Burned

into the grove.
    “Well, shit. This is so not working for me.” He started to follow Zoey. He had to make her hear him. He had to help her. Then he faltered, slowing to a stop. The problem was, he didn’t know how to help her. “I don’t know what to do!” he shouted as he slammed his fist into the side of one of the grove’s moss-covered trees. “I don’t know what to do!” Heath hit the tree again, ignoring the pain in his hand. “I. Do. Not. Know. What. To. Fucking. Do!” he punctuated each word with his fist until his knuckles split open, and the scent of his own blood lifted to linger around him.
    That was when the shadow covered the sun. Wiping his throbbing hand on the moss, he looked up.
    Darkness. Wings. Blotting out the Goddess’s light.
    Heart thundering, Heath crouched, fisting his bleeding hands defensively, but the attack didn’t come.
    What came instead was revelation in the form of whispered thoughts that seemed to seep from the shadows above and sink through the blood scent into his veins.
    She would stay here with you, forever, but she must be whole.
    Heath blinked in surprise. “Huh? Who’s there?”
    Use your mind, insignificant mortal!
    “Yeah, okay,” Heath said, squinting up at the hovering shadows. Was it Kalona? He couldn’t get a good look at the thing.
    You must make her call the pieces of her soul together, then she will be able to rest here, in the sacred grove, with you.
    “I get
that
. I just don’t get how to get her to do it. If that makes sense.”
    The answer is in your bond with her.
    “My bond with her, but I don’t know—” and then Heath realized he
did
know how to use their bond. All he had to do was make Zo listen to him, and he’d always been able to do that, even when he’d been acting like an asshole and drinking and messing up in school, and she’d tried to dump him. He’d always been able to bring them back together—to keep them together.
    Then Heath grinned. That was it! Winged Darkness forgotten, he hurried after Zoey and the Goddess’s light, unrestricted, shone down into the grove again. Their bond was the key. It was them, together, that had always worked, no matter what else had been going on in their lives. The bond was still there, too. It had brought Zo to him, even after his death. That was what he’d use. Once Zo got it that they could be together, and that it was cool with him being here and all, she’d make herself whole. And then whatever else they had to come up against, they’d face it together—forever. Hell, that shouldn’t be too hard. His Zo could seriously kick some ass.
    With new determination, Heath jogged after Zoey, when a whispered “Heath!” brought him up short.
    “What the hell?”
    “Back here!”
    Heath turned around, where the golden thread had snagged in the branches of a 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