Hidden (House of Night Novels)

lovingly.
    Kalona looked away. Neferet disgusted him.
    He heard the moan then. At first he believed the sound came from Neferet, but when he glanced back at her, she was still smiling and stroking the threads of Darkness. The moan sounded again. Kalona looked around the room. Neferet had no electric lights on. The floor-to-ceiling windows were thick stained glass and, though the penthouse was on the top of the tall building, they let in little light. Neferet had lit a few thick, white pillar candles. Their flickering flames served as the only real illumination in the suite. Kalona peered within, but saw nothing except shadows and Darkness.
    Another tendril quivered from an especially dark corner of the main room, causing a break in the inky shadows. Something within the blackness stirred. There was a slight glint of silver momentarily catching and reflecting the candlelight. Kalona blinked, not certain he could trust his vision. The immortal focused on the darkness and it took form. It seemed to be shaped like a cocoon hanging from the ceiling. Kalona shook his head, not understanding. Silver within the darkness flashed again, and Kalona saw something else reflecting light within the cocoon-like shape. Eyes—a human’s open eyes. Everything came together for Kalona when he met her eyes.
    The winged immortal stepped into the room.
    Sylvia Redbird shifted and, in a whispery, tremulous voice mumbled, “No more … no more…” as the tendrils reshaped, curling around her, cutting into her skin. Her blood dripped to join the pool that had already formed below her cage. Oddly, the tendrils of hungry Darkness did not feed from the ready feast below them. As Kalona watched, Sylvia shifted her body again, this time pressing outward with her arms. When her forearms, which were ringed with turquoise stones and silver bracelets, came into contact with a tendril, the living strand quivered and pulled back quickly, giving off black smoke and shriveling so that it released and another tendril slithered to take its place.
    “Ah, I see you’ve discovered my newest pet.”
    Kalona made himself look away from Sylvia Redbird. The tendrils of Darkness were done feeding, but they were still wrapped around Neferet’s hand and arm, grotesquely mimicking Sylvia’s protective bracelets.
    “You will, of course, recognize Zoey Redbird’s grandmother. Pity she was ready for me when I came for her. She had time to gather her ancestors’ earth power in a protective spell.” Neferet sighed, clearly irritated. “It has something to do with the turquoise and the silver. It’s proving an impediment to reaching her, though my lovely children of Darkness are doing some damage.”
    “If nothing else, the old woman will bleed to death,” Kalona said.
    “I’m sure she will. Eventually. Pity that her blood is good for nothing. It’s absolutely undrinkable. No matter. I’ll wait her out.”
    “You intend to kill her?”
    “I intended to sacrifice her, but as you can see that has turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. No matter. I am a Goddess. I adapt easily to change. Perhaps I’ll keep her, make her my pet. That would truly torture her granddaughter.” Neferet shrugged. “No matter—kill her or use her. It will all end the same. She is, after all, nothing but a mortal shell.”
    “I thought the Aurox creature was your pet.” Kalona forced himself to sound only vaguely interested. “Why would you abandon such a powerful creature for an old woman?”
    “I did not abandon Aurox. The bull creature is flawed and has not been as useful as I had hoped he would be. A little like you, my lost love.” She caressed a pulsing tendril. “But you already know that, don’t you? You are Sword Master for the House of Night in Dragon Lankford’s place. Surely you know how your predecessor was killed.”
    “Of course. Aurox killed him.” Kalona began to move slowly toward Sylvia’s cage. “And I have only taken Dragon’s place so that I can gain the confidence of Thanatos and the High Council.”
    “Why would you want to do that?”
    “For us, of course. They have shunned you, unanimously. You can no longer cause dissention among them, so I thought to cause it for you. Thanatos is beginning to trust me. The High Council trusts her. I have already begun whispering dissent to Death.”
    “Interesting,” Neferet said. “And so considerate of you, especially as the last time we parted we did so as sworn enemies.”
    “I