Hidden: House of Night: Book 10

course, wanting to attack the flame.
    “Watch him, Z!” Stark was yelling. “Over here, you bastard! Don’t you fucking look at her!” The Warrior rammed Aurox with his shoulder, knocking him backward. Aurox pretended to stumble, but instead he feinted right and his left fist, now a fully formed hoof, caught Stark in the middle of his gut, doubling him over. Aurox was lowering his head, ready to gore the Warrior when the elements hit him.
    This time his stagger was not pretended. He felt spirit first. Felt it deep within him. Something stirred. Something that was the opposite of the beast of Darkness that shared his skin. Joy leaped to life. It was an oddly familiar sensation, and with it Aurox turned his head, his gaze automatically seeking and then finding Zoey. Their eyes met. Hers had tears in them. In one hand she held the silver-flamed candle. Her other hand was pressed against the middle of her chest.
    “Don’t cry, Zo. You’ll get snot everywhere,” he heard himself say in a perfectly normal, perfectly human voice.
    Then air whooshed into him and he gasped—and laughed. It felt like a mini-tornado. Fire was a sizzling rush, which water cooled. Earth was a fragrant field of lavender, calming and strengthening.
    Aurox laughed. He looked down at what had been hooves, cloven and deadly. He had hands and feet again!
    “Don’t take a victory lap yet. This doesn’t mean shit if you can’t fight.” And Stark punched him. Hard. Blood rained with pain from his nose.
    Aurox grunted and threw his own punch, which caught Stark on the side of his chin. “I can fight!” he shouted. Stark went down.
    The beast quivered within him, but Aurox thought of the elements and their presence strengthened him, and as it did, he felt the creature shrink and cower.
    Aurox was grinning when Darius struck at him. Aurox deflected the blow, knocking the Warrior’s wrist so hard that his grip on the knife loosened. The blade skittered across the basement floor. Aurox was still grinning when he kickedDarius’s legs out from under him and the Warrior fell back on his ass.
    Kalona wasn’t so easy. His speed was otherworldly, and now that Aurox didn’t have the beast’s reflexes, he was only able to block a third of his blows. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Aurox was still fighting, and he was still a human.
    “Okay! That’s enough!” Thanatos’s command came as Stark and Darius rejoined Kalona and were closing on Aurox. The Warriors halted, though Aurox thought they did so reluctantly.
    “Spirit, earth, water, fire, air—I thank each of you for your powerful presence. You may depart now, and until next time, merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!” Thanatos closed the circle. As one, all of the candles flamed high and then went out.
    “Huh, it worked,” Zoey spoke into the silence.
    Using his shirt, Aurox wiped the blood from his nose and mouth. He didn’t actually think about what he was doing—he just followed his legs as they strode over to Zoey. Then his arms were lifting her and his body was twirling her around and around as his voice shouted, “You did it! It worked!”
    A burst of laughter escaped from her, but as soon as he put her down she was stepping away from him, moving to stand by Stark’s side.
    “It wasn’t just me who did it. It was all of us.” She took Stark’s hand and, ignoring Aurox, smiled at everyone else. “You guys were all awesome.”
    “Okay, yeah, the circle worked,” Stark said. “But how does that translate to helping him get Grandma out of Neferet’s penthouse? Neferet isn’t gonna let you cast a circle up there.”
    “Well, I didn’t think that far ahead,” Zoey said.
    “Must you see Aurox to strengthen him with the elements?” Kalona asked.
    “Actually, no,” Zoey said. “It’s harder, and I don’t know how long we could keep it up, but we don’t have to see someone to send our element to him.”
    “I believe a spell of protection is the answer.” Thanatos spoke slowly, reasoning aloud. “Surround the Mayo building.I will open the circle and cast the spell, binding it with salt. Zoey, as long as spirit is at the center of the circle, in the heart of the building, the circle should hold.”
    “The lobby of the Mayo is big. There’s a bar and a restaurant in it,” Aphrodite said. “Food’s pretty good, and they actually have a decent champagne list,
and
it’s dark and romantic.”
    “I care because?” Zoey asked.
    “Because