House of Night 09 - Destined

lightning.”
    “To water,” Thanatos said.
    The thick rope of glowing scarlet followed us.
    When we stopped in front of Erin I thought she looked scared, but she nodded and said, “Bring it on. I’m ready.”
    Thanatos spoke:
    “Come water, flow throughout this circle space
    With tide of truth wash clear sight-stealing time
    Allowing us to see death’s tear-streaked face
    Violence cleansed sets us free of evil’s grime.”
    Erin lifted the candle to meet my match as I said, “Water, please join our circle.”
    There was a roar as if we’d suddenly been transported into the middle of a waterfall. The night turned brilliant shades of blue and turquoise and sapphire—all the colors of water. The element gushed into the blackened circle. Water swirled around like an angry whirlpool and then, just like air and fire, it gushed straight up into the lightning-streaked sky. Clouds billowed and roiled—thunder clapped, growling with such fierceness that I cringed.
    “No,” Erin said quickly. “Water’s not mad at us.”
    “Neither is fire,” Shaunee said.
    “Nor wind,” Damien added.
    “The elements are outraged at the act that was committed here,” Thanatos said. “Prepare yourself, circle. We move to earth.”
    With thunderclouds multiplying above us and lightning illuminating the gathering storm, I moved to stand in front of Stevie Rae.
    “Time to cowboy up,” she said.
    Thanatos nodded and spoke the earth invocation:
    “Come earth, rich, verdant truly Goddess blessed
    Your bosom nurtures and keeps this spell’s key
    Open here and dark death will be confessed
    For the wound in your heart, justice we’ll see.”
    Stevie Rae lifted the green candle to my flame. “Earth, please join our circle.”
    The ground beneath our feet began shaking as if we were standing in the middle of an earthquake. I couldn’t help the little shriek that slipped from my mouth.
    “Zoey!” Stark yelled. I could see him staggering, trying to reach the circle, which was now completely ringed with a thick rope of red.
    “Wait, it’s okay!” Stevie Rae shouted above the cacophony of angry elements. “Like the other element, earth isn’t mad at us. It’s not gonna hurt us. Look, it’s making the ground new.”
    I looked down and saw that she was right. The ground that had been washed clean by water had shifted, rolled, until instead of ashes and the remnants of blighted plants, the rich red Oklahoma earth lay newly exposed.
    “See, it’s being made right,” Stevie Rae said. As she spoke, the tremors gentled and then stopped completely.
    “We must finish the circle and the spell,” Thanatos said. “Call spirit, Zoey. Now.”
    Aurox
    From his hidden place within the orchard Aurox watched the glowing scarlet circle form. Its power was awe-inspiring; the might of the elements was incredible to behold. He could feel the emotions air, fire, water, and earth evoked in the fledglings and vampyre who embodied them. Joy and courage and righteous indignation filled the circle and boiled over to wash through him.
    Aurox could use the energy to change—to morph into the creature that would emerge from him, attack Rephaim as had been his command from Neferet, and most certainly disrupt the spell the High Priestess had almost fully cast.
    He stared at Zoey. Radiant, she turned to the old woman who sat in the middle of the circle. Aurox knew once Thanatos evoked the final element, spirit, and Zoey lit the purple candle, the circle would be complete and the reveal spell would be set fully into motion.
    If it was going to be stopped he had to act now.
    He stood, warring with himself.
    I was created to serve Neferet. She serves Darkness.
    Before him the elemental Light of the Goddess glistened and expanded, so clean and bright, especially compared to what had been soiled by Darkness and destruction.
    I should not stop this! Deep within him his spirit was crying out for him not to hinder. Instead to wait, to bear witness, to—
    Pain exploded through Aurox as tendrils of Darkness whipped around him. Thick and sticky they spread, web-like, across his body. Aurox gasped as his skin began absorbing things, melting into the creature that rested within him, and awakening it. Helpless to stop himself, Aurox felt the bull emerge. The creature took control of his body. I knew only one thing, Neferet’s last command: attack Rephaim. Head lowered, glistening, deadly horns fully formed, Aurox charged Rephaim.
    Zoey
    Thanatos and I moved