Chapter 1

Disclaimer: unfortunately I don't own the House of Night series

When I finished reading hunted, I came up with a few ideas for what I think should happen in tempted. I re-wrote the last bit of Hunted to fit my ideas a bit better.

Zoey's POV

"What is it you need us to do, Zoey?" Sister Mary Angela asked, but before I could answer, the roar of an engine pulled everyone's attention back to the bird – infested trees and the road beyond.

With growing fear I watched the big black hummer leave the road. Gunning its engine, the vehicle lurched down the ditch, then up on the other side.

"Sister, stay close to me." Aphrodite said as Erik and Darius stepped out of the way and the two of them moved into position beside me.

"I need Grandma." I said

"She's coming. Don't fear." Sister Mary Angels replied

Finally, the hummer rolled to a stop. The doors opened, and Kalona and Neferet stepped out. She was wearing an all – black floor sweeping dress with a neckline that plunged to expose the onyx winged pendant resting between her breasts. A dark aura pulsed around her, making her thick auburn hair lift and move around her shoulders.

"Holy shit." Aphrodite whispered.

"Yeah, I know." I said grimly

Kalona strode at her side. He was wearing black pants and nothing else. As he moved away from the vehicle with Neferet, his wings rustled and opened a little, showing just a hint of their magnificence.

"Oh blessed Mary!" Sister Mary Angela gasped.

"Don't look at his eyes!" I whispered to her. "He can have a hypnotic effect on people. Don't let him get to you. Think of goodness, and the virgin Mary and his darkness will not get to you."

Then the driver stepped out and joined Neferet and Kalona. It was Stark. His eyes found mine instantly, and ever so slightly, he bowed his head to me.

I heard Stevie Rae's quick breath of surprise and the movement of the red fledglings behind us.

"That's the kid that shot me, isn't it?" she said

"Yes." I whispered sadly. I hoped she wouldn't hold it against him.

"He's changed." Stevie Rae said "he's a red vampire."

"He's also a fucking rat." Aphrodite muttered, then hastily added "Sorry, Sister."

"Don't trust him Zoey." Darius muttered from behind me.

"I trust him. He swore a Warrior's Oath to me." I said "Now form a circle."

Instantly the twins and Damien moved out of the crowd behind me. They each walked to their places on the cement circle, and we were all indide the circle.

"You cannot maintain that circle for eternity." Kalona said as he walked towards our little group. "I, on the other hand, can maintain my pursuit of you for eternity, A-ya."

"For heaven's sake, I'm NOT you're A-ya! I am Zoey Redbird, High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night!" I screamed furiously at him

"She's right." A voice whispered from behind me. I didn't recognise the voice.

Venus walked up from behind me, and I saw that her eyes were rolled back into her head, showing only the whites. "I am your A-ya!" When she said that, she began to glow gold with some kind of energy radiating from her, and she kept walking towards Kalona.

"Do you not recognise me?" She said. "Do you not see my marks, exactly like hers were?"

"Ohmygoodness!" Stevie Rae whispered from beside me in her familiar Okie twang "She's right! She's Changed!"

I then saw the new red marks that covered her face, and instead of a filled in crescent moon, there were the symbols for north, east, south and west in red. Somewhere on the rest of her body I knew there would be red marks representing above, below and spirit, just as Grandma's story said.

"But…she's not a vampire any more. There isn't a crescent moon on her anywhere." I pointed out, shocked. Nyx never took anything away.

"You're right!" Aphrodite said. "But what is she now? Maybe she's turned back to a human blessed by Nyx, just as I have!" and I could feel that she was happy that she was no longer the only human among us.

"What is this!" Neferet exclaimed from beside Kalona. "So Zoey is not you're A-ya then!"

"Yes she is." Kalona said. "Zoey IS my A-ya, and you are just trying to protect her." He said, with his seductive voice changing to have a harder edge.

"No, she's not." Venus said in a scary voice. It sounded hollow, but underneath that I could almost hear the voices of the five first Ghigua women.

"I am your A-ya." She said again. She walked over to him, and touched her hand to his bare chest.

Kalona's golden eyes went glassy, and it looked almost like he was looking at something far away but I knew that it was some type of vision.

Then his eyes focused again, and widened in shock. "A-ya." he said seductively "You have returned to me."

The Raven Mockers rustled the trees, like a sign that their father was speaking the truth.

"A-ya, you were made to love me." Kalona said

"Yes, I was." Venus replied, her voice normal again. "And I already do."

And then suddenly, the golden energy that she had been surrounded in exploded outward, and was so bright that I had to close my eyes, as it blocked everything else out.

When it returned to normal, I saw that Kalona looked happy. But I knew he wasn't really happy, but just pleased that he had finally gotten what he came for. And I could feel that he was stronger.

"So…does that mean Zoey is no longer important to you?" Neferet asked, and evil edge to her voice.

"No, she is not. I realise that I only recognised her as the leader of the Ghigua women." He said, and his faced twisted in hate and his eyes turned cold as he looked at me. I realised then, that maybe it was better when he thought I was A-ya.

He laughed, but it was a cold laugh. I knew then that even with Venus as his A-ya, he would still always be evil. And that unless he truly learned to love, we would need to banish him. And I realised that I had always thought deep down that we would be able to save the beautiful angel, that he would be a true angel again. And I knew that I had to make him run now, or he would destroy everything with his new power.

