Tempted

see you tomorrow, as neither of us seems able to be smart where the other is concerned.”
    “Well, then, bye until tomorrow.”
    “Stay safe,” he said. “If you don’t, I—I believe I would, perhaps, feel your loss.” He hesitated over the words, like he didn’t quite know how to say them.
    “Yeah, same right back at ya,” she said. Before she raised her arms to open the earth, she added, “Thank you for saving my life. Your debt is totally paid in full.”
    “Odd how it doesn’t feel like I’m free of it,” he said softly.
    “Yeah,” said Stevie Rae. “I know what you mean.”
    And then, while Rephaim crouched within the earth, Stevie Rae called on her element, opened the ceiling of their chamber, and let Lenobia and Erik pull her free.
    No one thought to look behind her. No one suspected. And no one saw a creature, half raven, half man, limping to the Gilcrease Museum to hide himself among the spirits of the past.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Zoey

    “Stevie Rae! Are you really okay?” I gripped the cell phone, wishing I could beam myself to Tulsa and actually see with my own eyes that my BFF was alive and well.
    “Z! You sound so worried. Don’t be! I’m okay. Promise. It was all a big, stupid accident. Goddess, I’m such a dork.”
    “What happened?”
    “Well, I was late leavin’ the House of Night. I’m so stupid. I should have just stayed there and waited till tomorrow to come back to the tunnels. But I went anyway. And then, get this—I thought I heard someone up on the roof! So I rushed up there ’cause it was almost dawn and I thought some red fledgling kid might be trapped. Goddess, I need to have my ears checked. It was a
cat.
A great big, fat, calico cat yowling on the roof. I started to leave and, like the totally uncoordinated noncheerleader type I am, I fell and bonked my head so hard I passed out. You would
not
believe all the blood. Totally scary.”
    “You knocked yourself out on the roof? Right before dawn?” I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle her.
    “Yeah, I know. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. Especially since I woke up with the sun shining on me.”
    “Did you burn?” My stomach felt sick. “I mean, are you still, uh, messed up from it?”
    “Well, yeah, I started to burn, and that’s probably what woke me up. And I’m still pretty toasty. It could’ve been a lot worse, though.Luckily, I had time to run to that tree that’s near the roof. Remember it?”
    I knew the tree all too well. It had hidden something that had almost killed me. “Yeah, I remember it.”
    “So I jumped on the tree, slid down it, and had the earth open up to make a little hidey-hole for me. Kinda like a tornado was comin’ and I was livin’ in a trailer park.”
    “That’s where Lenobia found you?”
    “Yeah, Lenobia and Erik. He was real nice, by the way. Not that you should be with him again, but I thought you’d like to know.”
    “Okay, well, good. I’m glad you’re safe.” I paused, not sure how to say this next part. “Uh, Stevie Rae, it’s been bad for Aphrodite. What with the Imprint between the two of you being broken and all.”
    “I’m real sorry if it hurt her.”
    “Hurt her! Are you kidding? We thought she was going to die. She was burning with you, Stevie Rae.”
    “Oh, my good
ness
! I didn’t know.”
    “Stevie Rae, hang on a sec.” I turned my back on everyone who was trying to listen in to my conversation and made my way out into the amazingly beautiful hall. White spun-glass chandeliers, holding real candles, lent a warm flickering light to the creams and golds of the upholstery, making me feel like Alice in Wonderland talking through a rabbit hole to an entirely different world. “Okay, that’s better. Less ears out here,” I continued. “Aphrodite said you were trapped. She was sure of it.”
    “Z, I tripped and hit my head. I’m sure Aphrodite picked up on my panic. I mean, when I woke up I was burning. Plus, I’d fallen over some metal trash on the roof, and I was all tangled up in it. I’m tellin’ you—it scared the bejesus outta me. She musta felt that.”
    “So no one grabbed you? You weren’t caged in anywhere?”
    “No, Z,” she laughed. “That’s just crazy. But it would make a better story than me trippin’ over my own feet.”
    I shook my head, still not able to take it all in. “It was scary, Stevie Rae. For a while I thought I was gonna lose both of you.”
    “Everything’s okay. You’re