
He grabbed both of my hands in just one of his. "No." he said, before kissing me some more. My entire body felt like it was on fire. In that moment, I knew that he was the one I was supposed to be with. A part of me grieved for Stark and our lost relationship, but I knew that I couldn't keep up the charade. I loved Kalona, and I couldn't hide it anymore.
I whimpered, causing him to pick me up and put his tongue in my mouth at the same time. The air was going a million miles an hour around us, and then it suddenly stopped. He laid me down on a bed, laying himself down right next to me. I got to look at the room as he did.
We were in a bedroom that looked like it belonged in a castle. It was a four-poster bed with purple linens dangling from the top of it. The room looked small because the giant bed took up most of the room in it. The only other thing in the room was a giant mirror hanging on the wall across from the bed, in a perfect position to see us laying on the bed.
"You're right." Kalona said, interrupting my surveillance of the room.
"About?"
"I was with A-ya. That's why I couldn't come to you."
I felt my cheeks start burning. Why would he say something like that to me right now? Before I could stop myself, my hand snaked out and slapped him. I immediately pulled my hand to my chest, afraid of what would happen next.
Kalona blew out a breath and brought another shaky one in. He looked angry, but not to the point of doing anything to me. He didn't look at me as he said, "She became suspicious when I came back to her. I think…she knew that I was with you. I couldn't sneak away from her long enough to see you. We had…things…to do."
I noticed that he paused when before he said "things", and I thought he'd meant he'd slept with her. I gasped. "You…you…" I couldn't finish.
He looked at me then, taking one of my hands. "No, no. We didn't…do anything like that. I couldn't. I can't. But…we are…well, planning a ceremony."
This time I was still. My brain was having a hard time comprehending what he was saying. A ceremony? What kind of ceremony? What was he talking about? I knew, but I didn't want to admit it. After a few horrible moments of silence, the tears started falling and I whispered, "You're getting married to her?"
He didn't look at me while he said, "No, well, yes. Sort of. We don't get married in Nyx's kingdom. Instead, we have a bonding ceremony. Instead of being Nyx's warrior, I will be A-ya's. But…it is much like a wedding. Everyone else will view us as married."
I took a few shaky breaths. I was angry again. I was fully prepared to tell Stark when I woke up that we couldn't be together anymore because I loved Kalona, but here Kalona was making plans to marry A-ya. How could I be so stupid?
"You asshole!" I yelled. I punched him on the arm, followed by a few smacks. "How dare you come here and seduce me while you're planning a wedding with another woman!"
"Zoey! Zoey!" he yelled. "I'm not going through with it! I just have to let her believe I am until…until the right time."
I laid back on one of the pillows, not looking at him. "Just leave."
He didn't say anything for a moment. "Fine. If that's the way you want it."
I thought he was going to leave, but, instead, he climbed on top of me. I asked him what he was doing, but he didn't answer me. He closed his eyes and ran a hand down the side of my body. I realized with a start that I had no clothes on. He had taken them off with his mind!
"Get off me!" I yelled, furious. I went to push him off, but he put one of his hands on the most sensitive part of my body. Rage turned to desire, and I was surprised at how bad I wanted him.
I gave a little moan and he smiled at me. "Do you still want me to leave?"
Yes. "No." I said. Goddess, my will power sucks.
We made love then, slowly and passionately. I reached the tippy-top of the pleasure scale more than three times before it was his turn.
As we lay there, naked and panting, he whispered, "I will call off the bonding as soon as I see her."
I smiled. "And I'll tell Stark. There's bound to be some drama, but I have to do it."
"It won't be easy." he warned.
"It never is."
And with that, we sealed our fate.