Redeemed (House of Night #12)(13)

Neferet smiled, deciding this was an excellent preshow rehearsal for the carnage they would soon discover.

“And is it true that you have taken into custody someone who confessed to the killings?”

Neferet’s brows lifted. “Confessed to the killings? In custody? That is quite impossible.”

“Yes, I am sad to report that a young fledgling, one I know personally, came forward of her own volition and confessed that she killed the two men.”

“A fledgling!” Neferet exploded off the chaise, shouting at the television screen.

“May we have the name of this fledgling?”

“Zoey Redbird.”

Neferet shrieked, picked up one of the electric lamps she had unplugged, and hurled it at the screen.

“That simpering, feeble child believes she killed those two men? I found them, barely stunned, mere feet from my sanctuary, and their blood served to feed me so that I could make my way to the grand feast at the Boston Avenue Church. Zoey Redbird kill two grown men? What utter nonsense! She doesn’t have the will to kill anyone! And she actually confessed to their murder? That girl is a bigger idiot than even I could have imagined.” Neferet threw back her head and mocking laughter filled the penthouse.

*   *   *

Neferet had taken her position in the middle of the graceful double staircase of the main ballroom of the Mayo Hotel. She loved the irony that she was standing in the very spot where so many deluded human couples had spoken their wedding vows.

“Boxed pasta lasts longer than most human marriages. Did you know that?” She smiled at the crowd assembled on the gleaming black and white marble floor. She had ordered that the chandeliers be dimmed and that large candelabrums be set and lit to the left and right of her on the landing. She knew her beauty was divine and complemented by the way her gown shimmered with the candlelight’s caress.

She had commanded that half of her twenty supplicants surround her, though without actually entering her landing. The other ten possessed humans were stationed at the entrance to her Temple. She had given them one command: no one is allowed to enter or exit.

Her Dark children writhed around her, invisible to the gaping humans but comforting to her with their familiar eagerness.

“Ah, you are correct not to respond. That question really wasn’t worthy of a Goddess’s first address to her chosen people. Let me begin anew.”

Neferet positioned herself in front of her throne, spread her arms wide, and said, “Behold! I am Neferet, Goddess of Darkness, Queen Tsi Sgili. I have made this hotel my Temple Dark, and you—you fortunate few—shall be my loyal supplicants, my Chosen Ones. I, in turn, shall reward your worship by removing the cares of the mundane world from you. You need no longer toil at your meaningless jobs. You need not return to tedious marriages and unappreciative children. From today until your deaths, your only purpose is to worship me. Rejoice, humans!”

Her speech was followed by a long moment of absolute silence, and then the crowd began to rustle nervously with whispers.

Neferet waited for what she knew would come, and that knowledge kept the beatific smile on her face. She did so enjoy teaching humans life lessons.

As expected, Neferet didn’t have to wait long. A woman stepped forward. She was tall and brunette—probably late middle-aged, though she had the well-preserved, well-exercised look of a woman who worked diligently to maintain what was left of her youth. She was wearing a tasteful, meticulously cut dress that was a beautiful shade of emerald green.

“Wherever did you get that lovely dress?” Neferet asked the human before she could speak.

The woman blinked in obvious surprise at the question but answered, “It’s a Halston. I bought it at Miss Jackson’s.”

“Kylee,” Neferet called down to where the girl stood, looking serenely robotic, at the bottom of the stairs. “Make a note. I’m going to need you to go to Miss Jackson’s and choose a variety of dresses for me. Be sure to include a Halston design.”

“Yes, Goddess,” Kylee intoned emotionlessly.

Neferet frowned, staring at Kylee. Did she really want the girl choosing her raiment for her? The child couldn’t be more than twenty, and if her hacked-off haircut was an example of her fashion sense, it really could be a disaster to—

“Okay, you need to explain what is really going on. I don’t have time for this.” Recovering from her surprise, the emerald-dressed woman interrupted Neferet’s internal contemplation. She rested one well-manicured hand on her slim hip and looked up at Neferet, tapping her foot impatiently. “I have early dinner plans at the Summit Club, and a plane back to New York to catch afterward.”

“I have already explained the situation to you,” Neferet said. “I am now your Goddess. You will not have dinner at the Summit Club, nor will you be returning to New York—unless I command you there on an errand for me. Your only job is to worship me. In return I take away your worldly woes and cares. What size is that dress? A four or a six?”

“Seriously, this is a bad joke. Frank Snyder is behind this, isn’t he? Frank?” The woman ignored Neferet and called the man’s name, looking around as if expecting him to appear. “She’s dressed like a silver screen diva. Let me guess—she’s going to sing “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” for my birthday, right? How ever did you find a vampyre for hire? Or are those tattoos painted on?” The woman had completed a full circle and was facing Neferet again, peering up at her as if she was considering trying to wipe at her tattoos.