Hidden (House of Night Novels)

something ridiculously mundane and simple: a cell phone. That small gift had saved his son’s life.
    Now she’d made him think about all those eons he’d spent apart from Nyx.
    “No!” he spoke the word aloud, causing the little grove of redbuds that had been planted on the west side of Nyx’s Temple to shake as if a storm threatened them. Kalona focused his thoughts and quieted his temper. “No,” he repeated using a voice that was no longer filled with otherworldly power. “I will not think of the centuries I have spent apart from her. I will not think of her at all.”
    Laughter danced around him, causing the redbud grove to shimmer, shift, and then burst into full bloom as if the summer sun had suddenly beamed down upon them. Kalona clenched his fists and looked up.
    He was sitting on the stone eaves of the temple. There was little light on that side of the building, which was why Thanatos had commanded he wait there, but Erebus was a light unto himself.
    Erebus—his brother—Nyx’s immortal Consort. The one being in this universe who was most like him, and the one being in this universe Kalona hated even more than he hated himself. Here! In the mortal realm after all these eons? Why?
    Kalona hid his shock with disdain. “You are shorter than I remembered.”
    Erebus smiled. “Good to see you, too, brother.”
    “As usual, you put words in my mouth.”
    “I apologize. I do not need to. Not when your own words are so interesting. I will not think of her at all.” Not only was Erebus almost a mirror image of Kalona, he also mimicked his brother’s voice perfectly.
    “I was speaking of Neferet.” Kalona quickly collected his thoughts and lied easily. It had been eons, but he used to be good at lying to Erebus. Kalona found he still had the knack.
    “I doubt you not, brother.” Erebus leaned forward, spread his golden wings, and floated gracefully to the ground before Kalona. “You see, that is exactly why I made this little visit.”
    “You came to the earthly realm because I was Neferet’s lover?” Kalona crossed his arms over his broad chest and met his brother’s amber gaze.
    “No, I came because you are a liar and a thief. The rape of the last of Neferet’s goodness is just one of your many crimes,” Erebus said. He, too, crossed his arms over his chest.
    Kalona laughed. “You have not been spying well enough if you believe rape had anything to do with what Neferet and I shared. She was more than willing, more than ready for my body.”
    “I was not speaking of her body!” Erebus’s voice had risen and Kalona could hear the sound of vampyres calling, questioning what was happening over by Nyx’s Temple.
    “As usual, brother, you have appeared to cause problems for me. I was supposed to remain in the shadows, unseen and waiting to be summoned. Though, as I consider more fully, it will be amusing to watch you deal with mortal discovery. A quick word of advice—even vampyres tend to overreact when meeting a god.”
    Erebus didn’t hesitate. He lifted both hands and commanded, “Conceal us!”
    There was a rush of wind and a feeling of lightness that Kalona found so familiar, so bittersweet, that only two responses came to his mind—anger or despair. He would not allow Erebus to see his despair.
    “You defy Nyx? She has proclaimed that I may not enter the Otherworld. How dare you take me here!” Kalona’s night-colored wings were fully extended and he tensed, ready to attack his brother.
    “You always play the impetuous fool, brother. I would never go against my Consort’s proclamations. I did not bring you to the Otherworld. I only brought a piece of the Otherworld to you to shield us, if only for a few moments, from mortal eyes.” Erebus smiled again. This time he did not dim the beauty of his expression. Sunlight glowed from his body. His wings glistened with feathers of gold. His skin was perfect as if he had been fashioned from the rays of the sun.
    He had been, Kalona thought with disgust. He had been fashioned when the sky kissed the sun. Just as I had been fashioned when the sky kissed the moon. The sky, like most immortals, is a fickle bastard who took as he pleased and then paid no attention to the offspring he left behind.
    “How does it feel? Better than when you snuck in, chasing after that little fledgling, Zoey Redbird. Then you were only spirit. You could not feel the magick of Nyx’s realm against your skin. And you always were so impressed by anything