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“You have allies now who can do the work for you.”
The goddess looked at me. And then everyone was looking at me. The weight of the attention made my shoulders slouch.
I shook my head. “No, I can’t do it, I don’t know enough, I’m not powerful enough—”
“Kitty,” Xiwangmu said, and her eyes sparkled when she smiled. “You have been battling demons for a long time now, and holding your own among gods. You’re powerful enough.” Beside her, the fox barked, as if to say yes!
Well. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I’d survived this long, hadn’t I? That had to count for something. I just had to keep on doing it, one way or another. I could only stare at her, blinking dumbly.
Xiwangmu turned to Anastasia. “You, on the other hand, have been battling for a very long time. Come with me and rest for a little while.” She smoothed back Anastasia’s hair, brushing it behind her ear. Anastasia touched that hand, holding it, and for a moment she seemed like a little girl whose mother had just kissed away some hurt.
For that moment, the scene was perfect—safe, gentle, and full of love. I wanted the credits to roll.
Sun said, “Queen Mother, it’s time to go, I think.”
“Yes. You can lead the others out of the tunnels?”
“I can.”
The goddess said, “Li Hua, are you ready?”
The vampire stood and came to me. She even looked younger, as if eight hundred years of life and cynicism had fallen away.
Earnest now, she said, “Stay vigilant, Kitty. Stay watchful. Roman isn’t finished.”
“I don’t exactly need an archvillain in my life.”
“It’s a little late for that.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know why you think I can do this. I don’t have your contacts, your experience.”
“Just do what you’ve been doing. Find allies.”
Build the army to stand against Roman’s army. I was going to need to get myself a new Rolodex.
I reached out a hand, and she shook it. “Take care of yourself,” I said. “I don’t know what’s ahead for you, but, well, be careful.”
“I don’t know what’s ahead, either. I think I like the feeling.” She actually smiled—a genuine, open smile, full of hope. Maybe her first in a very long time.
She squeezed my hand, then turned her shining smile back to Xiwangmu. After giving each of us a look and a quick nod—a blessing, maybe—the goddess walked side by side with Anastasia back through the doorway and disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel.
I had a feeling that if I ran after them, I would find the tunnel empty. I didn’t try, and so saved myself another round of bafflement.
“Who was that?” Henry asked, a tad awestruck.
He’d missed that little bit of the previous night’s adventure. “Queen Mother of the West,” I said, unable to explain beyond that.
“Who?” he replied.
“Where are they going?” I asked Sun.
“Into the West,” he said. “The Queen Mother’s realm.”
“But where is that?”
He gave me a look, like I should know better than to ask such a question. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio …
Heaven, earth, and how many places in between?
