Chosen

He and I had Imprinted more than a month ago. He'd also been snatched by Stevie Rae's gross undead-dead kids' gang and almost killed. I'd played like I was the cavalry (or at the very least Storm from X-Men) and rescued him, but before we could get totally away Neferet had showed up and zapped our memories. Because of my gifts from Nyx, I'd regained my memories. I didn't have a clue if Heath remembered anything at all.

Okay, clearly he remembered that we Imprinted. Or that we're still dating. Although we really weren't. I sighed again. How did I feel about Heath? He'd been my on-again, off-again boyfriend since I was in third grade and he was a fourth-grader. Truthfully, we'd mostly been on-again until he decided to have a deep and meaningful relationship with Budweiser. I so don't want my young lad to be a drunk, so I dumped him, even though he hadn't really seemed to understand he'd been dumped. Not even my being Marked and moving to the House of Night had made him understand we were through.

I guess my sucking his blood and making out with him probably hadn't helped him realize we were supposed to be broken up, either.

Jeesh, I was turning into such a ho.

For about the zillionth time I wished I had someone I could talk to about all of my boy issues. Actually, counting Loren I should call them my boy-man issues. I rubbed my forehead and then tried to smooth my hair back into place.

Okay, I really needed to make a decision and get some of myself straightened out.

1. I liked Heath. I might actually love him. And the bloodlust thing with him was majorly hot, even though I'm not supposed to be drinking his blood. Did I want to break up with him? No.Should I break up with him? Definitely.

2. I liked Erik. I liked him a lot. He's smart and funny and an honestly nice guy. His being the cutest, most popular fledgling at school didn't hurt, either. And, like he'd reminded me more than once, he and I had a lot in common. Did I want to break up with him? No. Should I break up with him? Well, only if I kept cheating on him with guy number one and man number three.

3. I liked Loren. He existed in a whole other universe than Erik and Heath. He. Was. A. Man. An adult vampyre, with all the power and wealth and position that came along with it. He knew stuff that I was only beginning to guess at. He made me feel like no one had ever made me feel before; he made me feel like a real woman. Did I want to break up with him? No. Should I break up with him. Not just yes, but hell yes.

So it was obvious what I should do. I needed to break up with Heath (for real this time), keep dating Erik, and (like I had some sense) never, ever be alone with Loren Blake again.

Plus, with all the other crap going on in my life—as in my undead best friend, trying to deal with Aphrodite, who all my friends can't stand, and the horror that had happened with Professor Nolan—I really didn't have the time or energy it took for dating drama.

Not to mention the fact that I'm really not used to feeling ho-ish. It wasn't a feeling I particularly liked. (Although the lifestyle did seem to come with good jewelry.)

So I made a decision, and this time it was one that called for action. Immediate action. I flipped open my phone and text messaged Heath.

We need to talk

His reply was almost instant. I could practically see his cute grin.

Yes! 2day?

I chewed my lip while I thought about it. Before I made my decision I pushed the thick curtain aside and peeked out the window. The day had stayed cloudy and cold. Good. That meant there would be less chance of people hanging around outside, especially since it was already dark. I was just trying to figure out where we should meet when my phone chimed again.

I can come 2 u

NO

I texted back quickly. The last thing I needed was for cute, clueless, and totally Imprinted Heath to show up at the House of Night. But where could I meet him? Getting away probably wouldn't be easy, what with one of our professors having been killed. My phone chimed. I sighed.

Where?

Crap. Where? Then it hit me and I knew the perfect place. I smiled and texted Heath back.

Starbucks in 1 hr

OK!

Now all I had to do was figure out how to really break up with Heath. Or at least figure out a way I could keep him at a distance until the Imprint between us faded. If it faded. Surely it would fade.

I made my way blurrily to the bathroom and washed my face with cold water, trying to shock some awake into me. Not feeling like answering a barrage of questions about where I was headed, I tossed into my purse the jar of concealer that fledglings were required to wear whenever they went off school grounds to mingle with the local populace (which kinda made us sound like scientists doing field studies while they tried to blend in with the alien population). I suppose I really hadn't needed to look out the window to see what the weather was like. My long dark hair was being extra crazy today, which could only mean rain and humidity. On purpose I picked out very unsexy clothes, deciding on a black tank top, my dorky Borg Invasion 4D hoodie, and my most comfortable pair of jeans. Keeping in mind that I needed to detour through the kitchen and grab a can of brown pop—fully leaded with sugar and caffeine—I opened my door to see Aphrodite standing there with her hand raised to knock.

'Hi,' I said.

'Hey.' She looked furtively up and down the empty hall.

'Come on in.' I stepped aside and shut the door behind us. 'I gotta hurry, though. I'm meeting someone off campus.'

'That's part of why I'm here. They're not letting anyone off campus.'

'They?'

'The vamps and their warriors.'

'The warriors are here already?'

Aphrodite nodded. 'A bunch of the Sons of Erebus. They're damn nice to look at—I mean truly, seriously hot —but they're definitely going to be cramping our style.'

And then I realized what she was saying. 'Ah, crap. Stevie Rae.'

'She'll be out of blood by tomorrow. That is, if she's not already. She was really pigging down those blood bags,' Aphrodite said with a little curl of her lip.

'I'll call her and tell her to make them last, but we're going to have to get more to her. Soon. Crap!' I said again. 'I really need to not put off this, uh, appointment.'

'So Heath's back in town?'

I frowned at her. 'Maybe.'

'Oh, please. Your face is totally easy to read.' Then she lifted one of her perfectly plucked blond brows. 'Bet Erik doesn't know about this appointment.'

Keeping in mind that Aphrodite was Erik's ex-girlfriend, and no matter how friendly she and I appeared to be getting I knew she would jump at the chance to latch back onto Erik, I shrugged nonchalantly. 'Erik will know as soon as I get back. I happen to be going to break up with Heath. As if that's any of your business.'

'I hear breaking an Imprint bond is next to impossible,' she said.

'That's an Imprint with an adult vamp. It's different for fledglings.' At least I hoped it was. 'Plus, still not your business.'

'Okay. No problem. If it's not my business that you need to get off campus, then there's no reason for me to tell you how to sneak out of here.'

'Aphrodite. I do not have time for games.'

'Fine,' she started to turn to go and I stepped in front of her. 'You're being a bitch. Again,' I said.

'And you're almost cussing. Again,' she said.

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. 'Okay, whatever. You can sneak out if you go to the part of the school wall closest