Hidden (House of Night #10)(70)

"Goddess, your Consort returns!" Kalona called, thankful for who or whatever had shattered the glass of the penthouse's doorway. It saved him having to awkwardly break it open should she not welcome him as he expected.

"I see no Consort, only a winged failure." Her voice came from the shadows behind him in the far corner of the balcony, well away from the entrance to her penthouse.

He turned slowly to face her, allowing her time to take in the sight of his naked chest and his powerful wings. Neferet was a lusty creature. She craved men, but even more than the physical pleasure she took from a man's body, Neferet craved lording dominion over men. The white bull could give her power, but a bull was not a man.

"During the eons of my existence I have, indeed, failed at some things. I have made mistakes. The greatest of both was leaving your side, Goddess," Kalona spoke truthfully, though the Goddess foremost in his mind was not Neferet.

"So now you call me Goddess and you crawl back to me."

Kalona took two strides toward her, allowing his wings to stir. "Do I appear to be crawling?"

Neferet tilted her head. She hadn't moved from the shadows and all he could really see of her were her emerald eyes and the flame-colored shimmer of her hair as the sun began to rise behind her.

"No," she said, sounding bored. "You appear to be flapping."

Kalona unfurled his wings and opened his arms. His amber eyes met her cold, green gaze and he focused his will on her. Neferet had not long been immortal. She would still be susceptible to his allure.

"Look again, Goddess. Gaze on your Consort."

"I see you. You are not as young as I remembered."

"You forget to whom you speak!" He tried to temper his voice, but she stirred his anger. He had forgotten how very much he had come to loathe her cold sarcasm.

"Do I?" Neferet glided from the corner of shadows. "It is you who comes to me. Did you actually believe I would welcome you?"

The sun had lifted above the distant horizon, and as she approached him, Kalona was finally able to fully see her. Neferet had continued to change. She was still beautiful, but anything soft, mortal, human about her had been lost. It was as if she were an exquisite statue that had been given the breath of life, but had been animated without a conscience, without a soul. She had always been cold, but until now Neferet had maintained the ability to mimic kindness and love. No longer. Kalona wondered if he was the only one who could see so clearly that she was becoming a conduit for evil.

"I did not believe it, but I did hope it, even though I have heard rumors that my place at your side has been usurped." He hoped she would misjudge the shock in his voice for jealousy.

Neferet's smile was reptilian. "Yes, I found something bigger than a bird, though I do admit your jealousy is amusing."

Swallowing down the bile that rose in this throat at the thought of touching her, Kalona closed the distance between them. He commanded his wings forward so that the cold softness of his feathers stroked her skin.

"I am something bigger than a bird."

"Why should I take you back?" Neferet's voice sounded emotionless, but Kalona could feel her skin tremble in anticipation under his caress.

"Because you are a goddess and you deserve an immortal Consort." He moved even closer to her, knowing she could feel the frigid power of his moon-blessed immortality.

"I already have an immortal Consort," Neferet said.

"Not one who can do this." Kalona enfolded her in his wings. Slowly, he knelt before her, his lips inches from her quivering flesh. "I will serve you."

"How?" Her voice betrayed no feeling, but her hand lifted to stroke the inside of his wing.

Kalona closed his mind to everything except sensation and moaned.

She continued to stroke him. "How?" Neferet repeated the question and added, "Especially now that you serve another mistress."

He had expected her to know about his oath to Thanatos and he had an answer ready. "The only mistress I can truly serve is a Goddess, and if my Goddess would forgive me, I would do anything she asks of me." Kalona had thought his continued play on words would be amusing. Neferet would believe he spoke of her, and actually he could be talking about any of the female deities. But the moment he said the words, the truth of Kalona's statement rippled through his body, causing him to gasp and lurch away from the creature who stood before him. The games he had been playing with himself for eons ended with that one sentence. I was created to serve one Goddess and one Goddess only. Neferet embodied the opposite of everything Nyx represented. With his back to Neferet, Kalona buried his face in his hands. How could I have ever thought she, or any other woman, could supplant Nyx's place in my heart? I have spent centuries as a broken shell of myself, attempting to fill what was missing within me through violence and lust and power. Nothing! Nothing has worked!

He felt her hands on his shoulders. They were soft and warm and seemed to radiate kindness. Gently, ever so gently, she turned him, coaxing Kalona to face her. When he lifted his head his body went very still. Neferet had not followed him. She had not moved. She could not have touched him. Neferet had never touched him with such kindness.

But Nyx had.

Kalona's face felt wet. Absently he brushed away the tears.

"Hmmm..." Neferet was tapping one long, sharp fingernail against her chin, studying him from across the balcony, showing no sign that Nyx had just been present before him.