P.C. Cast - Burned

“Well, you and I both know it’d just be me tryin’ , but not succeeding, which is where the ‘make an ass outta myself’ part comes in.”

Still grinning at him, she said, “What do you want me to promise?”

“That you won’t go back to the depot right now. They almost killed you, and you look all recovered and stuff, but they almost killed you . Yesterday. So I need you to promise you’re not going back down there to face them tonight.”

“I promise,” she said earnestly. “I’m not goin’ down there. I told you—I want to try to figure out how to help Z, and fightin’ with those kids definitely won’t help her.”

“Swear?”

“Swear.”

He let loose a relieved sigh. “Good. Now what am I supposed to tell those vamps about where you’ve gone?”

“Just what I told you—that I gotta get surrounded by the earth and left alone. That I’m tryin’ to figure out something, and I can’t do it here.”

“All right. I’ll tell ’em. They’re gonna be pissed.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll be back soon,” she said, getting in Zoey’s car. “And don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” The engine had just turned over when Dallas rapped on the window. Suppressing an annoyed sigh, she cracked it.

“Almost forgot to tell ya—I overheard some of the kids talking while I was waitin’ for you. It’s all over the Internet that Z isn’t the only shattered soul in Venice.”

“What the heck does that mean, Dallas?”

“Word is that Neferet dumped Kalona on the High Council—literally. His body is there, but his soul is gone.”

“Thanks, Dallas. I gotta go!” Without waiting for him to reply, Stevie Rae shoved the Bug into gear and drove out of the parking lot and off the school grounds. Taking a quick right on Utica Street, she headed downtown and to the northeast, toward the rolling land on the outskirts of Tulsa that held the Gilcrease Museum.

Kalona’s soul was missing, too.

Stevie Rae didn’t for an instant believe that he’d been so wracked with grief that the immortal’s soul had ripped apart.

“Not likely,” she muttered to herself as she navigated the dark, silent streets of Tulsa. “He’s after her.” As soon as Stevie Rae said the words aloud, she knew she was right.

So what could she do about it?

She didn’t have a clue. She didn’t know anything about immortals or shattered souls or the spirit world. Sure, she’d died, but she’d also un-died. And she didn’t remember her soul going anywhere. Trapped . . . It’d been black and cold and soundless, and I’d wanted to scream and scream and . . . Stevie Rae shuddered, clamping down on her thoughts. She didn’t remember much of that terrible, dead time—she didn’t want to. But she did know someone who understood a lot about immortals, especially Kalona, and the spirit world. According to Z’s grandma, Rephaim hadn’t been anything but a spirit until Neferet had set loose his gross daddy.

“Rephaim will know somethin’. And what he knows, I’m gonna know,” she said resolutely, her fingers tightening on the steering wheel.

If she had to, Stevie Rae would use the power of their Imprint, the power of her element, and every bit of power inside her body to get information from him. Ignoring the sick, terrible, guilty way it made her feel to think of fighting Rephaim, she gave the Bug more gas and turned down Gilcrease Road.

She didn’t have to wonder where she’d find him. Stevie Rae just knew. The front door to the old mansion had already been forced open, and she slipped inside the dark, cold house, following his invisible trail up and up. She didn’t need to see the balcony door ajar to know he was outside. She knew he was there. I’ll always know where he is, she thought gloomily.

He didn’t turn to face her right away, and she was glad. Stevie Rae needed the time to try to get used to the sight of him again.

“So, you came,” he said, still without facing her.

That voice—that human voice. It struck her again, as it had the first night she’d heard it.

“You called me,” she said, trying to keep her voice cool—trying to hold on to the anger she felt at what his horrible daddy had caused.

He turned to face her, and their eyes met.

He looks exhausted, was her first thought. His arm’s bleeding again.

She is still in pain, was his first thought. And she is filled with anger. They stared at each other silently, neither willing to speak their thoughts aloud.

“What has happened?” he finally asked.

“How do you know something’s happened?” she snapped back at him.

He hesitated before speaking, obviously choosing his words carefully. “I know from you.”

“You’re not makin’ any sense, Rephaim.” The sound of her voice speaking his name seemed to echo in the air around them, and the night was suddenly tinted with the memory of the glistening red mist that had been sent by the son of an immortal to caress Stevie Rae’s skin and call her to him.

“That is because it does not make sense to me,” he said, his voice deep and soft and hesitant. “I know nothing about how an Imprint works; you will have to teach me.”

Stevie Rae felt her cheeks get warm. He’s telling the truth, she realized. Our Imprint lets him know things about me! And how could he understand it? I barely do.

She cleared her throat. “So, are you sayin’ you know something’s happened because you can sense it from me?”

“Feel, not sense,” he corrected her. “I felt your pain. Not like before, right after you drank from me. Then your body was in pain. Your pain tonight was emotional, not physical.”

She couldn’t stop staring at him, her shock clear on her face. “Yes, it was. It still is.”

“Tell me what has happened.”

Instead of answering him, she asked, “Why did you call me here?”

“You were feeling pain. I could feel it, too.” He paused, obviously disconcerted by what he was saying, and then continued, “I wanted to stop feeling it. So I sent you strength and called you to me.”

“How did you do it? What was that red misty stuff?”

“Answer my question, and I will answer yours.”

“Fine. What has happened is your daddy killed Heath, the human guy who was Zoey’s consort. Zoey saw him do it and couldn’t stop him, and that shattered her soul.”

Rephaim continued to stare at her until it felt to Stevie Rae as if he was looking through her body and directly into her soul. She couldn’t look away, though, and the longer their gazes met, the harder it was for her to hold on to her anger. His eyes were just so human. Only their color was off, and to Stevie Rae, the scarlet within them wasn’t as alien as it should be. Truthfully, it was frighteningly familiar; it had once tinted her own eyes.

“Don’t you have anything to say about that?” she blurted, pulling her gaze from his so that she was staring out at the empty night.

“There is more. What is it you aren’t telling me?”

Gathering her anger back to her, Stevie Rae met his gaze again. “Word has it your daddy’s soul is shattered, too.”

Rephaim blinked, shock clear in his blood-colored eyes. “I don’t believe that,” he said.

“Neither do I, but Neferet’s dumped his spiritless body on the High Council, and apparently they’re buying the story. You know what I think?” She didn’t wait for him to respond, but went on, her voice rising with her frustration and anger and fear. “I think Kalona’s followed Zoey into the Otherworld because he’s totally obsessed with her.” Stevie Rae wiped at her cheeks, brushing off the tears she thought she’d finished shedding.