Tempted

heal. He could move his right arm, though it was difficult, and it felt unnaturally stiff as well as weak.
    Finally, he shifted his attention to his wing. Rephaim closed his eyes and probed with his mind, following sinew and ligaments, muscle and bone, through his back and down the length of his shattered pinion. He gasped, almost unable to breathe, as he truly comprehended the full extent of the damage the bullet, and then the terrible, ripping fall had done.
    He would never fly again.
    The reality of the thought was so horrible that his mind skittered away from it. He would think of the Red One instead and try to remember everything Father had told him about her powers. Maybe he would find some clue in his memory that would explain her unusual behavior. Why had she not killed him? Perhaps she still would—or at least perhaps she would betray his presence to her friends.
    If she did, so be it. Life as he had known it was over for him. He would welcome the chance to die battling anyone who tried to keep him prisoner.
    But it hadn’t seemed she’d been imprisoning him. He thought hard, forcing his mind to work through pain and exhaustion and despair.
Stevie Rae
. That had been the name she’d given him. What was her motive in saving him if not to imprison and use him? Torture. It made sense that she had kept him alive so that she and her allies could force him to tell her all he knew about Father. What other reason could she have for not killing him? He would have done the same had he been lucky enough to have been in her place.
    They will discover that the son of an immortal will not be easily broken,
he thought.
    Stressed beyond the reserves of even his great strength, Rephaim collapsed. He tried to position himself so that he could attain some relief from the agony that wracked his body with every beat of his heart, but it was impossible. Only time could relieve his physical pain. Nothing would relieve the soul-deep pain of never being able to fly again—of never being whole.
    She should have killed me
, he thought.
Perhaps I can goad her into it if she returns alone. And if she comes back with her allies and attempts to torture my father’s secrets from me, I will not be the only one to shriek in pain.
    Father? Where are you? Why did you desert me?
    That was the thought foremost in his mind when unconsciousness finally claimed Rephaim again and, at last, he slept.

CHAPTER NINE

Zoey

    “Hey, remember you promised the nun you’d go to bed. And I’m pretty sure that didn’t mean going to
his
bed.” Heath jerked his chin at the door to Stark’s room.
    I raised my brows at Heath.
    He sighed. “I said I’d share you with the stupid vamps if I had to, but I didn’t say I’d like it.”
    I shook my head. “You’re not
sharing me
with anyone tonight. I’m just going to make sure Stark’s okay, then go to my own bed. Alone. By myself. Got it?”
    “Got it.” He grinned and then kissed me softly. “See you soon, Zo.”
    “See you soon, Heath.”
    I watched him walk away down the hall. He was tall and muscular and looked every inch the star quarterback. He was all set to go to OU on a full-ride scholarship next year, and then, after college, he was going to be either a cop or a fireman. Whichever he chose there was one thing for certain—Heath would be one of the good guys.
    But could he do all that,
would
he do all that, and also be a vampyre High Priestess’s consort?
    Yes. Hell, yes. I am going to make sure Heath gets the future he’s dreamed of and planned since we were kids. Sure, some parts of it will be different. Neither of us planned on the vamp stuff. Some parts of it will be hard—like, well, the vamp stuff. But the truth is, I care about Heath too much to force him out of my life
and
I care about him too much to mess up his life. So we are just going to have to make it work. Period. The end.
    “You going to go in, or are you just going to stand out here and stress?”
    “Holy crap, Aphrodite! Could you not sneak up and scare me?”
    “No one was sneaking, and ‘holy crap,’ is that a curse? ’Cause if it is, I’m afraid I’m going to have to wake up the Potty Mouth Police and have them make an arrest.” Darius followed Aphrodite into the hall and gave her a
be nice
look, which made her sigh and say, “So. Stark’s not dead yet.”
    “Gosh, thanks for that update. You just made me feel ever so much better,” I said sarcastically.
    “Don’t be a pain in my ass while I’m