Tempted

“Well, I jumped off the top of a castle, and the castle was on the top of a cliff.”

“That sounds really bad.”

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but it wasn’t as bad as staying there with him.” I shivered, remembering his touch and the terrible, soul-deep longing he made me feel. “I had to get away from him.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to need to rethink that in the future.”

“Huh?”

“Would you try to pay attention? I saw Kalona taking over the world. He was using fire to kill people, and by people I mean vamps and humans. And you stopped him. Honestly, I think my vision is telling us you’re the only person alive who can stop him. So you can’t run away from him. Zoey, you’re going to have to figure out what you said that killed him and then you’re going to have to go to him.”

“No! I’m not going to him.”

Aphrodite gave me a look that was full of pity. “You have to fight against this reincarnation thing and destroy Kalona once and for all.”

Ah, hell, was what I was thinking when someone’s fist banged on the door.

CHAPTER 14

Zoey

“Zoey! Are you in there? Let me in!”

In less than a breath I was off the bed and at the door. I wrenched it open to find Stark leaning heavily against the doorframe. “Stark? What are you doing out of bed?” He was wearing hospital scrub pants and no shirt. His chest was covered by a huge white gauze Band-Aid that wrapped all the way around his torso. His face was the color of bone, and a veil of sweat beaded his forehead. He was drawing short, ragged breaths and looked like he was going to fall over any second.

But in his right hand he clutched his bow, and it was notched with an arrow.

“Shit! Get him in here before he passes out. If he falls down, we’ll never get him up again, and he’s too damn big to drag around.”

I tried to grab Stark, but surprising me with his strength, he shook me off. “No, I’m fine,” he said, stalking into the room and looking around us like he expected someone to jump out of the closet. “I’m not going to pass out,” he spat out as he got his breathing under control.

I stepped in front of him, calling his attention back to me. “Stark, there’s no one here. What are you doing here? You shouldn’t even be out of bed, let alone climbing stairs.”

“I felt you. You were terrified. So I came to you.”

“I had a bad dream, that’s all. I wasn’t in any danger.”

“Kalona? Was he in your dream again?”

“Again? How long have you been dreaming about him?” Aphrodite asked.

“Unless you’re sleeping with someone, and I don’t mean just a roommate, Kalona can get into your dreams if he wants to,” Stark said.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“They’re just dreams,” I said.

“Do we know that for sure?” Aphrodite asked.

She directed the question to Stark, but I answered her. “Well, I’m not dead. So it was just a dream.”

“Not dead? You need to explain that,” Stark said. His breathing had leveled off, and even though he still looked pale, he sounded every bit like a dangerous Warrior who was ready to fulfill his oath and protect his High Priestess.

“In her dream Zoey hurled herself off the top of a cliff to get away from Kalona,” Aphrodite said.

“What did he do to you?” Stark’s voice was low and filled with anger.

“Nothing!” I said way too quickly.

“That’s because you jumped off a cliff before he could do anything,” Aphrodite said.

“What was he trying to do?” Stark asked again.

I sighed. “The same old stuff. He wants to control me. That’s not how he puts it, but it’s what he wants, and I’m never going to give him what he wants.”

Stark’s jaw tightened. “I should have known he’d try to get to you through your dreams. I know his tricks! I should have made sure you slept with Heath or Erik.”

Aphrodite snorted. “That’s a new one. Boyfriend number three wants you to sleep with boyfriend one or two.”

“I’m not her boyfriend!” Stark practically roared. “I am her Warrior. I’ve given my oath to protect her. That means more than some bullshit crush or stupid jealousy.”

Aphrodite just stared at him; for once she didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Stark, it was just a dream,” I said with a lot more conviction than I felt. “It doesn’t matter how many times Kalona butts into my dreams, the result is going to be the same. I’m not going to give in to him.”

“You better make sure of that because if you do, the rest of us are in for some serious shit,” Aphrodite said.

“What does she mean?”

“She had another vision, that’s all.”

“That’s all? Talk about being underappreciated.” She gave Stark a long look. “So, Arrow Boy, if you sleep with Zoey, will that keep Kalona out of her dreams?”

“It should,” Stark said.

“Then I think you should sleep with Zoey, and since three is definitely a crowd in situations like this, I’m out of here.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Wherever Darius is, and, no, I do not give a shit if it annoys the penguins. Seriously, I do have a massive headache. So I’ll just be sleeping, but I’m going to be with my vamp. And that’s all there is to it.”

She grabbed her clothes and her purse. I figured she was going to duck into a bathroom and change out of her granny nightgown before finding Darius, which made me remember I was standing there in my very own granny nightgown. I sat down on my bed and sighed. Oh, yeah, he’d already seen me blazingly naked, which was way more embarrassing than a white cotton granny nightgown. My shoulders slumped. Goddess, for a girl who had multiple boyfriends, I was seriously impaired in the ooh-look-how-cool-I-am department.

Before Aphrodite made it out the door, I called, “Don’t say anything about your vision until I have a chance to think more. I mean,” I hurried on, “you can tell Darius, but that’s it, okay?”

“I get it. You want to avoid hysteria. Whatever. I’m not much up for listening to the nerd herd and the rest of the masses shriek, either. Get some sleep, Z. I’ll see you at sunset.” She gave Stark a little wave and then shut the door firmly behind her.

Stark came over to the bed, sitting heavily beside me. He flinched a little as the pain in his chest must have finally registered. He set his bow and arrow on the bedside table and gave me a rueful grin. “So, I won’t be needing these?”

“Ya think?”

“Which means my hands are now conveniently free.” He opened his arms to me and shot me a cocky look. “Why don’t you come here, Z?”

“Hang on.” I hurried over to the window, buying time while I wondered how I could move from one man’s arms to another. “I definitely can’t rest until I make sure you’re not going to incinerate,” I babbled. While I was pulling the blinds I couldn’t resist peeking out, and was rewarded with the sight of a day that included very little light. It was a silent gray world filled with ice and gloom. Nothing was moving. It was like life outside the abbey, along with the trees and grass and fallen power lines, had been frozen. “Well, I guess this explains how you made it up here without being fried to a crisp. There is no sun out there.” I kept staring out the window, mesmerized by the