âIt definitely wouldnât be easier if you backed off.â
âYouâve just been so
not here
since Stevie Rae died. I can understand if you need some space.â
âErik, the truth is itâs not just Stevie Rae. Thereâs other stuff going on with me thatâs really hard to talk about.â
He moved closer and took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. âCanât you tell me? Iâm pretty good at fixing problems. Maybe I could help.â
I looked up into his eyes and wanted so damn bad to tell him everything about Stevie Rae and Neferet and even Heath that I could feel myself sway toward him. Erik closed the little space left between us and I slid into his arms with a sigh. He always smelled so good and felt incredibly strong and solid.
I rested my cheek against his chest. âAre you kidding, of course youâre good at fixing problems. Youâre good at everything. Actually, youâre freakishly close to perfect.â
I felt his chest rumble as he laughed. âYou say that like itâs a bad thing.â
âItâs not a bad thingâitâs an intimidating thing,â I mumbled.
âIntimidating!â He pulled back so that he could look at me. âYouâve got to be kidding!â He laughed again.
I frowned up at him. âWhy are you laughing at me?â
He hugged me and said, âZ, do you have any clue what itâs like to date a girl who is the most powerful fledgling in the history of vampyres?â
âNo, I donât date girls.â Not that thereâs anything wrong with lesbians.
He took my chin in his hand and tilted my face up. âYou canbe scary, Z. You
control the elements
, all of them. Talk about having a girlfriend itâd be best not to piss off.â
âOh, please! Donât be silly. Iâve never zapped you.â I didnât mention that I have actually zapped people. Most specifically undead people. Well, and his ex-girlfriend, Aphrodite (who is about as hateful and annoying as the undead dead). But it was probably a good idea not to bring all that up.
âIâm just saying that you donât need to be intimidated by anyone. Youâre amazing, Zoey. Donât you know that?â
âI guess not. Things have been kinda foggy lately.â
Erik pulled back again and looked at me. âThen let me help clear things up for you.â
I felt myself swimming in his blue eyes. Maybe I could tell him. Erik was a fifth former, and in the middle of his third year at the House of Night. He was almost nineteen and an amazingly talented actor. (He can sing, too.) If any fledgling could keep a secret it would be him. But as I opened my mouth to blurt the truth about undead Stevie Rae a terrible feeling clenched my stomach and made the words freeze in my throat. It was
that
feeling again. The gut-deep feeling I get that tells me to keep my mouth shut or run like hell or sometimes just take a breath and think. Right now it was telling me in an impossible to ignore way that I needed to keep my mouth shut, which Erikâs next words just reinforced.
âHey, I know youâd rather talk to Neferet, but she wonât be back for maybe another week or so. I could stand in for her until then.â
Neferet was the one person or vampyre I absolutely could not talk to. Hell, Neferet and her psychic-ness was the reason I couldnât talk to my friends or Erik about Stevie Rae.
âThanks, Erik.â Automatically, I started to pull out of his arms. âBut I have to work through this myself.â
He let go of me so suddenly I almost fell backward. âItâs him, isnât it?â
âHim?â
âThat human guy. Heath. Your old boyfriend. Heâs coming back in two days and thatâs why youâre acting weird.â
âIâm not acting weird. At least not that weird.â
âThen why wonât you let me touch you?â
âWhat are
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