Burned (House of Night #7)(17)

Suddenly I felt dizzy and sagged in his arms. I don't know how I knew, but I did. The words I spoke were as true and as final as his death. "I can't leave, Heath. Not unless all those pieces of me are me again. And I don't know how to make that happen - I just don't know!"

Heath pressed his forehead against mine. "Well, Zo, maybe you should try using that annoying mom voice you used on me when I drank too much and tell them to, I dunno, to stop all this bullpoopie and get back inside you where they belong."

He sounded so much like me that he almost made me smile. Almost.

"But if I'm back together, I'll have to leave here. I can feel it, Heath," I whispered to him.

"If you don't put yourself back together, you won't ever leave here because you're gonna die, Zo. I can feel that."

I looked into his warm, familiar eyes. "Would that be so bad? I mean, this place seems a lot better than the mess that's waiting for me back in the real world."

"No, Zoey." Heath sounded pissed. "It's not okay here. Not for you."

"Well, maybe that's 'cause I'm not dead. Yet." I swallowed and admitted, only to myself, that saying it out loud did sound kinda scary.

"I think there's more to it than that."

Heath wasn't looking at me anymore. He was staring over my shoulder, and his eyes had gone all big and round. I turned around. The writhing figures that looked uncomfortably like bizarre, unfinished versions of me were hovering in and out of the black mist, milling and chattering and basically acting weirdly super nervous. Then there was a flash of light that turned into a huge set of dangerous, pointed horns, and with a terrible flapping noise, something descended on that end of the meadow, causing those spirits, those ghosts, those incomplete pieces of me to begin to scream and scream and scream while they scattered and disappeared before it.

"What happens now?" I asked Heath, trying - unsuccessfully - to keep the terror from my voice as we started backing across the meadow.

Heath took my hand and squeezed. "I don't know, but I'll be here with you through all of it. And right now," he whispered in a voice filled with tension, "don't look behind you, just come with me and run !"

For one of the few times in my life, I didn't argue with him. I didn't question him. I did exactly what he said. I held on to Heath and ran.

Chapter Seven

Stevie Rae

"Dallas told me Neferet dumped Kalona's spiritless body on the High Council."

"Who is Dallas?" Rephaim asked.

"Just a guy I know. So it looks like Neferet turned in Kalona even though they're supposed to be together and all."

"Neferet seduces my father and pretends to be his mate, but the only thing she really cares for is herself.

Where he is filled with anger, she is filled with hatred. Hatred is a more dangerous ally."

"So you're sure Neferet would betray Kalona to save herself?" Stevie Rae asked.

"I am certain Neferet would betray anyone to save herself."

"What does she gain by turning in Kalona, especially if he's all soulless and stuff?"

"By giving him over to the High Council, she takes suspicion from herself," he said.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I know she wants Zoey dead. And she doesn't care about Heath at all.

Actually, Neferet would be cool with the fact that seeing Kalona about to kill Heath made Zoey throw the power of spirit at him and that not being able to stop Kalona caused her soul to shatter. Apparently, that's just a half step away from death."

Rephaim's eyes were suddenly sharp on hers. "Zoey attacked my father with the element spirit?"

"Yeah, that's what Lenobia and Dragon told me."

"Then he has been gravely wounded." Rephaim looked away and didn't say anything else.

"Hey, you need to tell me what you know," Stevie Rae said earnestly. When he didn't speak, she sighed, and continued, "Okay, here's my truth. I came here tonight ready to force you to talk to me about your daddy and the Otherworld and all that; but now that I'm here and actually talkin' to you, I don't want to force you." Hesitantly, she touched his arm. His body jerked when her fingers met his skin, but he didn't pull away. "Can't we work together on this? Do you really want Zoey dead?"

His eyes found hers again. "I have no reason to wish your friend's death, but you do wish my father harm."

Stevie Rae blew out a breath of frustration. "How about this - how about I compromise in what I want.

What if I told you I just want Kalona to leave all of us alone?"

"I don't know if that could ever be possible," Rephaim said.

"But it is possible for me to wish it. Right now, Zoey and Kalona are soulless. Now, I know your daddy's an immortal, but it can't be a good thing that his body's just a shell."

"No, it is not a good thing."

"So let's work together to see if we can get both of them back, and deal with what happens next when next actually happens."

"I can agree to that," he said.

"Good!" She squeezed his arm before taking her hand from him. "You said Kalona's wounded. What did you mean?"

"His body can't be killed, but if his spirit is damaged, he is physically weakened. That is how A-ya was used to entrap him. His spirit was clouded with emotions for her. It confused and weakened him, and his body became vulnerable."