Tempted (House of Night #6)(65)

They can't stop me. I'm eighteen. Heath, please. I already feel bad enough about all the poo I've brought into your life. Don't make me responsible for screwing up your last semester of school, getting you grounded until you leave for college, and putting your life in danger. I've told you before I can take care of myself, he said. Fine, let's compromise. Call your parents when we get up and ask them if you can come to Italy with me. If they say yes, then you come with me. If they say no, you stay here and get your butt back to class. Do I have to tell them about Kalona and that stuff? I don't think it's smart for the general public to know there's a fallen immortal and a crazy ex? High Priestess trying to take over the world. So, no, you don't have to tell them that part. He hesitated and then said, Okay, I can live with that.

Promise? Promise. Good, because I'll be listening to the whole conversation so you won't be able to bullpoopie me. You know that's not a real word, Zo. It's my real word. Go to sleep, Heath. He tightened his arms around me. I heart you, Zo. I heart you, too. I'll keep you safe. I fell asleep with Heath's arms around me and a smile on my face, my last conscious thought was about how strong he felt and that I'd have to tell him I really appreciated how buff he'd been keeping himself. My next thought was not conscious and it was totally not soothing: What in the hell am I doing on the roof of this castle again?

Chapter Thirty

It was the same castle rooft op; there was no doubt about it. The orange trees were filled with fat fruit that scented the cool breeze. In the center was the same fountain shaped like a naked woman with water cascading from her raised hands. Seeing her twice, I realized why she looked familiar. She reminded me of Nyx, or at least of one of the faces I'd seen the Goddess wear. And then I remembered what I'd learned about this place--that it was the ancient site of the original Vampyre High Council, so it totally made sense that the fountain would look like our Goddess. I wanted to sit beside it and breathe deep the smell of citrus and the sea air.

I didn't want to turn where my gut was telling me to turn--and see who I knew I was going to see. But, like the snowball down the mountain, I couldn't seem to control the avalanche that was happening to me, so I turned in the direction my soul was leading me. Kalona knelt by the edge of the castle's toothlike roof. His back was to me and he was on his knees. He was dressed, or rather, undressed, like he'd been the last time we'd been here--he had on jeans and that was it. His dark wings spread down around him, leaving only his bronze shoulders visible. His head was bowed, and he didn't seem to know I was there. As if I couldn't stop them, my feet moved toward him, and as I approached, I realized that he was kneeling exactly where I'd been standing when I'd flung myself off the rooftop. I wasn't far from him when I saw his shoulders tense.

His wings rustled and then his head lifted and he glanced over his shoulder. He was crying. Tears made wet paths down his face. He looked crushed, broken, completely defeated. But the instant he saw me his expression changed. His face was suff used with such incredible joy that my breath literally caught at his incomparable beauty. He stood, and with a shout of happiness strode toward me. I thought he would pull me into his arms, but at the last second he checked himself so that he only lifted one hand as if he was going to touch my cheek, but his fingers stopped short of my skin, hesitated there for an instant, and then, without touching me, his hand dropped back to his side. You came back. Dreams aren't real. I didn't die, I said, though it was hard for me to speak. The realm of dreams is part of the Otherworld; don't ever underestimate the power of what happens here.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand and, surprising me again, gave an embarrassed little chuckle. I must seem foolish to you. I knew you weren't dead, of course. Yet it still felt so real--so horribly familiar. I stared at him, not knowing what to say. Not knowing how to react to this version of Kalona-- the version who looked and acted more like an angel than a demon. He reminded me of the Kalona who had surrendered to A-ya, willingly giving himself to the trap of her embrace with a vulnerability that still haunted me. It was such a contrast from the last time I'd been here, when he'd been in super-seduction mode, all groping me, and . . . I narrowed my eyes at him. Just exactly how can I be here again? I'm not sleeping alone, and I don't mean I'm with one of my girlfriends. Or rather, friends who are girls, I corrected hastily.

I'm sleeping in the arms of the human guy I've Imprinted. He and I are definitely more than friends. You shouldn't be able to get in here. I pointed to my head. I am not inside your head. You have never called me into your dreams. I draw your essence to me. The invasion was mine, not through any invitation of yours. That's not what you said before. I lied to you before. I am speaking the truth to you now. Why? For the same reason I was able to draw you here through your sleep even though you are in the arms of another. This time--for the first time--my motives are pure. I am not attempting to manipulate you. I am not attempting to seduce you. And I will speak only truth to you. How can you expect me to believe that? Whether you believe it or not does not change the nature of truth. You are here, Zoey, when you should not be. Is that not proof enough for you? I chewed my lip.

I don't know. I don't know the rules here. You do know about the power of truth, though. You showed me that during your last visit. Can you not draw on that power to judge the veracity of what I'm saying? Thanks to Damien, I knew veracity meant truth, so I wasn't standing there chewing my lip with a big question mark on my face because I didn't get what he meant. I question marked because I didn't know how to respond to him. Kalona was completely baffling me. Finally I opened my mouth to tell him that, no, I couldn't count on the power of truth when I didn't have a clue what he might be lying about, but he held up one hand and stopped my words. You asked me once before if I have always been as I am now, and I only gave you evasions and lies. Today I'd like to give you the truth. Will you let me, Zoey? Again, he called me Zoey! He hadn't once called me A-ya, as he liked to do. And he wasn't touching me. At all. I-I don't know, I stuttered like a moron and took a half step back, expecting the good-guy act to fade and the seductive immortal to reappear. What are you going to do to show me? His beautiful amber eyes darkened with sadness. He shook his head. No, Zoey. You need not fear that I'll try to make love to you. Should I attempt to shift from truth to seduction, this dream would shatter and you would find yourself waking in another man's arms. For me to show you what you need to see, you need only take my hand. He held it out to me, strong and normal- looking. I hesitated. I give you my oath that my skin will not burn you with the cold power of the lust I have for you. I know you have no reason to trust me, so I ask only that you trust in truth. Touch me, and you will see that I am not lying to you.