Page 23 of Lost

Dragon scoffed. “Well, inthisworld she’s practically useless, unless you’re so besotted by her beauty that you can overlook her selfish indulgences and petty greed.”

“But even here she’s a Prophetess,” Kevin said.

“She’s a Prophetess who has visions she can rarely interpret. Even before Anastasia and I fled to join the Resistance there were rumblings that Neferet was displeased with her.”

“And why wouldn’t she be?” Anastasia said as she continued to sew sutures along Kevin’s back. “I loathe everything Neferet stands for, but Aphrodite is a terrible Prophetess. She uses her beauty and her Goddess-given gift to manipulate. I truly believe she withholds information from her visions unless she believes she can gain from them. I don’t understand why Neferet doesn’t rid herself of the creature.”

“I do. Aphrodite is a master at knowing how far she can push Neferet. When she’s pushed too far, Aphrodite simply has a vision that is suddenly clear enough to interpret, and thatcoincidentalvision is also of high value to Neferet,” Dragon said.

“She’s different in the other world,” Kevin insisted. “She sacrificed her humanity to save the first red fledglings. And since then, in that world,every red fledgling and vampyre has the ability to maintain their humanity.All because of Aphrodite.”

“And because of that difference, Kevin believes he can reach the Aphrodite who is in this world and convince her to make the same sacrifice,” Grandma Redbird added.

There was a long silence during which Kevin tried to think through the blazing pain in his back for something more—something that would convince Dragon that he was telling the truth.

When Dragon spoke again, Kevin heard the change in his voice. It was only slight, but some of the sarcasm and anger seemed to be missing. “What makes you think Aphrodite is reachable? The Prophetess you describe has little in common with the one in our world.”

“Because even in another world, who we are at our core seems not to change too much. The only difference is that we have been through alternative life experiences, which have the power to change our personalities and our reactions,” Kevin said. “Zoey told me to find you and Anastasia in this world. She said you would help me defeat Neferet because you helped her in that world.”

“Are Bryan and I mated in that world too?”

Kevin considered not telling her, but he rejected that thought quickly. The truth was one of the few strengths he had, and he wasn’t about to start lying and messing that up.

“You were,” he told Anastasia.

“Were?” Dragon said.

“You were killed. I’m not sure how. Zoey didn’t have time to tell me that. Only that you died bravely saving others.”

“We both are dead?” Anastasia’s voice sounded shaky.

“Yes. I’m sorry,” Kevin said.

Anastasia’s bloody hand rested gently on his shoulder for a moment. “Don’t be. If my Bryan perished, I would not wish to live without him.”

“And I would not draw breath in a world without you, my love,” Dragon said.

From the corner of his eye, Kevin saw Anastasia turn and look up at her mate. “And it is your capacity to love that makes you more than your sword—more than a dragon. Think of it, Bryan. If it is true—if Kevin can reach Aphrodite and convince her to repeat whatever it was she did in that other world—Neferet’s war would be drastically changed.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said. “She wouldn’t have an army of mindless weapons. She would only have the blue officers and the Sons of Erebus Warriors, and how many of them would stay faithful to her and fight for her if they realized Nyx didn’t bless this war?”

“She would lose power, but perhaps not enough to stop the war,” Dragon said thoughtfully. “She has been careful to only put Warriors in key positions of power who seek more—more land, more riches, more of everything.”

“But at least we’d have a fighting chance then,” Kevin insisted. “Dragon, I saw what happens when red vampyres and fledglings have their humanity restored, and I promise you, none of them will ever fight again.”

“Where are they, these other changed red vampyres and fledglings?” Dragon asked.

“Still in the other world. Zoey would have had to force them to come back here, and she refused to do that. It was a terrible shock when they returned to themselves and realized what they had done. Several of them committed suicide before we could stop them.”

“And how about you? Why weren’t you devastated and suicidal?” the Swordmaster asked.

“Because I was different from the moment I was Marked. I held on to more of my humanity than anyone knew, and because of that I made sure that I didn’t—”

Suddenly from outside the cave came the warning cries of a raven, immediately followed by a flurry of activity. The bird flew frantically to Anastasia as Erik Night rushed to Dragon.

“Danger! Danger! Danger!”the raven shrieked as he landed on Anastasia’s shoulder.

“Tina’s lit a warning fire!” Erik told Dragon.

Kevin was too busy staring at the raven and wondering if normal ravens could actually speak or if this one was magickal, when Dragon whirled around, staring at him.

“You traitorous little bastard!” Dragon hurled the words at Kevin.

“No! It’s not me! It couldn’t be me. I—I didn’t even go to the barracks yesterday. I went straight to Grandma Redbird’s farm when I got back.”

Another blue vampyre rushed into the cave. Between panting breaths, he announced, “Soldiers of the Red Army are coming up the ridge!”

Dragon Lankford strode to Kevin and grabbed his arm in a viselike grip, lifting him to his feet and dragging him to the mouth of the cave.

“Before I kill you, you’re going to tell me how many soldiers you led here!”