Kevin sat up straighter. “You’re right, G-ma! That wouldn’t even occur to them. They don’t usually include officers of the Red Army in their strategy meetings, but they wouldn’t notice if I was there, just standing around waiting to be given orders.” He grinned. “I could learn all sorts of stuff!” He hesitated, and his grin slid away. “Except I don’t smell right, and they would notice that.”
G-ma’s eyes glittered mischievously. “Let me worry about that, u-we-tsi.”
“Ugh, okay. So, is that our plan? You make me stinky again, and I spy on the House of Night and find out stuff about the Resistance? Then we’ll have to figure out where they are hiding before the army finds them and tell the Resistance whatever I learn.”
“Finding them is not a problem.”
“G-ma! Are you part of the Resistance?”
“As Martin Luther King Jr. put it so succinctly, ‘The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.’ I will not be silenced.”
“Holy shit, G-ma, you are part of the Resistance!”
“I am proud to say, yes, I am.”
“They’d kill you if they caught you. Sheesh, G-ma. Neferet wouldn’t care that you’re just one old woman. You’d die,” Kevin said.
“I am aware of that, but, Kevin, if I stood by and did nothing my spirit would die.”
Kevin sighed heavily. “Mine too. That’s why I came back. I have to do something, and I think I’m the only one who can.”
“That’s very brave of you, u-we-tsi.”
“Nah, doing the right thing isn’t brave. It’s just what decent people do,” Kevin said.
“Indeed.”
“I want you to take me to them,” Kevin said firmly.
“Them?”
“The Resistance. I want to talk with them—tell them what happened to me in Zo’s world.”
“I’m not sure that will work. They may only see an enemy when they look at you,” G-ma said. “What might work better is for you to spy—report to me—and I’ll take them the information.”
“That would be fine, if it wasn’t for Aphrodite,” Kevin said.
“Aphrodite? The Greek Goddess of Love?”
Kevin grinned impishly. “I sure think she is, but I guess technically she’s a Prophetess and not a goddess.”
“Child, you are making no sense.”
“Sorry, G-ma. It’s simple, really. In Zo’s world there is a Prophetess of Nyx named Aphrodite who has the power to grant second chances. Because of her, none of the red fledglings or red vampyres there have lost their humanity. She’s in this world too.”
“Oh, Great Goddess! If only that could happen in this world as well!” G-ma exclaimed.
“Yeah, if humanity is returned to the soldiers in the Red Army, Neferet loses her weapons,” Kevin said. “In Zo’s world Aphrodite and I had a connection.” He paused, ignoring the fact that his cheeks felt super warm. “She, um, told me to find her other self in this world, and that she’d love me too.” Grandma Redbird’s brows lifted, but she said nothing. Kevin cleared his throat and continued. “Also, Zo said I have to put together my own circle—basically, my version of her Nerd Herd. I already know that at least two of the vampyres I need to recruit are blue—and are at the Tulsa House of Night right now.”
“But, u-we-tsi, the Resistance is filled with many blue vampyres. Can you not just use them for your circle?”
“I guess, but Zo’s Nerd Herd is different—just like her—just like me. They have affinities for their elements too.”
“Which makes her circle more powerful than a regular one,” G-ma said.
“Yeah. Do you see why I have to do more than just spy for the Resistance?”
“I do. And because I do, I am much more hopeful about our chances for success than I was just minutes ago.” Grandma Redbird glanced out the front picture window. “Dawn is already pinkening the horizon. We will sleep, u-we-tsi, and tomorrow—tomorrow we go to the Resistance.”
“Okie dokie, G-ma,” Kevin said bravely before he shoved another cookie in his face and thought, Ah, hell …
3
Other Kevin
“Sap-a-loop-ah? Really, G-ma? Talk about the middle of nowhere,” Kevin said as G-ma directed him to exit the Turner Turnpike.
“Kevin, pronounce it correctly.”
“Fine. Sapulpa. Still—really, G’ma? Why here?”
“Because, as you said—middle of nowhere. Which is an excellent place for the headquarters of the Resistance, as Sapulpa is only about thirty minutes from downtown Tulsa. Close enough to be useful, but still a rural town with nothing to interest vampyres except several ranches that grow some of the best alfalfa in the state.”
“So, they have just enough going on to be protected by Neferet, but not enough going on to interest her into actually hanging out here or anything.”
“Exactly. Take a left at the next light. That’s South Hickory. Then follow this road for about a mile until we go through a couple of stop signs. After the smoke shop look for Lone Star Road and turn right onto it.”
“Where the heck are you taking us, G-ma?”
She smiled seraphically. “To one of those lovely little alfalfa ranches, u-we-tsi.”
They wound along Lone Star Road, passing rolling fields, some left fallow to ready for the spring planting, and some already green with winter wheat. As per usual for Oklahoma, the houses went from gorgeous almost-mansions to crappy trailers, and back to mansions.
“Hey, check it out, G-ma. It’s the Okie white-trash trifecta—a trailer house, an above-ground pool, and an old mattress those pit bulls are using as a bed—all in one yard.”
Grandma Redbird’s nose wrinkled. “I believe those are boxers, not pitties, Kevin.”
“My mistake. That’s what I get for stereotyping.”
“Well, it was definitely a good guess. Slow down, now. See on your right where that pretty white fencing begins?”
“Yep.”
“There’s a gate just beyond it. Pull in, roll down your window, and press the intercom button. I will do the talking.”
Kevin did as he was told, turning into a lane that was blocked by a large iron gate. He did a quick glance around as his window rolled down and saw that the easy, tidy look of the little ranch didn’t tell the entire truth.