Tempted

“Agreed, but he can be replaced. You cannot.”
    “He can’t be replaced!” I blurted.
    “I do not mean to sound unfeeling, but you must be wise—in
all
of your decisions.”
    “Stark can’t be replaced,” I repeated stubbornly.
    “As you will, Priestess.” He bowed his head slightly, and then suddenly changed the subject. “Now that you understand the ramifications of a Warrior’s Oath, I would like to ask your permission for me to pledge myself formally.”
    I swallowed hard. “Well, Darius, I really like you and you’ve taken seriously good care of me, but I think I’d feel kinda awkward having two guys pledged to me.” As if I didn’t have enough guy issues?
    Darius’s smile was quick. He shook his head and I got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh at me. “You misunderstand. I will stay with you and lead those who guard you, but I would like to pledge my Warrior’s Oath to Aphrodite—that is what I’m asking your permission to do.”
    “You want to be bound to Aphrodite?”
    “I do. I know it is irregular for a vampyre Warrior to pledge to a human, but Aphrodite is not a normal human.”
    “You’re telling me,” I mumbled. He went on as if I hadn’t spoken.
    “She is truly a prophetess, which puts her in the same category as a High Priestess of Nyx.”
    “It won’t mess up your Warrior’s bond to have her Imprinted with Stevie Rae?”
    Darius shrugged. “We shall see. I am willing to take the chance.”
    “You love her, don’t you?”
    He met my gaze steadily and his smile warmed. “I do.”
    “She’s seriously a pain in the butt.”
    “She’s unique,” he countered. “And she needs my protection, especially in the days to come.”
    “Well, you have a point there.” I shrugged. “Okay, you have my permission. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the pain-in-the-butt part, though.”
    “I wouldn’t think of it. Thank you, Priestess. Please, do not say anything to Aphrodite. I would like to make my offer privately to her.”
    “My lips are totally sealed.” I made a little pantomime of zipping up my lips and throwing away the key.
    “Then I bid you good night.” He fisted his hand over his heart, bowed, and he was gone.

CHAPTER TEN

Zoey

    I stayed out in the hall, trying to sift through the mess of thoughts in my head.
    Wow! Darius was going to ask Aphrodite to accept his Warrior’s Oath. Jeesh. A vampyre warrior and a human prophet of the Goddess. Huh. Who knew?
    On an equally freaky note: Stark could feel my emotions if they were strong enough. Well, I had a
strong
feeling that was going to be inconvenient. And then I realized I was feeling strong about feeling strongly, and I tried to clamp down on everything, which just stressed me out, which he could probably sense. Undoubtedly, I was going to drive my own self crazy.
    Stifling a sigh, I opened the door quietly. The only light was coming from one of those tall prayer candles—the kind you can find in the grocery store that have really weird religious pictures on them. This one wasn’t so weird. It was pink, had a pretty picture of Mary on it, and it smelled like roses.
    I tiptoed over to Stark’s bedside.
    He didn’t look good, but he also wasn’t as pale and awful as he had been not long before. He seemed to be asleep—or at least his eyes were closed—his breathing was regular, and he looked relaxed. He didn’t have a shirt on, and the hospital sheet was pulled up under his arms so that I could just see the white top of what must have been a huge bandage covering his chest. I remembered how terrible the burn had been and wondered if, even considering the possible ramifications, I should make a cut in my arm like Heath had done for me, and then shove itagainst his mouth. He’d probably latch on to it automatically and, without thinking, drink what he needed to heal. But would he be pissed when he’d realized what I’d done? Probably. I knew Heath and Erik certainly would be.
    Crap. Erik. I hadn’t even begun to deal with him yet.
    “Stop stressing.”
    I jumped and my gaze instantly went to Stark’s face. His eyes weren’t closed any longer. He was watching me with an expression that was somewhere between amused and sarcastic.
    “Stop psychically eavesdropping.”
    “I wasn’t. I could tell by watching you gnaw your lip that you were stressing yourself out. So, I guess Darius talked to you.”
    “Yeah, he has. Did you know about all that went along with giving me your