House of Night 09 - Destined

overshadowed everything, just as he knew it would. He was tall and strong and, as per usual, naked from the waist up. His incredible black wings were folded and at rest, and they looked like a god had fashioned them from pieces of the night sky.
    I’d forgotten how beautiful and powerful and majestic he was. I clenched my jaw and mentally shook myself. I hadn’t forgotten how dangerous he was.
    “Father, I am here,” Rephaim said in a voice that sounded so small and childlike that I put my hand over his where it still held on to my arm.
    Kalona turned around. His amber eyes went wide. For a moment his face lost all expression and then he looked utterly stunned.
    “Rephaim? Is it truly you, my son?”
    I felt the quake that went through Rephaim’s body and I tightened my hand over his.
    “Yes, Father.” His voice got stronger as he spoke. “It is me, Rephaim, your son.”
    I know the immortal has faked a lot of things. I know he’s trafficked with Darkness and been a murderer, a liar, and a betrayer. But I think for my entire life I will remember the look on Kalona’s face when he saw Rephaim that day. For an instant Kalona smiled and such pure joy suffused his entire being that I lost my grip on Rephaim. I stood there, slack jawed, and gaped at the wonder of Kalona’s happiness, and realized that I saw within his expression the same love I’d seen when he’d gazed at Nyx in the Otherworld.
    “Nyx forgave me,” Rephaim said.
    Those three words snuffed out Kalona’s joy. “And then she gifted you with the form of a human boy?” the immoral said in an emotionless voice.
    I could feel Rephaim’s hesitation, and I knew he was going to do what I did way too often—tell the whole truth when he should keep his mouth shut—so I blurted the semi-correct short version answer for him.
    “Yeah, he’s a boy now and he’s with us.”
    Kalona’s amber gaze shifted to me. “Zoey, you are looking well. I thought my son was the Red One’s mate. Is she sharing him with you?”
    “Eew, no. It’s not that kind of school. I’m his friend, that’s all,” I said, totally shoving aside the memory of how moved Kalona had been when he’d first seen Rephaim. This is the real Kalona, I reminded myself. “And you don’t have to be such a butt. You called Rephaim, not the other way around.”
    “Yes, I called my son. Not a fledgling High Priestess.”
    “I asked her to come with me to speak with you,” Rephaim said.
    “You asked Zoey and not the Red One. Is that because she’s tiring of you already?”
    “No, and her name is Stevie Rae, not the Red One. I’m her mate, and I’m going to stay her mate.” I liked it that all the daddy-hero-worship crap had gone out of Rephaim’s voice. “That’s why I answered your call, because I needed to tell you this, just like I told Nisroc, I’m walking the path of the Goddess with Stevie Rae. It’s what I want. It’s what I’ll always want.”
    “Always is a very long time,” Kalona said.
    “Yes, I know. I spent a good portion of it doing your bidding.”
    “You spent it being my son!”
    “No, Father. Not really. I’m beginning to understand that there is only one real difference between Darkness and Light, and that is the capacity to love. When I was doing your bidding there was obligation and fear and intimidation between us, but very little love.”
    I expected Kalona to blow up, but instead his shoulders slumped and he looked away as if he couldn’t continue to meet Rephaim’s steady gaze. “Perhaps circumstance made me ill equipped to be a father,” he said slowly. “You were the product of rage and despair and lust. I think I let that shape our relationship.”
    I could feel the hope in Rephaim. It was like he telegraphed it through his skin and his voice. “It doesn’t have to continue to shape our relationship,” he said just as slowly. With a start of surprise, I realized that the two of them sounded incredibly similar. I snuck a peek at Rephaim and recognized the shape of his eyes, his mouth, his jaw, and after I saw the family resemblance I wondered how the heck I could have ever missed it. No wonder Rephaim was so gorgeous—he looked like his dad!
    “You wish a new beginning between us, as well as with your new life,” Kalona said.
    He hadn’t framed it as a question, but Rephaim answered him anyway. “Yes, Father.”
    Kalona looked at me. “And what of your new friends? I do not believe they would ever accept the fact that you