A/N

Thanks to all who reviewed! Specifically…

-Halfmoon

-StephaimForever

-and inquiete

You guys are AWESOME! Hope everyone enjoys, I know it's a little shorter than usual…

Disclaimer: Nope. Just checked again. STILL DO NOT OWN HON OR ANYTHING RELATED TO IT!

~Smiley

Chapter 6

Rephaim

"No!"

Everything was blurry, and nothing made sense. The only people Rephaim could see through the blurs of green leaves from the trees that surrounded them and streaks of far-too-bright sunlight were his father and Stevie Rae.

"By all the gods!" he heard his father cry. Stevie Rae was screaming her head off, which had fear knifing at Rephaim's heart.

Rephaim was trying everything in his power to get to her, but he simply wasn't strong enough to make his feet move. No matter what he did—no matter what he tried—he couldn't move, let alone see or think.

"Help me, Rephaim!" Stevie Rae cried, and his priestess, his Red One, his Stevie Rae, dropped to her knees and clutched her blonde curls. Rephaim had only seen her in that position one other time in his life, on that horrible rooftop…

No! Rephaim's mind screamed. This can't be happening to her, not again!

He had to get to her—he had to try and shield her. He focused all his energy and willpower in just taking that one step forward, taking that one step towards her.

It took Rephaim far too long to realize what was happening—why he wasn't strong enough to reach her.

Rephaim knew, even through all the bright flashes and blurs, that the sun was up. That would be why his Stevie Rae was burning, why she was in so much pain. But Rephaim had come to realize the real difference between this burning and the one of which he had already saved her from: because of Nyx's blessing, and curse, he was going to turn into a raven, a raven with no memory of his humanity.

Rephaim was upset with his father, but there really was no other way. Her safety depended on it.

"Help her!" Rephaim shouted at his father. "Get her out of the su—"

Rephaim couldn't even finish the word before the change completely took control of his entire body. The last thing he heard was Stevie Rae scream his name. The last thing he thought was how he would forever blame himself if she wasn't okay…

Kalona

Kalona lay on his back, his wings spread out around him and the sleeping priestess beside him. He rolled over onto his side, looking down at the beautiful woman resting on his left wing. She remained silent as she slept; not even her breathing could be heard by the immortal's powerfully trained ears. Kalona couldn't help but notice how the High Priestess of Death was so peaceful in her slumber that she could, in fact, be mistaken for, well, dead.

As if the very thought had triggered the reaction, Thanatos rolled over onto her other side, and therefore, she rolled right of Kalona's black wing that had cushioned her in her death-like sleep. However, even though the priestess had had no trouble falling asleep, her warrior lay wide awake.

Why, one may ask?

Although their oath bond was strong, it had simply not been long enough for one of them to sense the other's emotions, especially when those emotions were not ones wished to be shared. And being since Thanatos and Kalona had never truly met when the oath was made, their emotional connection was not yet as strong. This could be good or bad, but only time or love could enhance their connection to its full potential. Thanatos could not sense that Kalona was troubled.

But back to the reason behind the immortal's unrest. Kalona lay awake because he was troubled and utterly baffled by his eldest son's behavior. Why had Rephaim seemed so upset with him? What had he done now?

Kalona sat up, his gaze going to the woman he had pledged himself, body and soul, to. However, he had pledged his heart and will to repairing what had been broken between him and his favorite son. He could go talk to him now, right? After all, Thanatos was asleep, and there was still time before the sun rose. Rephaim had never outright told him, but Kalona knew that his son turned into a raven while the sun was in the sky.

Kalona stood up and walked out of the tent, deciding he didn't have time to waste thinking about whether he should or should not go to him.

Stevie Rae

"Rephaim…Rephaim, you gotta wake up…" Stevie Rae said gently, nudging his shoulder. When he still didn't stir, she sat up and tried shaking him a little.

"Rephaim!" she whispered. "It's almost sunrise."

As if the word triggered some sort of horrified reaction, Rephaim shot up into a sitting position. Slightly worried, Stevie Rae propped herself up on her elbow.

"Are you alright?" Rephaim asked quickly, hastily cupping her face in both of his hands. His eyes kept frantically searching back and forth, up and down, searching for the slightest indication that she wasn't one hundred and ten percent a-okay.

"Rephaim, I'm fine," Stevie Rae said, her other hand reaching up to grab his wrist. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Rephaim closed his eyes and nodded. Stevie Rae could see his Adam's Apple move as he swallowed.

"What's wrong?" Stevie Rae repeated.

Rephaim opened his eyes again, and, after a moment of staring into hers, he pulled her close and hugged her hard. Her face was press against his chest when he said, "Nothing is wrong. It was simply a bad dream."

"Do you wanna talk 'bout it?" she asked, her words slightly muffled by his shirt.

"Truly, Stevie Rae, I am alright. So long as you are okay, I will be as well."

Stevie Rae pulled back from him so she could look into his eyes. "Did the dream scare you?"

Rephaim nodded. "Yes, but now it just makes me feel like I failed you."

"You haven't failed me, Rephaim. How could you?" she asked gently.

"I did. Stevie Rae, I did fail you. I wasn't able to save you."

"Save me from what?"

Rephaim stood up and started pacing. Worried, Stevie Rae got to her feet as well. "You were burning. The sun had rose and you were burning and you were screaming for me to help you and I tried, Stevie Rae, I tried to get to you but I couldn't move and—"

"Shhh…" Stevie Rae silenced him by taking his face in her hands. "Take a deep breath."

"But, Stevie Rae—"

"No. Rephaim, you didn't fail me. You were trying to get to me, weren't you?"

"Of course, Stevie Rae. I didn't stop; I couldn't."

"Then you didn't fail me. You couldn't."

"But I wasn't able to get to you—"

"But you tried, Rephaim. I can't ask anything more of you." Slowly, Stevie Rae smiled at him. It was so filled with happiness and pride and faith and absolute trust that Rephaim couldn't help but slowly smile back.

Maybe it was the right moment to kiss, but they simply wrapped their arms around each other and held on tight.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Rephaim asked, "How much time is there until sunrise?"

"'bout five minutes," Stevie Rae answered.

"That is enough time."

"Enough time for what?"

As if it were the answer to her question, Rephaim slowly dropped to one knee, taking both of her hands in his as he did so. Stevie Rae looked at him curiously, a little confused, but she had no idea what he would say.

"Stevie Rae Johnson," Rephaim began, looking up at her with warm, loving brown eyes. "I swear to—"

Whatever he was going to say, he never got the chance to. A banning on the front of the tent made him turn around to see the vague outline of a tall and muscular man. Stevie Rae blinked a couple times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the wings were most definitely there, making the person outside Rephaim's daddy.

Oh, shoot, Stevie Rae thought. She had been hoping that the rest of their father/son drama could wait until tomorrow.

Rephaim sighed and stood up, but he didn't let go of her hand as he opened the entrance of the tent and stepped out. As she followed him out of the safety of their tent, Stevie Rae heard the deep voice of her Consort's immortal father say, "We need to talk."

A/N

REVIEWS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!

~Smiley

P.S: Happy New Year!