Burned

whispered his name.
    He calls you . . .
    “What the hell is going on?” Stevie Rae muttered, anger stirring through despair.
    Go to him . . .
    “Go to him?” she said, feeling increasingly pissed off. “His dad caused this.”
    Go to him . . .
    Letting the tide of cool caress and red anger make her decision, Stevie Rae yanked on her clothes. She would go to Rephaim, but onlybecause he might know something that she could use to help Zoey. He was the son of a dangerous and powerful immortal. Obviously, he had abilities she didn’t know about. The red stuff that was floating around her was definitely from him, and it must be made of some kind of spirit.
    “Fine,” she said aloud to the mist. “I’ll go to him.”
    The instant she spoke the words aloud, the red haze evaporated, leaving only a lingering coolness on her skin and a strange, otherworldly sense of calm.
    I’ll go to him, and if he can’t help me, then I think—Imprint or no Imprint—I’m going to have to kill him.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Aphrodite
    “Seriously, Erce, I’m only going to say this one more time. I don’t care about your stupid rules. Zoey is in there.” Aphrodite paused and pointed one well-manicured fingernail at the closed stone door. “And that means
I’m
going
in there
.”
    “Aphrodite, you are a human—one who isn’t even the consort of a vampyre. You cannot simply burst into the High Council Chamber with all of your youthful, mortal hysteria, especially during a time of crisis such as this.” The vampyre’s cool look took in Aphrodite’s messed-up hair, tear-stained face, and reddened eyes. “The Council will invite you to join them. Probably. Until then, you must wait.”
    “I am not hysterical.” Aphrodite spoke the words slowly, distinctly, and with forced calm, attempting to totally make up for the fact that the reason she’d been left outside the High Council Chamber when Stark, followed by Darius, Damien, the Twins, and even Jack, had carried Zoey’s lifeless body inside was entirely because she had been exactly what Erce had called her—a hysterical human. She hadn’t been able to keep up with the rest of them, especially since she’d been crying so hard the snot and tears had kept her from doing much breathing or seeing. By the time she’d pulled herself together, the door had been closed in her face, with Erce acting as fucking gatekeeper.
    But Erce was super wrong if she thought Aphrodite didn’t know how to handle a stick-up-her-ass bossy adult. She’d been raised by a woman who made Erce look like Mary Fucking Poppins.
    “So you think I’m just a human kid, do you?” Aphrodite got all into the vamp’s personal space, which made Erce take an automaticstep back. “Think again. I’m a prophetess of Nyx. Remember her? Nyx—as in
your Goddess who is the boss of you
. I do
not
need to be some guy’s refrigerator to have the right to go before the High Council. Nyx herself gave me the right. Now move the hell out of my way!”
    “Though she could have phrased it more politely, the child makes a valid point, Erce. Let her pass. I’ll take responsibility for her presence if the Council disapproves.”
    Aphrodite felt the small hairs along her forearms lift as Neferet’s smooth voice came from behind her.
    “It is not customary,” Erce said, but her capitulation was already obvious.
    “Neither is it customary for the soul of a fledgling to be shattered,” said Neferet.
    “I must agree with you, Priestess.” Erce stepped aside and opened the thick stone door. “And you are now responsible for this human’s presence in the Chamber.”
    “Thank you, Erce. That is gracious of you. Oh, and I am having a few of the Council Warriors deliver something here. Be quite sure to allow them to pass, too, would you please?”
    Aphrodite didn’t so much as glance back as Erce murmured a predictable, “Of course, Priestess.” Instead, she strode into the ancient building.
    “Isn’t it odd that once again we are allies, child?” Neferet’s voice followed close behind her.
    “We’ll never be allies, and I’m not a child,” Aphrodite said without looking at her or slowing down. The entry foyer opened to a huge stone amphitheater that spread around her in circular row after row. Aphrodite’s eyes were drawn up immediately to the stained-glass window directly before her that depicted Nyx, framed by a brilliant pentagram, graceful arms upraised and cupping a crescent moon.
    “It’s really lovely,