Tempted

CHAPTER ONE

Zoey

    The night sky over Tulsa was alight with a magical crescent moon. Its brilliance made the ice that coated the city, and the Benedictine Abbey where we’d just had our showdown with a fallen immortal and a rogue High Priestess, shimmer so that everything around me seemed touched by our Goddess. I looked at the moonlight-bathed circle that stood in front of Mary’s Grotto, the place of power where not long ago Spirit, Blood, Earth, Humanity, and Night had been personified and then had joined to triumph over hatred and darkness. The carved image of Mary, surrounded by stone roses and nestled within a ledge high in the grotto, appeared to be a beacon for the silver light. I stared at the statue. Mary’s expression was serene; her ice-covered cheeks glistened as if she wept in quiet joy.
    My gaze lifted to the sky.
Thank you.
I sent a silent prayer up to the beautiful crescent that symbolized my Goddess, Nyx.
We’re alive. Kalona and Neferet are gone.
    “Thank you,” I whispered to the moon.
    Listen within . . .
    The words swept through me, subtle and sweet like leaves touched by a summer breeze, brushing my consciousness so lightly that my waking mind barely registered them, yet Nyx’s whispered command imprinted itself into my soul.
    I was vaguely aware that there were a lot of people (well, nuns, fledglings, and a few vampyres) around me. I could hear the mixture of shouting, talking, crying, and even laughing that filled the night, but it all felt distant. At that moment the only things that were real tome were the moon above and the scar that sliced from one shoulder all the way across my chest to the other shoulder. It tingled in response to my silent prayer, but it wasn’t a tingle of pain. Not really. It was a familiar warm, prickling sensation that assured me Nyx had, once again, Marked me as hers. I knew if I peeked under the neck of my shirt I would find a new tattoo decorating that long, angry-looking scar with an exotic filigree of sapphire—a sign that proved I was following my Goddess’s path.
    “Erik and Heath, find Stevie Rae, Johnny B, and Dallas—then check the perimeter of the abbey to be certain all the Raven Mockers fled with Kalona and Neferet!” Darius shouted the command, snapping me out of my warm, fuzzy prayer mode, and once I’d been shocked out, it was like an iPod had been cranked too high as sound and confusion flooded my senses.
    “But Heath’s a human. A Raven Mocker could kill him in a second.” The words burst from my mouth before I could clamp it shut, proving beyond all doubt that being moonstruck wasn’t my only moronic skill.
    Predictably, Heath puffed up like a cat-smacked toad.
    “Zo, I’m not a damn pussy!”
    Erik, looking very tall and full-grown, kick-your-butt vampyre-like, snorted sarcastically and then said, “No, you’re a damn human. Wait, that
does
make you a pussy!”
    “So, we defeat the big baddies and inside five minutes Erik and Heath are banging their chests at each other. How totally predictable,” Aphrodite said with her patented sarcastic sneer as she joined Darius, but her expression completely changed when she turned her attention to the Son of Erebus Warrior. “Hey there, Hotness. You doing okay?”
    “You need not worry about me,” Darius said. His eyes met hers, and they practically telegraphed the chemistry between them, but instead of going to her like he usually would and doing some very gross kissing, he remained focused on Stark.
    Aphrodite’s gaze went from Darius to Stark. “Okay, eew. Your chest is totally crispy crittered.”
    James Stark was standing between Darius and Erik. Okay, well,
standing
wasn’t exactly what he was doing. Stark was swaying and looking extremely unsteady.
    Ignoring Aphrodite, Erik spoke up. “Darius, you should probably get Stark inside. I’ll coordinate the reconnoitering with Stevie Rae and make sure everything runs smoothly out here.” His words seemed okay, but his tone was all I’m-the-big-guy-in-charge, and when he followed up with a condescending “I’ll even let Heath help out,” he really sounded like a pompous butt.
    “You’ll
let me
help out?” Heath snapped. “Your
mom
will let me help out.”
    “Hey, which one of them is supposed to be your boyfriend?” Stark asked me. Even in the terrible shape he was in, he caught my glance with his. His voice was scratchy, and he sounded scarily weak, but his eyes sparkled with humor.
    “I am!” Heath and Erik