“Hey, I’d never force anyone to go there,” I assured him.
“Kevin, I want you to come directly to my farm as soon as you return. Tell me everything that has happened. Give me this.” Grandma took from around her neck a small beaded pouch on a string of braided leather and placed it over Kevin’s head so that the pouch rested in the middle of his chest, near his heart. “I would believe you anyway, but this will speed things up.”
“Thank you, G-ma.”
Stevie Rae jogged into the room, waving a rowan stick. “Found it! Sorry it took so long. It was in the very bottom of the spells and rituals chest.” She ticked off the items on the table. “So, we just need the grooved rock.”
“In the shape of a heart,” I said.
“I have an idea. I’ll go find Shaylin.” And Stevie Rae was off.
“Okay, let me think. What else …” My mind was a cacophony of thoughts warring with an orchestra of emotions.
“Kevin, you said you do not know a Dragon or Anastasia Lankford?” Grandma asked.
He shook his head. “No. The Swordmaster at our House of Night is a really old vampyre named Artus. He’s super scary.”
“So, no Dragon was killed at your House of Night this past year?” I asked.
“Nope.”
Grandma and I exchanged a smile.
“Find Dragon Lankford and his Consort, Anastasia. They’ll help you, and I’d bet a plate of Grandma’s cookies that Anastasia can either stand in for earth or can help you find someone with an earth affinity.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll remember.”
“And Kevin, no matter what, do not underestimate Neferet. She became immortal in this world. She commanded threads of Darkness to do her nasty bidding. Hell, I even saw her turn herself into about a zillion spiders.”
“That’s seriously disgusting.” Kevin shuddered.
“Right? So, be overly careful. Oh, and in this world she had major psychic powers, but she could never read my mind—and if other people, like Damien and Stevie Rae or the rest of the Nerd Herd, if they kept their minds busy thinking about by-rote stuff—vocab words and whatnot—that messed up her mind-reading abilities.”
“Okay. Got that, too.”
“We did it!” Stevie Rae and Shaylin rushed into the room. They were grinning and holding a fist-sized sandstone that had a perfect imprint of a wavy, watermarked heart on it.
“Where did you manage to find that?” I asked, running my hand over the heart, which I could swear felt wet.
“Shaylin made it.”
“Because Stevie Rae helped. We got earth and water together, and we marked the rock!”
“That’s perfect. It really is,” I glanced up at the cool grouping of international time and date clocks on the wall. “I can hardly believe it, but we’re on time.”
Kevin’s gaze followed mine to see the Tulsa Time Zone clock that read 11:15 pm—December 24. “Hey, Z! I just now realized—happy birthmas!”
“Oh, great Earth Mother. I totally misplaced your birthday,” Grandma said.
“That’s okay. There’s been a lot going on today. I misplaced it myself.”
“But you’re eighteen, now, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I thought I’d feel different, but I don’t. Maybe that happens at twenty-one.”
“No, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, that happens at sixty-one,” Grandma quipped, before leaning over and kissing me. “Happy birthday, my Zoeybird.”
“Dang, Z. We kinda missed your birthmas.” Stevie Rae almost looked like she was going to cry.
“That’s okay—I’m used to having a crappy birthmas. At least this one wasn’t boring.”
“You got me for your birthday. And I’m not even a Christmas-themed present,” Kevin said, punching my arm.
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes at him. It was either that or burst into tears, and then he might start crying. Again. And we both snot when we cry. A lot. So, just no. “Okay, guys, tell Damien, Shaunee, Aphrodite, and Stark that we’re ready. We’ll meet you down at the SUV.”
After they left, Grandma stepped into Kevin’s arms. “I’m going to say goodbye here. I cannot go with you to the park. I wasn’t there the first time. And I—I do not want to see you leave.” Her voice trembled, but she blinked hard as she tried to keep her tears from falling. “I love you, Kevin. Dearly. Always. In any world. Come find your G-ma. She will be waiting for you.”
Kevin smiled through his own tear-filled eyes. “With lavender chocolate chip cookies?”
“With lavender chocolate chip cookies. I promise.”
They hugged for a long time. Then Kevin bent, brushed the tears from Grandma’s cheeks and kissed her gently. “I love you, too, G-ma.”
Grandma patted the medicine pouch she’d given him, and then slowly, sadly, she walked away.
We watched her, both sniffling. I sighed and reached into my pocket, pulled out two balled-up old tissues, and handed one to Kevin. While we wiped our eyes and blew our noses, I asked the question I’d been struggling with for hours.
“Kev, do you know Heath Luck?”
He tipped his head to the side and actually grinned at me. “You mean your grade school and high school sweetheart, quarterback, and all-around studly guy, Heath Luck?”
“Yes. You know that’s who I mean,” I said, trying to pretend my hot face was beet red from embarrassment and not from the racing of my heart and the fluttering of my stomach.
“Of course I know him.” Then Kevin looked closer at me. “Wait, is he dead in this world?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“Oh, Zo. I’m so sorry. He’s totally fine in my world. Completely alive. In college playing OU football.”
“Even with a war going on?”
“Vamps love them some sports—especially football. It’s become like a weird hobby of theirs. So as long as you’re a jock or a cheerleader, or majoring in something else vamps in general—or Neferet in particular—think is important, or at least amusing, they leave you alone. Well, pretty much. Heath’s doing great.”
“That’s good. I’m glad. I’m really glad.”
“He was at your funeral. He was real broken up.”
I met Kevin’s eyes. “Don’t tell me anymore, ’kay?”
“’Kay. Anything for the birthmas girl.” He put me in a pretend headlock and started giving me noogies. “And I have your birthmas noogies right here.”
“OHMYGOD stop messing up my hair!” I was smacking him when Stark came into the room.
“Uh, we’re waiting for you two.”
“Good thing,” I said, trying to fix my totally screwed up hair. “I was just getting ready to go all Ninja Turtle on him.”
“Scared. I’m super scared.”
“Yep, she’s frightening when you mess with her hair,” Stark said.
The two of them giggled like little boys and I looped my arm through Other Kevin’s on my right, and Stark’s on my left. Then, off to see the wizard–like, the three of us headed for the SUV.
Zoey
Woodward Park was like the rest of midtown we’d driven through—completely deserted. It was still snowing. The flakes had gone from small and sparkly to heavy and lazy.
Just like the night before.