“Nah, not really. I mean, sure, I can make one tired, overworked, and kinda dorky night security guard let us into the museum and then forget we ever existed; but I can’t, like, rule the world or anything crazy like that.”

“It is an excellent power to wield.”

“No, it’s a responsibility I didn’t ask for and really don’t want. See, I don’t want to be able to make humans do whatever the heck I want them to do. It’s just not right—not if I’m on Nyx’s side.”

“Because your Goddess does not believe in giving her subjects the objects of their desire?”

Stevie Rae stared at him for a while, twirling a curl around and around her finger before answering, thinking that he might be messin’ with her, but the red gaze that met hers was completely serious. So she took a deep breath, and explained, “Not because of that, but because Nyx believes in giving everyone free choice, and when I mess with a human’s mind and implant stuff that he has no control over, I’m takin’ away his free choice. That’s just not right.”

“Do you really believe everyone in the world should have free choice?”

“I do. That’s why I’m here today, talkin’ to you. Zoey gave that back to me. Then in a kinda pay-it-forward thing, I gave that same gift to you.”

“You let me live hoping that I would choose my own path and not that of my father.”

Stevie Rae was surprised that he had said it so freely; but she didn’t question what had prompted his honesty, she just went with it. “Yeah. I told you that when I closed the tunnel behind you and let you go instead of turning you in to my friends. You’re in charge of your life now. You’re not beholden to your daddy or anyone else.” She paused for a second and then said the rest in a big rush. “And you’ve already started down a different path by saving me on that rooftop.”

“An unpaid life debt is a dangerous thing to carry. It was only logical that I repaid the debt that was between us.”

“Yeah, I get that, but what about tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“You sent me your strength and called me to you. If you have that kind of power, why didn’t you just break our Imprint instead? That would have ended your pain, too.”

He stopped eating, and his scarlet gaze locked with hers. “Don’t make me into something I’m not. I have spent centuries in darkness. I lived with evil as my bedfellow. I am tied to my father. He is filled with an anger that might very well burn up this world, and if he returns, I am destined to be at his side. See me as I am, Stevie Rae. I am a nightmare creature given life through anger and rape. I walk among the living, but I’m ever separate, ever different. Not immortal, not man, and not beast.”

Stevie Rae let his words sink into her veins. She knew he was being completely, nakedly honest with her. But there was more to him than this machine of anger and evil he’d been created to be. She knew it because she’d been witness to it.

“Well, Rephaim, how ’bout you just consider that you might be right.”

She saw the understanding register in his blood-colored eyes. “Which means I might also be wrong?”

She shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”

Without speaking, he shook his head and went back to eating. She smiled and continued to make herself a turkey sandwich. “So,” she said, slapping mustard on white bread. “What’s your theory about why your daddy’s soul’s turned up missing?”

His gaze locked with hers, and the one word he uttered made her blood run cold.

“Neferet.”

Chapter 7

“Dallas told me Neferet dumped Kalona’s spiritless body on the High Council.”

“Who is Dallas?” Rephaim asked.

“Just a guy I know. So it looks like Neferet turned in Kalona even though they’re supposed to be together and all.”

“Neferet seduces my father and pretends to be his mate, but the only thing she really cares for is herself. Where he is filled with anger, she is filled with hatred. Hatred is a more dangerous ally.”

“So you’re sure Neferet would betray Kalona to save herself?” Stevie Rae asked.

“I am certain Neferet would betray anyone to save herself.”

“What does she gain by turning in Kalona, especially if he’s all soulless and stuff?”

“By giving him over to the High Council, she takes suspicion from herself,” he said.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I know she wants Zoey dead. And she doesn’t care about Heath at all. Actually, Neferet would be cool with the fact that seeing Kalona about to kill Heath made Zoey throw the power of spirit at him and that not being able to stop Kalona caused her soul to shatter. Apparently, that’s just a half step away from death.”

Rephaim’s eyes were suddenly sharp on hers. “Zoey attacked my father with the element spirit?”

“Yeah, that’s what Lenobia and Dragon told me.”

“Then he has been gravely wounded.” Rephaim looked away and didn’t say anything else.

“Hey, you need to tell me what you know,” Stevie Rae said earnestly. When he didn’t speak, she sighed, and continued, “Okay, here’s my truth. I came here tonight ready to force you to talk to me about your daddy and the Otherworld and all that; but now that I’m here and actually talkin’ to you, I don’t want to force you.” Hesitantly, she touched his arm. His body jerked when her fingers met his skin, but he didn’t pull away. “Can’t we work together on this? Do you really want Zoey dead?”

His eyes found hers again. “I have no reason to wish your friend’s death, but you do wish my father harm.”

Stevie Rae blew out a breath of frustration. “How about this—how about I compromise in what I want. What if I told you I just want Kalona to leave all of us alone?”

“I don’t know if that could ever be possible,” Rephaim said.

“But it is possible for me to wish it. Right now, Zoey and Kalona are soulless. Now, I know your daddy’s an immortal, but it can’t be a good thing that his body’s just a shell.”

“No, it is not a good thing.”

“So let’s work together to see if we can get both of them back, and deal with what happens next when next actually happens.”

“I can agree to that,” he said.

“Good!” She squeezed his arm before taking her hand from him. “You said Kalona’s wounded. What did you mean?”

“His body can’t be killed, but if his spirit is damaged, he is physically weakened. That is how A-ya was used to entrap him. His spirit was clouded with emotions for her. It confused and weakened him, and his body became vulnerable.”

“And that’s how Neferet was able to dump him in front of the High Council,” Stevie Rae said. “Zoey hurt his spirit, so his body is vulnerable.”

“There has to be more to it than that. Unless he’s held captive, as A-ya had him within the earth, Father would begin to recover almost instantly. As long as he’s free, he can heal his spirit.”

“Well, obviously Neferet grabbed him before he was healed. She’s so dang evil, she probably zapped the crap outta him with that scary darkness she carries around with her and then—”

“That’s it!” He stood in excitement, then grimaced from the pain in his wing. Rubbing his wounded arm, he sat back down, holding it close to him. “She continued the attack on his spirit. Neferet is Tsi Sgili. It is through using the dark forces in the spirit realm that she gains power.”

“She killed Shekinah without even touching her,” Stevie Rae remembered.

“Neferet touched the High Priestess but not with her hands. She manipulated the threads from deaths she is responsible for, sacrifices she’s made, and dark promises she means to keep. That power is what killed Shekinah, and that is the power she wielded against my father’s already weakened spirit.”

“But what’s she doing with him?”

“Holding his body captive and using his spirit for her own means.”

“Which makes her look like one of the good guys to the High Council. I’ll just bet she’s bein’ all ‘Oh, poor Zoey’ and ‘I don’t know what Kalona was thinking’ to their faces.”