rowan tree and blinked in total surprise when a guy stepped from behind the tree.
“Stark? What the—”
“Ssh! Do not let Zoey know I’m here.”
Heath walked over to the tree. “What the hell are you doing here?” But he didn’t give Stark a chance to answer. “Ah, fuck! Are you dead, too? Zo’s never gonna be able to handle that!”
“Keep your damn voice down. No, I’m not dead. I’m here to protect Zoey so that she can get back to her body where she belongs.” Stark paused, and then added, “You do know you’re dead, right?”
“Dude, no shit? I’m dead?” Heath said sarcastically. “Glad you’re here to enlighten me. Don’t know what the fuck I’d do without you.”
“Well how ’bout this: do you know Zoey’s soul’s shattered?”
Before Heath could say anything, both guys saw Zoey and Stark jumped back behind the tree, crouching in its shadow. Heath moved quickly to intercept her, blocking her view of Stark.
“You didn’t come after me. You always come after me.” Her body rocked back and forth as she tried to stay in one place.
“I’m coming, Zo. You know I’ll never leave you. It’s just that you’re faster than I am right now.”
“So you’re not leaving me?”
Heath touched her cheek, hating that she looked so weak and unsure, and totally un-Zoey-like. “No. I’m not leaving you. Go on ahead of me. I’ll catch up.” When she hesitated, and it was obvious she was going to start that freaky circle pacing around him again, which would take her too damn close to Stark’s hiding place, he added, “Hey, maybe it’d make you feel better to move real fast. Why don’t you kinda run, or float, or whatever it is you do for a while, and then come back here. If it’s okay with you, I’ll hang out here for a second. I need to rest a little.”
“Sorry . . . sorry . . . I forgot you need to rest . . . forgot . . .”
She started to float away, and Heath called after her, “Don’t go too far, though! And don’t forget to circle back here.”
“I won’t forget . . . can’t forget
Stark stepped away from the tree. His voice was rough with shock, “Oh, shit! It’s way worse than I thought.”
Heath nodded grimly. “Yeah. I know. The shattered-soul thing’s totally messed her up. She can’t rest, so she can’t think, and that’s doing something to her—something really, really bad.”
Still staring after Zoey, Stark said, “The High Council said this would happen. She’s turning into a Caoinic Shi’. She’s not dead and not alive, and she’s here in a realm of spirits without her own soul. It makes her like this, and it’ll get worse. She’ll never be able to rest—ever.”
“Then we gotta get her to pull herself together. I think I might be able to do it, too. And, dude, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but this isn’t something you can help with. If you want to give me a hand, go out there and kick the ass of the scary shit that’s kept us trapped in here. You handle that. I’ll handle Zo.”
Heath started to walk away, following Zoey, but Stark’s words halted him. “Yeah, you can get her spirit whole again by telling her you’ll stay here with her, but if you do that, you’ll fuck up everyone Zoey loves back in the real world.”
Heath turned back to face Stark. “It’s not cool for you to say shit like that. Just let her go, dude. I know you love her and all, but seriously, you’ve only known her a little while. I’ve been with her for years. I get that you’ll miss her, but she’ll be good here with me—she’ll be happy.”
“It’s not about love. It’s about doing the right thing. I give you my word as a Guardian that I’m telling you the truth. If Zoey doesn’t return to her body, the world as she knew it—as you knew it, will be destroyed.”
“What’s this Guardian stuff about?”
Stark drew in a deep breath. “It’s about honor.”
Something about Stark’s voice made Heath look at him with new eyes. The guy had changed. He looked somehow taller, older, and not his normal, cocky self. He looked sad. Very sad.
“You’re telling me the truth.”
Stark nodded. “Aphrodite had a vision. What she saw is that you get Zoey to pull her soul together. You do it by promising you’ll stay here with her. So she doesn’t turn into a Caoinic Shi’. She’s herself again. And she does stay here with you—forever. But without Zoey, there’s no one to stop Neferet and Kalona.”
“And they take over the world,” Heath finished for him.
“And they take over the world,” Stark agreed.
Heath’s eyes met Stark’s. “I have to leave Zoey.”
“I won’t let her be alone,” Stark told him. “I’m her Warrior, her Guardian. I give you my Oath that I’ll be sure she’s always protected.”
Heath nodded, looking away from Stark, trying to get a handle on his emotions. He wanted to run—to find Zo and to be sure she stayed with him, here or anywhere, forever. But when his gaze went back to Stark, he knew the absolute truth: Zoey would hate it if her friends were destroyed. She’d hate it more than she loved him, more than she loved anyone. So if he
Even though he felt like he was going to barf, Heath was glad his voice sounded calm and normal. “How are you gonna get her to pull herself together after I go?”
“Can’t you tell her you’re staying, get her together, and then go?”
Heath snorted, “Dude, I’m not gonna be too hard on you because you not being dead and all is totally making you moronic about this spirit stuff, but there’s no fucking way I can get Zo to call together pieces of her soul by telling her a lie. I mean, come on, that doesn’t even make sense.”
“Yeah, okay. I guess you’re right.” Stark ran his hand through his hair. “Then I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, but I will. I have to. If you’re man enough to leave her, I’m man enough to figure out how to save her.”
“Well, keep this in mind—Zo doesn’t like some dude saving her. She likes to take care of herself. Mostly, you just have to stand back and let her do her thing.”
Stark nodded solemnly. “I’ll remember that.”
“Okay. So. Let’s go after her.”
The two guys started walking toward the part of the grove where they’d last had a glimpse of Zoey.
“I’ll keep out of it while you say goodbye. I won’t let her see me till you’re gone,” Stark said.
Heath couldn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded.
“Tell me about that other stuff you said—the scary shit that’s trapping you in here.”
Heath cleared his throat, and said, “At first I thought it was Kalona, but weirdness happened today that makes me think it probably isn’t him. I mean, it was like that thing out there was helping me figure out how to save Zoey.”
“But stay here, right?”
“Yeah, right. That was kinda the point to the whole idea.”
“So Kalona told you how to be sure Zoey never leaves the Otherworld—never makes it back to her body,” Stark said. “Which is exactly what he’s supposed to do.”
“And he almost did that today by using me. Fucking asshole. Like it’s not bad enough he killed me!” Heath looked at Stark. “So that’s really why you’re here? I mean, I know you had to tell me I gotta get moving, but basically you’re here to kick Kalona’s ass so that Zoey really does make it home with you.”
