Page 86 of Lost

21

Zoey

Nerd Herd and our Warriors and lovers! Meet me at the broken tree. Bring circle candles & sage. Lots of sage. I’ll be there in 10 min.

I didn’t give myself time for second thoughts. I pressedSENDfor the group text and then turned my attention back to the media room table in front of me and the open, musty-smelling old book titled simplyOld Magick.I flipped back a few pages and reread the end of the previous chapter.

Remember, when asking for the aid of Old Magickal beings, especially elemental sprites, there is always a cost. Often they are satisfied with blood, but the Ancients are easily bored and capricious. They tend to value payment that is unusual or difficult to acquire. Be quite certain that the method of payment is specific, and be even surer that the payment is made. Do not make the mistake of believing you can escape the debt you incur to the Ancients. You will not—even should the payment required be your life. You will die. Of that there is no doubt whatsoever.

“Hell,” I said to the book and the long-dead vampyre High Priestess who had written it centuries ago. “Hell, hell, hell. I hate how that sounds.”

But there wasn’t anything I could do about hating it. I’d made my decision. I even believed it was a smart decision. Well, Ihopedit was a smart decision. Smart or not, I thought it was the right decision.

“Stark’s going to be so pissed,” I murmured to myself.

“Why am I going to be pissed?”

I jumped and turned in my chair. “Goddess! You scared me.”

“Because you’re hiding in here and didn’t think anyone could find you?” He sat beside me and gave the open book a distrustful glance.

“I’m not hiding. I’m researching. Alone.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you.”

He started to get up and I grabbed his hand. “Don’t go. I’m sorry. That sounded mean and that’s not how I wanted it to sound.” I drew in a long breath to steady myself. I didn’t want to have this talk with Stark. Ever. But I’d done enough childish avoiding. I’d made my decision, so it was time to tell him the truth. “I need to talk to you.”

He turned in his chair to face me. “Finally!”

His look of relief made my stomach clench.

Stark touched my cheek in a sweet, intimate gesture that always made me feel fluttery inside, and he smiled that cocky smile of his that I’ve loved since the day I met him. “Hey, whatever it is, we can handle it. Together. Just tell me what’s wrong and then we’ll figure out how to fix the problem.”

I leaned forward and kissed him—softly, slowly. He pulled me into his arms and returned the kiss, and for that moment I let my world be filled with my Warrior, my lover, my Guardian, and my friend.

When we finally parted his smile went cocky again. “If the problem is you need to be kissed like that more often, I have your fix. It’s a tough job, but you can definitely count on me, my Queen.”

I mock-punched his shoulder. “A tough job?”

“Yep, but someone has to do it.”

I shook my head at him, and then sobered.Stop procrastinating! Just tell him.

“I’m going to the Other World after Kevin,” I blurted.

“Yeah, well, I figured as much. When do we leave?”

I took his hand between both of mine. “I leave tonight. You’re staying here.”

He didn’t say anything for several long seconds. Then, slowly, he pulled his hand from between mine.

“Why?” His voice sounded flat, but his eyes filled with pain.

“Well, Neferet has to be stopped and I can’t let Kevin destroy himself with Old Magick, which it seems he’s on the road to doing. He’s using it. You can feel how often. He must believe he has to. I know I did. We all know that. Neferet is a nightmare. But Kevin understands nothing about Old Magick, or Neferet, and that’s going to—”

“Not why are you going,” Stark interrupted. “I already figured that out. Why am I not going?”

“Oh. Sorry. Because you can’t.”