Burned

spear in his chest, and suddenly there was no movement, no sound from him at all. My Warrior was dead.
    This time when I faced the being who had just killed someone I loved, I didn’t give in to horror and pain. This time I kept spirit close to me instead of hurling it away, and from it I drew the power of knowledge and let instincts, and not guilt and despair, guide me.
    Kalona shook his head. “I wish this could have ended differently. Had you listened to me, accepted me, it would have,” he said.
    “Glad to hear you agree with me, ’cause this
is
going to end differently,” I said. Before I started toward him I picked up Stark’s sword. It was heavier than I thought it was going to be, but it was still warm from Stark’s hand, and that warmth helped me find the strength to lift it.
    Kalona’s smile was almost kind. “I won’t fight you. That is my gift to you.” He unfurled his great wings. “Goodbye, Zoey. I will miss you and think of you often.”
    “Air, don’t let him leave.” I flung the element at him. His fully spread wings were easily caught, and a mighty gust of wind pinned them against the wall of the arena, eerily mirroring Stark’s final pose.
    I walked up to him and, with no hesitation, drove the claymore through his chest.
    “That’s for Stark. I know this won’t kill you, but it sure as hell feels good to do it,” I said. “And I know he’ll appreciate it.”
    Kalona’s eyes glinted dangerously. “You cannot hold me here forever. And when you finally release me, I will make you pay for this.”
    “Okay, see, just like Stark said—you’re wrong. Again. There are different rules in the Otherworld, so I probably could keep you hereforever, if I wanted to stay and turn into Crazy Vengeance Girl, but here’s the deal: I already almost turned into one kind of crazy girl. I’m not so much interested in doing that again. Plus, I want to go home. So, here’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna pay me the life debt you owe me for killing my consort, Heath Luck, by bringing Stark back to me. Then Stark and me, we’re going home. Oh, and by the way, I don’t care where you’ll be going.”
    “You’ve gone mad. I cannot bring the dead back to life.”
    “In this case, I think you can. Stark’s body is safe back in the real world, along with mine. We’re in the Otherworld, and it’s all about spirit here. You’re an immortal, which means you’re all about spirit. So you’re gonna take some of your immortal spirit and share it with my Guardian. And bring him back to me. Now. Because you owe it to me. Do you get it? I claim the debt, and it’s time you paid up.”
    “You don’t have the power to make me,” Kalona said.
    She does not, but I do.
    The disembodied words settled down into the arena. I recognized the sound of Nyx’s voice immediately and looked around expectantly, trying to see her. It was Kalona who found her, though. He was staring over my shoulder with an expression that utterly changed his face. It took me a second to recognize it. He’d looked at me with lust, with possessiveness, and even with what he’d called love. But he’d been wrong. He didn’t love me. Kalona loved Nyx.
    I followed his gaze and turned to see the Goddess standing beside Stark’s body. One of her hands rested tenderly on his head.
    “Nyx!” the immortal’s voice sounded broken and surprisingly young. “My Goddess!”
    Nyx’s eyes lifted from Stark’s body, but she didn’t look at Kalona. The Goddess looked at me. She smiled, and everything within me was suffused in joy.
    “Merry meet, Zoey.”
    I grinned, and bowed my head. “Merry meet, Nyx.”
    “You’ve done well, daughter. You’ve made me proud of you again.”
    “It took me too long,” I said. “I’m sorry about that.”
    Her gaze was unwaveringly kind. “As always with you, as with many of my strongest daughters, it is yourselves you should be forgiving. There is no need to ask it of me.”
    “And what of me?” Kalona rasped. “Will you ever forgive me?”
    The Goddess looked at him. Her eyes were sad, but the set of her mouth was grim, her words clipped and emotionless. “If you are ever worthy of forgiving, you may ask it of me. Not until then.” Nyx lifted her hand from Stark’s head and flicked her fingers at Kalona. The claymore disappeared from his chest. Wind abated, and he dropped from the wall of the arena. “You will pay my daughter the debt you owe her, and then you will return to