Destined Prologue & Chapter 1

Let’s try this again but complete.

Considering where we left off, I don’t know if PCK has any further depths of stupidity to plumb. Look, PCK, when you have god show up, in person, to talk to characters there’s no excuse for her hiding information. Why didn’t Nyx tell everyone that Neferet was in league with evil? Because otherwise there wouldn’t be a story.

And that’s where PCK broke her story entirely. It was already limping along, looking for a place to die and has been since book one. Every appearance of Nyx weakened her presence and left fewer excuses for why Nyx didn’t meddle further. Free will or no, that doesn’t mean she can’t tell people what’s going on.

I know what PCK would say if they were asked. That the folks who didn’t follow Zoey are brainwashed by Neferet’s magic. Which is demonstrably false as Neferet’s poijt of view chapter specifically mentioned her using magic only on people who seemed to doubt her. Which means the only real, in universe answer, would be that Nyx is a horrible god.

Prologue

Anywho, we begin with Zoey who’s just realized that her mom might be dead. Might, Zoey? Your dreams are prophetic and have never failed. Meteorologists can’t predict the weather for the next hour with the certainty your dreams are true. Zoey turns to Stark for comfort.

I clamped my lips together, even though I knew my whisper wasn’t what was messing with his sleep. Stark was my Warrior, my Guardian, and my boyfriend. No, boyfriend is too simple a word. There’s a bond between Stark and me that goes deeper than dating and sex and all the stuff that comes and goes with normal relationships. That’s why he was so restless. He could feel my sadness—even in his dreams he knew I was crying and hurt and scared and—

It goes deeper than normal relationships and Zoey would know, having had so many of them to compare to. I’ll allow it because that’s not uncommon to hear teens tell everyone how their relationship is just so different and you can’t understand. Zoey decides to use magic to shield him from her sadness because that’s how useful spirit is. It’s great that Zoey has ancient eldritch magic which she uses to the same effect as tranquilizers.

Then Zoey asks it to comfort her too for a bit and sees a soft glow settle upon her and Stark. She feels a little warm and says that a “tiny bit” of her sadness goes away. Being as it says nothing on how Zoey’s digestive system is doing, I have no gauge as to how she really feels. But as the only thing spirit did was make her feel a little warm, she might have done better with an electric blanket.

Zoey then notices that the “seer stone” that Sgiach gave her is suddenly warm. She wonders why that would be. Well, it could be that microwave laser I have aimed are you. That warmth then could be your heart cooking in your chest. Or it’s probably because the stone is some sort of magical plot device. Oh, look at that, it’s a plot device.

Zoey holds it up to her face and looks through it, looking at Stark. She sees something shadowy and indistinct attached to him. She also sees an image of the “guardian sword” in his hand. It flickers and changes into a spear. She then yells at how gross it is and demands that spirit send whatever it is away.

Fuck you, PCK. Does Zoey really have not even the faintest clue what’s going on? There’s only one person she’s ever known that handles a spear and it sure as hell wasn’t Heath. Why don’t you just tattoo “Kalona Lives Here” on Stark’s chest?

Zoey’s whining wakes Stark up who wonders what is going on. She says it was just something weird that she saw. They say they both need some sleep so naturally they bone. Then they go to sleep and Zoey forgets all about the literal foreshadowing and about the magic seer stone she has.

Chapter 1

We start off the actual chapter with Aurox, a.k.a Heath. From here on out I shall call him Heath. He’s just recently killed someone and marveling at how easy it was. So he recounts the journey up until this point. Nefert made his stand up and follow, telling him not to call her goddess for right now, just priestess. They got into “something called a car”. I see PCK is going to play it this way. Does anyone want to bet that Heath will know some thing, like what coffee or cell phones are, but will be baffled by those magic picture boxes everyone stares at?

Neferet takes them into an alley which smells like death. Heath tries to warn her but Neferet cuts him off, saying he’s to protect her, not be protective of her. Then a random criminal appears and threatens Neferet while demanding her purse. Which is weird, because he recognizes she’s a vampire by her marks. That’d be like a random civilian wandering up to Wolverine, knowing who he is and demanding his wallet in an X-Men movie.

Heath kills very efficiently, turning his hands into claws. Being as this is a proving session him, there are some other random mooks nearby ready to die. Neferet, somehow, realizes that their fear and pain makes Heath stronger. So she orders him to kill the others. Then we flip back to Neferet’s apartment where she’s whining about him staring at her. Heath just says that he awaits her command.

“Oh, by all the gods! Who would have known the Vessel created for me would be as mindless as he is beautiful?”

Interesting, PCK. You keep hinting that there are other gods. How about we meet some of them? I doubt any of them can match Nyx for being so be damned abusive. White Bully shows up suddenly which makes Heath kneel because he’s impressed. Bully says he just likes looking at his creations. Neferet is shocked that Heath is not the first but that there might be others out there which she doesn’t own.

When Whitey asks if she’s getting brave enough to question him. Neferet says no and she’s thankful to have a new protector. Whitey says that he’s there to tell Neferet what Heath’s true purpose.

“I will accept your lush offerings, but I must explain to you that Aurox is not simply a weapon of protection. Aurox has one purpose, and that is to create chaos.”

Neferet has the same reaction as the rest of us and wondering why and what he means. Whitey says that’s Neferet’s most secret desire is to spread chaos and that’s what Heath will do best. Neferet can’t believe that this one being will be able to do all that much but Whitey assures her Heath won’t be as useless as a smart watch.

Whitey asks what Neferet will do with this, will she destroy humans and rule over the vampires as queen? Neferet has her sights set a bit higher, saying she will rule as a goddess. Whitey says, wait a minute, there’s already a goddess that rules over vampires. Hey, mister evil bull, you are right. I guess that throws a huge wrench into Neferet’s plans. She’ll probably have to pack up and go back to selling bibles from door to door.

Neferet says yes, she plans in replacing Nyx. She believes that introducing enough chaos into the world will force Nyx to step in and intercede which will, somehow, unravel everything. I guess if Nyx has to do something herself it will make her servants realize they don’t have to massage her feet or pick up after her yappy little dog any longer. Neferet and Whitey then disappear while Heath remains on the balcony, staring up at the sky.