“Worlds? You mean the human and the vampyre worlds?”
“No, daughter. I mean the worlds of my red and blue Marked children. From the moment you sacrificed a piece of your humanity to save Stevie Rae and my children Marked in red, you have been on this path. I hoped that you would be strong enough to heal your past and wise enough to seek a new future—my hope has come to fruition today.”
“So, I’m a bridge?” she said, sounding more like herself.
Nyx laughed and the stars in her headdress twinkled with impossible brilliance. “Yes, but you are also truly a vampyre—fully Changed.”
Aphrodite pressed her hand against her mouth. She felt so filled with happiness that she thought she might explode. The goddess waited with seemingly infinite patience while she sifted through her emotions, savoring a sense of peace and fulfillment that she had never before known. Finally, when she was able to speak again, she lifted her face to her goddess once more.
“Thank you. Those two words aren’t enough, but they are all I have. Thank you, Nyx. I won’t let you down. I won’t be my mother, and I won’t let her hurt me anymore.”
“I know you won’t, Daughter. But do you not wish to know the extent of your prophetess gifts?”
“There’s more than this gorgeous Mark and those visions I get?” Aphrodite gave the goddess a cheeky grin. “Please tell me you took away the bloody tears, pain, and blindness that goes with them.”
“No, Daughter. I cannot tell you that, for with every gift comes a price, and the price for your visions is pain. There is a price for your new gift, too, though I believe you will find it more and less painful than your visions.”
“Now I’m really confused,” she said.
“Then I shall clarify. In these modern worlds where blue and red vampyres collide, I require a Prophetess of Judgment—someone whose past has taught them that not everything that is beautiful is good—and not everything that is plain is bad, for darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.”
Aphrodite nodded. “My mother and Neferet are beautiful, and both are filled with Darkness. The black bull could easily be seen as a bad guy, but really he is pure love, pure Light. I get it. But what does that have to do with me and with judgment?”
“I do not like to interfere in the life choices of my children because I believe that free will defines humanity. Take free will away, and humans become a race of puppets who will never evolve to find their fullest potential. And yet the events surrounding Kalona’s fall and Neferet’s curse shook me to my core. I realized I was wrong. There are times when divine intervention is not just necessary, but merciful—especially when worlds collide, as they are doing at this moment. You, my wise, witty, irreverent Daughter, are my divine intervention.”
“You know about the zombie apocalypse from the other House of Night world?” Aphrodite shook her head. “What am I saying? You’re our goddess. Of course you know about it. But now I’m scared and confused.”
“Then I shall reassure you and explain. I have granted you the gift of humanity and second chances. There are times when someone who seems unredeemable becomes worthy of an opportunity for redemption. I have given you the power to gift humanity to those who have lost their own so that they might have a second chance.”
Aphrodite gaped at the goddess and blurted, “I don’t want that power!”
“And that, mixed with your past, is why I have chosen you to be my first Prophetess of Judgment. No one worthy would want this power.”
“But how will I know if someone deserves a second chance?”
“You will know.”
“How?” The word came out as a squeak and Aphrodite cleared her throat before continuing. “I’m not really that smart, and I screw up and hurt people’s feelings. Constantly, actually. Even when I don’t mean to.”
“Yes, you are very human. That is part of what I appreciate about you. And you speak your mind clearly with very little niceties. I find that essential in a prophetess. You have a unique wisdom that I appreciate. Depend on that wisdom and depend on your heart.”
“My heart?”
“When you know it here,” the goddess touched Aphrodite’s forehead gently. “As well as here,” her hand rested briefly on Aphrodite’s breast, over her heart. “Then the answer you seek will be the correct one.”
“Okay, I’ll try. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at this, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to screw things up sometimes, but I will try. I give you my promise.”
“I shall keep your promise, Prophetess.”
“You said every gift comes with a price. What’s the price I pay for this gift?”
“Each time you give someone a second chance, you give away a piece of your gift of judgment. You’ll see it happen, for part of your Mark will fade until finally, one day, it will disappear completely leaving you as you were before.”
“Before?”
“Before you were Marked at all. When your tattoo is gone, so too will your term as my prophetess be gone, and you may live out the rest of your life as a human mortal, revered and loved by every House of Night in this world and any other you choose to touch until you die peacefully, surrounded by your children and loved ones, and you return to me.”
Aphrodite felt hot and cold at once. “Children?”
“Many—and grandchildren as well as great grandchildren. You will be beloved by generations of your blood. Your life will be so filled with love and Light and laughter that it will drown out the sorrow of your past. So I have spoken—so shall it be.”
Aphrodite brushed the fresh tears from her cheeks. “I can save Other Jack.”
“You can. You also can save every red fledgling and vampyre who crossed into this world. But, will you, Prophetess? Are they worthy of a second chance?”
She stared at the goddess, her mind whirring. “I—I don’t know. How do I know if they’re worthy? The only one of them I know is Other Jack, and I don’t really know him well. Holy shit, I have no idea what to do!” Then she shook herself and amended, “Sorry about that. I don’t sound very prophetess-ey.”
“Think with your mind and feel with your heart.”
“Well, I know Other Jack and the rest of them are from a crappy world where Neferet’s managed to start a war. A world with no Stevie Rae or Zoey, so there was no one to basically manipulate me into giving my humanity up so that the red fledglings and vamps could choose for themselves whether they followed Light or …” her words faded as her heart agreed with her mind. “I know what to do.”
“What is your decision, Daughter?”
“They never had a choice, so they all deserve a second chance.”
“Does it matter to you how much of your gift you will lose by saving all of them?”
Aphrodite drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No. I don’t think I can let it matter. It’s not about me. It’s about them.” She hesitated, and then added, “How much of it will I lose?”