I don't own House of Night. This happens just after Stevie Rae almost gets killed in Tempted, just after she gets out of the hole. Rephaim's POV.

I watched the Red One clamber out of the hole.

Imprinted, I thought grimly to myself. The favourite son of a fallen immortal and the High Priestess of the Red fledglings were imprinted.

I did not understand the part of me that sang at those words.

I lay back against the wall of soil. What would happen? When, if, my father came back to me, would I have to choose between him and Stevie Rae?

I had been trying to tell myself, since she rescued me, that my allegiances lay with my father.

I was not sure now. Would I be able to stand aside and let him do what he wanted with her? I would feel her pain. I would know how she felt, betraying her friends, if she gave in.

And if she died...

I hissed before I could stop myself. Thinking about her, unmoving, her glassy gaze so different to her vibrant gaze presently, hurt me. Terribly. I didn't think that I could live through her dying.

How strange that a Raven Mocker would fall in love with such a vampyre.

I gasped. That was it. My subconscious had been trying to tell me for a while. I should have known.

I was in love with Stevie Rae.

I was not sure whether she loved me. Could she love someone such as who I am? Her revulsion when we had been talking about the Professor that I had killed had been obvious in the way she was talking. She had seemed wary, and even hatred seemed to blossom.

At least the hatred had been quenched now. I had seen her blue eyes; they were not the eyes of someone who was burning with hatred, they were the eyes of one who was confused. As if she didn't know what she was feeling. I understood. I had no idea about my feelings until I thought them to myself.

She had never hated me. In the beginning, her actions had been so tender, so soft and gentle. She would just need time. I would give her all the time in the world. I just hoped...

I wasn't sure what I hoped.

I stood up and looked out of the hole quickly. There was no-one around. Stevie Rae had given me directions to a house nearby where she could check on me. I ran through them again in my head, grateful of the perfect memory that comes with being part immortal. I climbed out, careful not to hit my wing, and took of, silent as a whisper.

I was already looking forward to seeing Stevie Rae again.