"Don't worry, Zoey. You can do it." A silky voice whispered in my head, and I knew that even though it would be hard, I would be able to do it with the help of me friends and Nyx.

"You may have stronger power now you have your A-ya, but we are still stronger that you. And with Nyx's power of good and light and love, we will banish you. Unless you choose to leave now. And take Neferet and Venus with you. " I said loudly and confidently and I knew that we would be able to do it.

"Venus? So my A-ya is also the goddess of love…" He said, and he smiled seductively at her.

"Yes, I am. Never forget that I love you, Kalona my angel." Venus said

"I don't think I will leave. I find that I like Tulsa very much." He said and his face almost entranced me with his charming smile.

"Then remember that you brought this upon yourself." I said, then spoke to the women beside me. "The poem said: joined not to conquer, but to overcome."

"You see Zoey? You can not defeat me. Even your goddess says so." Neferet said, and the darkness began to radiate around her and grow in power as the touches Kalona, almost like she was absorbing darkness from him.

I continued and ignored her. But I knew that whatever we did, we had to do it now.

"I'm Night. I've led you to Sister Mary Angela, so she's Spirit. Stevie Rae, you're Blood. Aphrodite, you're Humanity.

"What are they doing? You think you can defeat us?" she said and her voice sounded amused.

"Yes we can. I know we can." I said

Kalona laughed. "Foolish Ghigua woman. You know deep down that your little circle is no match for our dark power."

"And earth completes." I said, and we all held hands.

"Stark! Kill her. No mistakes this time. Aim for her heart." Neferet commanded, and as she spoke the darkness slithered from the shadows behind around her. Stretching over to Stark, I watched them wrap around his ankles and begin to move up his body. I saw the struggle that was going on within Stark. Neferet's dark power could still affect him. Was his Warrior's Oath to me enough to break that hold? I'd decided to trust him. Had that been a stupid mistake?

Neferet's hair was whipping around her. She was watching Kalona and Venus with jealousy, and I knew that she was not happy to share her angel with Venus.

She whirled around and turned to face Stark. "By the power with which I awakened you, I command you hit the mark and shoot Zoey through her heart!"

I was staring at Stark, trying to will him to choose good – to keep choosing good and to turn from Neferet and darkness, so I saw the exact moment he understood his way out. As if he and I were back in the little room behind the field house again, I heard myself saying to him, You have my heart… and then his response; Then both of us better stay safe. A heart's a hard this to live without…

"That's what my aim won't miss." Stark spoke across the icy distance to me as if he and I were alone "The part of the lady's heart that I hold as my own.

The shadows that had gripped his body were instantly washed from him as he made his decision.

And with a rush of panic I understood what he was going to do. Aiming straight at me, he drew the bow and shot.

As he let loose the arrow, I cried "Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Spirit! Hear me! Do not let that arrow touch him!" I flung my power out towards Stark, channelling all five of the elements.

The arrow did a weirs shimmer, and suddenly it was not heading on my direction, but speeding back towards Stark's heart. It was mere inched from his chest when the elements blasted it, disintegrating it with such force the Stark was thrown back and lay crumpled, but not skewered on the ground.

"You bitch whelp!" Neferet shrieked "You're not going to win this!"

Ignoring her, I turned to grandma and repeated "And Earth completes."

We all held hands, and together we faced the new power of Kalona with his love, and Neferet.

"Don't curse them. He is all too familiar with darkness and anger and curses.

"A blessing." Stevie Rae said.

"Yeah, people filled with hate don't know how to handle love." Aphrodite said from bedside me , and doing her best bitchy hair toss.

"Bless him Grandma, we'll join you." I said

Then my Grandma's voice rang out, and she said

"Kalona, my u-do." She said using the Cherokee word for brother.

"This is my blessing to you:"

"May the warm winds of heaven blow softly on your home."

"I always thought that heaven was a very boring place." He said, and chuckled humourlessly

"And the great spirit bless all who enter there" she said, ignoring him.

"There is no great spirit. Kalona is the most powerful god known to this earth." Neferet said mockingly

"May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows"

And we all repeated after her

"And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder…"

Nothing happened. Kalona stayed exactly where he was, with Venus in his arms. She already adored him.

And Neferet didn't move. She only laughed at us.

"And you think your blessing would hurt us?" Kalona said mockingly "Unless you've forgotten, I have love now. Your love cannot hurt us any more. True, it may have banished us before I had A-ya, but not now." He said, and closed his beautiful wings over Venus' body as she embraced him.

"Now, I leave here because I choose to. Because I want my A-ya." He said.

He then took Neferet in one arm, and Venus in the other, and flapped his wings hard. He took off into the sky, and I knew he was probably going to take Venus' virginity. If she hadn't lost it already, ho that she was.

I looked at Grandma.

"We're going to have to find another way to defeat him. What Kalona said was true, the poem only worked when love was horrible to him. Now he has Venus, and love will not be an effective weapon against him." I said grimly

"Well, I guess we're going to have to find another way to defeat him then." Aphrodite said.

Please tell me what you thought of that, and if you think I should continue.