Hunted (House of Night #5)(34)

My stomach felt hollow. "And they might. Neferet knows I'm from Broken Arrow, and she knows there are still people I care about there."

"So she might send the Raven Mockers to Broken Arrow just to mess you up?" Heath said. I nodded. "Especially when my group and I ignore the call to return to school."

"But wait, Zo. You have to be at school around a bunch of vamps or you and all the rest of the fledglings will get sick, right?"

"I'm here," Erik spoke up. "And so is another full vampyre. Not to mention Stevie Rae."

"Isn't she all gross and undead?" Heath said.

"Not anymore," I said. "She's Changed into a different kind of vamp, one with red tattoos. And all of the gross fledglings that tried to eat you--well, they're red fledglings now, and aren't so gross."

"Huh," Heath said. "Well, I'm glad your BFF's okay."

"Me, too." I smiled.

"So are three adult vamps enough to keep you guys from getting sick?" Heath asked.

"We'll have to be. Heath, you need to go," Erik said abruptly.

Heath and I looked at him. I realized I'd been grinning a lot at Heath and really liking that he and I were talking again.

"The ice storm," Erik continued. "It's not smart for him to get stuck here, and that's what's going to happen if he's still here when the sun sets." Erik paused and then said, "Which is going to happen in about half an hour. How long did it take you to get from Broken Arrow to here?"

Heath frowned. "Almost two hours. The roads are bad."

It should have only taken him about thirty minutes to get from his place to the depot. Erik was right. Heath had to go home. Not only were we clueless about how much danger we might be in from Kalona, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure Heath would be safe around the red fledglings. Besides my questions about them, the truth was no matter what they were or weren't now, Heath was one hundred percent human, with lots of yummy, fresh, warm, sexy, pumping blood (I ignored the fact that my mouth was watering just thinking about it), and I had no idea about their willpower limits.

"Erik's right, Heath. You can't get stuck outside to night, especially this ?nnclose to midtown. Besides the ice, we don't know what's up with the Raven Mockers."

Heath looked at me like he and I were completely alone. "You're worried about me."

My throat felt dry. This was so not a conversation I wanted to have in front of Erik. "Of course I worry about you. We've been friends a long time." I could feel Erik's eyes on me. I forced myself not to fidget guiltily and added, "Friends worry about friends."

Heath's smile was slow and intimate. "Friends. Right."

"Time for you to go." Erik sounded pissed.

Without looking at Erik, Heath said, "I'll go when Zo tells me to."

"It's time for you to go, Heath," I said quickly.

Heath's eyes stayed locked with mine for several heartbeats. "Fine. What ever," he said. Then he turned to Erik. "So you're a real vamp now, huh?"

"Yes."

Heath looked him up and down. The two guys were close to the same height. Erik was taller, but Heath was the more muscular of the two. Still, both guys looked like they could handle themselves in a fight. I felt myself tense. Was Heath going to throw a punch at Erik?

"People say male vamps are big into protecting their priestesses. Is that right?"

"That's right," Erik said.

"Good. Then I expect you to be sure Zoey stays safe."

"Nothing's going to happen to her as long as I'm alive," Erik said.

"Make sure it doesn't." Heath's voice had lost the charming, easygoing tone with which he usually spoke. It had gone hard and dangerous. "Because if you let anything happen to her, I'm going to find you, and vampyre or no vampyre, I am going to kick your ass."

Chapter Eleven

I moved quickly, putting myself between the two of them. "Stop it!" I shouted. "I have way too much to worry about right now to also have to pull you two off each other. Jeesh, talk about immature." Both guys kept glaring at each other over my head. "I said, stop it!" And I smacked their chests. That made them blink and shift their attention to me. Now it was my turn to do the glaring. "You know, you two are ridiculous with your puffing up and your testosterone and crap. I mean, I could summon the elements and kick both of your butts."

Heath shuffled his feet and looked embarrassed. Then he grinned at me, like a cute little boy whose mommy had just yelled at him. "Sorry, Zo. I forget you have some major mojo going on."

"Yeah, sorry," Erik said. "I know I don't have anything to worry about with you and him." And he finished with a smirk at Heath.

Heath looked at me like he expected me to say something like well, actually you need to worryway too muhei~, Erik, because I still like Heath, but I didn't. I couldn't. No matter what was going on between Erik and me, Heath was part of my old world, and he fit better in my past than in my present or future. Heath being one hundred percent human meant he was one hundred percent more vulnerable to being seriously hurt if something attacked us.

"Okay, I'm out of here," Heath said into the awkward silence. He spun around and started to walk toward the door to the outside and was almost there when he paused and looked back at me. "But first I really do need to talk to you, Zo. Alone."