“Okay, well, how do I do that?” I asked, hating how my stomach clenched just at the thought of touching the Seer Stone again.

“I’m with Zoey,” Aphrodite said. “Simple or not, tell her what she has to do.”

“Yeah, Z’s kicked Darkness and Neferet in the butt before—we all have,” Stevie Rae agreed.

“Because of the volatile nature of Old Magick, I can only tell you what I know not to do,” Sgiach said. “In order for its power to work to balance and not corrupt, it must be commanded by a Priestess who is neither aggressor nor victim. Her intent must be pure. It cannot be vindictive or defensive.”

“But Zoey has to use it defensively!” Marx shouted. “Neferet is a sociopathic killer, bent on enslaving Tulsa, maybe even the world.”

“It is not a maybe,” Kalona said. “Neferet wishes to do more than force a few unlucky humans into worshipping her. She wishes to rule as the one and only Goddess in this world, and to make us all her slaves.”

“So how the hell is this stone thing supposed to be a key to stopping her if Zoey can’t use it defensively?” Marx asked.

“Detective, Old Magick is neutral—it is power at it rawest. And it is shaped by the intent of the Priestess who wields it. If her motives are not completely altruistic, chaos will be the result.” She shifted her gaze to me. “You have evidence of that before you. From what we know of Neferet’s past, in light of what she has done in the present, I believe there are clear indications that she has been wielding Old Magick for a very long time, perhaps even before she was Marked.”

“But I’ve never seen her wearing a Seer Stone,” I said.

“A Seer Stone is only one conduit for Old Magick. Consider the tendrils of Darkness that shadow her everywhere. They are too base, too raw, to be anything but connected to the Ancient Powers of Light and Darkness. I know. In the Otherworld I battled Darkness in different forms for ages. It can be seductive and cunning. Darkness wears many faces, and some of those faces can seem, at first, like allies.”

“I don’t see how those disgustin’ snake-things could ever seem good,” Stevie Rae said.

“Neferet rarely speaks of it, but she was raped by her father on the night she was Marked,” Lenobia said. “Something helped her get through that terrible ordeal, and it wasn’t another fledgling or even her Mentor. The records at the Chicago House of Night clearly state that she returned to her family home and strangled her father to death before she had even completed the Change. The coroner recorded that the assailant was so strong that her father’s head was almost severed from his body.”

“And she got away with that?” Marx asked.

“The crime happened in the late 1800s in a far bigger world, Detective. The Chicago House of Night Council, together with those of us on the Vampyre High Council, decided it would be best to secrete her from the state and allow her to start over on a new path whereby Neferet had the opportunity to heal from her tragedy,” Thanatos said.

Lenobia said, “And please remember, Detective, that this man raped and brutalized his sixteen-year-old daughter.”

“The High Council’s records reported that there were numerous bite marks—human bite marks—on Neferet, and that she had been horribly beaten and violated the night the Tracker found her,” Thanatos added in agreement with Lenobia.

I felt a shock of remembrance. “Right after I was Marked, Neferet mentioned something to me about being hurt by her parents.”

“Her mother died in childbirth. Her father was a monster,” Lenobia said. “All of us who knew Neferet from her youth knew the rumors about what had happened to her the night she’d been Marked.”

“I’m sorry about her past, but that doesn’t change the fact that Neferet is an unstable immortal who must be stopped,” Marx said.

“We do not mention Neferet’s past to excuse her present,” Sgiach said. “We mention it as a lesson for Zoey.” Sgiach’s gaze burned into mine. “Old Magick was drawn to Neferet, and Neferet discovered that she could wield it. Just as it has been drawn to you, and has been wielded by you.”

“Okay, yeah, but I don’t like being compared to Neferet,” I said.

“And yet what has been happening to you ever since you began using the Seer Stone is very like what happened to Neferet. It uses you, and as it does so, it corrupts you.”

I felt like she’d punched me in the gut. “I’d never be like Neferet!”

“Have you ever thought that if you could simply control everyone around you, then you could make everything better for your friends—for yourself?” Sgiach shot the question at me.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want anything bad to happen! I just wished I could make everyone act right so that all this craziness would stop.”

“Act right according to whom?” Thanatos asked.

“Well, me, I guess, since I was the one doing the wishing,” I protested, feeling trapped.

“Intent!” Sgiach blasted back at me. “Old Magick is neutral—it is shaped by the intent of the Priestess who wields it! And the Priestess’s intent cannot be revenge or frustration or anything self-serving. Your intent must be pure and entirely for the greater good—whether that means you survive being the vessel the magick uses or not.”

“I’m scared,” I admitted, and Grandma squeezed my hand, lending me strength. “And I don’t know how to do what you’re asking me to do. I need you to help me!”

“Only you can help yourself. Grow up, young Priestess. Show all of us why Nyx has chosen to gift you so greatly,” Sgiach said. “But do it quickly. You need to command the Seer Stone if we are to have a chance of stopping Neferet and setting the balance of Light and Darkness to right.”

The queen’s sharp gaze went to Thanatos. “High Priestess, understand that Neferet must be contained so that the contagion of evil is slowed.”

“What is your advice on containing her without using Old Magick?” Thanatos asked, making my cheeks feel warm. I knew she shouldn’t have had to ask Sgiach that question—I should be grown enough to use the Seer Stone to help her.

“Look to the most ancient rituals and spells,” Sgiach said. “Do not think to defeat Neferet—you cannot do that without Old Magick. Think to isolate her, distract her, annoy her—anything you can do that forces her to rethink her plots and plans, anything that is a stumbling block slows Neferet, thus aiding you.”

“And giving Zoey more time to discover the path to commanding Old Magick,” Grandma said.

I sent her a nervous smile, wishing I had the confidence in myself she had in me.

“I’ll try as hard as I can, I promise,” I said.

“You cannot try, Zoey. Trying is far too dangerous. You can do nothing until you know you have banished from yourself all negatives: fear and anger, selfishness, vindictiveness, hatred, and even annoyance and frustration. Only then will you command and control Old Magick. Until then Aphrodite is to keep the Seer Stone far from you. We do not need to be battling two immortals who once were gifted Priestess of our Goddess.”

I couldn’t believe what she’d just said! She was actually sounding like she believed I could turn out like Neferet!

“I’m not immortal! I’m just a kid who doesn’t want anything to do with Old Magick or that damn Seer Stone!”

“I would imagine a young Neferet would have said much the same thing, and she was far from ‘just a kid’ as well,” Sgiach said.

Before I could even begin to recover from that horrid statement, Thanatos added, “I have only known one other fledgling who was as gifted as you are, Zoey Redbird. Her name was Neferet.”

I held tight to Grandma’s hand, feeling like my world was falling away from me.

“And now I must tend to my own flood,” Sgiach said. “I trust you, Zoey. I believe you will find a way to bring the forces of Old Magick into our battle on the side of Light. Until I see you again, may you blessed be.”