Tempted (House of Night #6)(84)

He was real nice, by the way. Not that you should be with him again, but I thought you'd like to know. Okay, well, good. I'm glad you're safe. I paused, not sure how to say this next part. Uh, Stevie Rae, it's been bad for Aphrodite. What with the Imprint between the two of you being broken and all. I'm real sorry if it hurt her. Hurt her! Are you kidding? We thought she was going to die. She was burning with you, Stevie Rae. Oh, my goodness! I didn't know. Stevie Rae, hang on a sec. I turned my back on everyone who was trying to listen in to my conversation and made my way out into the amazingly beautiful hall. White spun-glass chandeliers, holding real candles, lent a warm flickering light to the creams and golds of the upholstery, making me feel like Alice in Wonderland talking through a rabbit hole to an entirely different world. Okay, that's better. Less ears out here, I continued. Aphrodite said you were trapped. She was sure of it. Z, I tripped and hit my head. I'm sure Aphrodite picked up on my panic. I mean, when I woke up I was burning. Plus, I'd fallen over some metal trash on the roof, and I was all tangled up in it. I'm tellin' you--it scared the bejesus outta me. She musta felt that. So no one grabbed you? You weren't caged in anywhere? No, Z, she laughed.

That's just crazy. But it would make a better story than me trippin' over my own feet. I shook my head, still not able to take it all in. It was scary, Stevie Rae. For a while I thought I was gonna lose both of you. Everything's okay. You're not losin' me or pain-in-the-butt Aphrodite. Even though I can tell you I'm not sorry my Imprint with her is broken. Okay, that's another weird part. How did that happen? Your Imprint didn't even break when Darius drank from her, and you know they have that thing between them. Best I can figure is that I was closer to dying than I knew. That must have snapped our Imprint. And it wasn't like we wanted to be together. Maybe her thing with Darius had weakened it. It sure didn't seem like the Imprint between you was weak, I said. Well, it's gone, so when it came down to it, our Imprint was pretty easy to break.

From where I was watching it didn't seem easy, I said. Well, from the perspective of the flaming kid in the sun, I can say it wasn't easy here either, she said. Instantly I felt bad for the way I'd been firing questions at her. She'd almost died (for good), and here I was, grilling her about details. Hey, I'm sorry. I was just so darn worried, that's all. And it was awful to watch Aphrodite experiencing your pain. Should I talk to her? Stevie Rae asked. Uh, no. At least not right now. Last time I saw her, Darius was carrying her up an amazingly wide staircase to what sounded like a totally expensive suite so she could sleep off the drugs the vamps had given her. Oh, good. They medicated her. Aphrodite will like that. We laughed, and it felt normal between us again. Zoey? The High Council is calling the session to order. You must go, Erce's voice called down the hallway.

I gotta go take care of business, I said. Yeah, I heard. Hey, I want to say somethin' to you that you need to remember. Follow your heart, Z. Even if it seems like everyone else is against you, and that you might be messing up royally. Follow what everything inside you tells you to do. What happens because of it might surprise you, Stevie Rae said. I hesitated and then said what was foremost in my mind. And it might save your life? Yes, she answered. It might. We need to talk when I get home. I'll be here, she said. Kick ass and take names, Z. I'll try, I said. Bye, Stevie Rae. I'm glad you're not dead. Again. Me, too. Again. We hung up. I drew a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and got ready to face the High Council.

The High Council met in a really old cathedral that sat right next to the super-beautiful San Clemente Palace. It was obvious that it had once been a Catholic church, and I wondered what Sister Mary Angela would think of how the vamps had changed it. They'd gutted the place, except for the enormous light fixtures that hung on thick bronze chains from the ceiling, looking like something that should have been suspended magically over the tables at Hogwarts. They'd built circular seating in tiers in a style I remembered studying about when we read Medea. Down on the granite floor, seven carved marble chairs sat side by side. I thought they were pretty, but looked like they'd make your butt fall asleep or freeze. The stained-glass window scenes of the original cathedral had been changed from bloody Jesus on the cross and a bunch of Catholic saints to a representative of Nyx, arms upraised holding a crescent moon between her hands, a brilliant pentagram close beside her.

In the other windows I saw stained-glass versions of the four class emblems that symbolized which year a fledgling ranked at the House of Night. I was looking around the cathedral, thinking how beautiful the windows were, when I noticed the scene depicted directly across from the image of Nyx--and it felt like everything inside me froze. It was Kalona! Wings fully extended, his naked body muscular and bronzed and powerful. I felt myself begin to tremble. Stark took my arm and wrapped it through his, like he was being a gentleman and guiding his lady down the stone stairs of the amphitheater-like space to our seats near the floor. But his touch was strong and steady, and he spoke low for my ears alone, It isn't him. It's just an ancient repre sen ta tion of Erebus, like the symbol of Nyx over there. But it looks enough like him that they're going to think Kalona really is Erebus, I whispered frantically back to Stark. They might. And that's why you're here, he murmured. Zoey and Stark, these seats are for you. Erce pointed down to a tier of seats in the front and off to the side of the seven chairs. The rest of you may fill in the row back there. She ushered Damien, Jack, and the Twins into seats several tiers behind us saying, Remember, you may only speak if the Council recognizes you, Erce said.