It has been a really long time since I've updated and I am really sorry about that. I have been juggling so many things lately and it makes it really hard to find time to write for all of my stories. But I am continuing writing this story, even if it's a little slow =] I really hope you like it!

Stark

Stark was running as fast as he could back down into the tunnels. Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead, not because he was exerting a lot of energy - although he was - but because he was freaking out on the inside. He had tried so, so hard to protect Zoey, but with every second that went by, he found himself doubting his abilities. Yes, a lot had happened to Zoey while he'd been her guardian. She'd had her soul shattered, brought back, lost friends, lost family… But he had always been there to protect and comfort her. It seemed like he couldn't even comfort her anymore.

But he wouldn't give up. No matter what, he would never, ever give up on Zoey. He loved her more than he loved life. No, that's not right. She was his life. If anything happened to her, he knew that he would soon lose his life afterward. If he didn't die avenging her death, then he would die of heartbreak. Because she was his one, his only, his everything.

Stark went to wipe away a drip of sweat going down his face, but realized once his hand was on his cheek that it wasn't sweat. It was a tear. He stopped, standing absolutely still as he looked at the tear on his hand.

"No." he whispered. "I will not cry. I will not break down. I am a warrior. More importantly, I am a High Priestess' warrior. Nothing can defeat me while I am protecting her. Nothing."

He took a deep breath, trying to get control of himself. He knew that every second counted, and the more time he spent here trying to get himself under control, the further that monster was taking Zoey. After a moment, Stark felt his face harden into his warrior mask.

He made it to Darius in less than thirty seconds. Darius had Aphrodite in his arms. She was obviously having a vision.

"No!" Aphrodite shrieked, sounding as if her very life force came out with the word. She crumpled to the ground.

As Darius bent over to pick her up, Stark took two steps to cross the distance between them and put his hand on Darius's arm. "We don't have time. Get Stevie Rae to help her. Zoey's in trouble."

Darius shook off Stark's arm, his eyes narrowing at Stark. His entire demeanor looked deadly. Stark realized that he had never seen this look from Darius - or, at least, not directed toward him. "You are Zoey's warrior. I am Aphrodite's, and I will take care of my Priestess before I take care of anyone else's. Do not try to come between us again."

For the first time, Stark thought that Darius would actually hurt him. It seemed like everything was exploding around him. First Zoey gets taken by Kalona, then Aphrodite collapsing, and now Darius is making death threats. The world was turning upside down.

"I apologize. But, Darius, please hear me out. Zoey is in trouble and I need your help." Stark pleaded.

Darius gave one small nod before picking Aphrodite up and carrying her in the nearest bedroom. It happened to be Kramisha's, who stood up as they walked in. "What's up with her?"

"She had a vision." Darius explained. "May I lay her here for a moment while I talk to Stark?" When Kramisha nodded, Darius walked over to the bed and laid Aphrodite down, planting a kiss on her forehead as he did. After looking at her for a long moment - almost killing Stark with impatience - he turned around and walked out the door without even glancing at Stark.

"What's happened to Zoey?" Darius asked after Stark stepped out into the hall after him.

"Kalona took Zoey." Darius gasped when Stark said this, but Stark ignored it and kept explaining. "I don't know exactly what happened. I just know that I went into the depot building to check on Zoey - she'd been up there making a call to her grandma and had been up there a while - and when I got there, Kalona had Zoey in his arms and was taking her off. He was too fast for me."

Darius narrowed his eyes at Stark before patting his shoulder. "We will get her back."

"How?" Stark yelled. All the anger and frustration built up inside him came out. Not only was he angry that that damn Kalona wouldn't leave him and Zoey alone, but also at the fact that he hadn't been there to keep Kalona from ever getting near her. "It's not like we can go everywhere Kalona can! And how do we even know where to start searching?"

Darius waited a few moments after Stark had finished to begin speaking. "We will go to Thanatos. Get ready to go. She will know what to do."

[BREAK: ZOEY'S POV]

I woke up with a headache. My head felt like it was three times heavier than it normally was and my ears were stopped up. That was what I hated about taking naps. Ever since I was thirteen, I would wake up from a nap automatically going into my bathroom to grab a Q-tip. It really sucked when I was back in school and had to study all night, then later - when I had taken the test and gone home after school - I wouldn't be able to take a nap for fear of feeling like crap when I woke up.

This time was a little different, though. I wasn't laying in a bed, feeling stuffy and over-heated. I looked around, expecting to see that I had passed out somewhere weird after defeating something even weirder, but was surprised to find that I was laying in what looked like a tree house.

"How did you sleep, lover?"

I sat up straight at the sound of Kalona's voice. I wasn't afraid of him, like I knew I should be. Instead, I found myself edging near him, wanting to be as close as possible to him as I could be. His arms opened up automatically and I climbed in them. "How did we get here?"

"I flew us here. You don't remember?" he asked.

I shook my head before actually thinking about it. Suddenly, it was like a short film was playing before my eyes, and I saw everything that had happened within the past- Wait. I had no idea how much time had gone by since Kalona stole me away. "What time is it? What day is it?"

Kalona stroked my hair as he looked into my eyes. "It's only been two hours since we left. Dawn is in three hours."

At that moment, I wanted to kiss him so badly I could barely resist the temptation. But just as I was making the conscious decision to move forward and plant my lips on his, I took in Kalona's entire appearance. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he did have on some khaki shorts. I could tell by the way nothing was digging into my back that he wasn't wearing any shoes. But none of that really surprised me. What made my breath catch was the fact that his wings were back to the color I had originally seen them: black.

I reached forward, barely running my fingers along his wings. Even if they weren't white, they were still the most beautiful wings I had ever seen. Maybe it was the fact that they were so big; maybe it was that they were attached to Kalona and I loved him. Whatever it was, I was hypnotized by the feel of them.

"Aren't you going to ask me how they changed color?" Kalona asked.

I cocked my head to the side, flirting with him without even trying. "How did - " My words ran out as I realized that I already knew the answer to that question. I didn't know it was possible, but Kalona had somehow broken out of Nyx's Kingdom to come to me. I also didn't know why he would want to because the spell had been broken. For the first time since Stark and I had made love and broken the spell, I thought about how it would affect Kalona. He had never really gotten over me.

I stood up, taking several steps away from him. "Why would you do something like that?" I whispered. Kalona's mouth opened to answer, but I put my hand up in a signal for him to stop. "No! Don't say anything. I don't want to hear it. How could you do something like that? Why would you come down here and lose Nyx's grace just for me?"

Kalona's smile was so sad that I wanted to cry, but I knew that I had to keep a hold on myself. I wouldn't cry in front of him; it would just show him how much power he had over me. "Zoey… I couldn't just let you slip away from me. I love you. There is nothing that would ever change my mind about you. Haven't you realized yet that we are meant to be? I was never in love with the A-ya part of your soul. I was in love with you."

Although his words made me so happy I could jump up and down, I didn't give in. He may love me, but that didn't give him an excuse to run out on Nyx. There was no way I could be with someone who was evil, right? And that wasn't even my main concern. It felt strange to be mad at Kalona for turning away from Nyx. I knew it was because I thought that it was better if he was in Nyx's good graces than if he were with me, but some part of my brain couldn't make sense of it. Didn't people normally give up what they wanted for what they knew was right for someone else when they loved them? But I did love Kalona. Didn't I? Yes. And yet, there was still a part of me screaming no.

"You shouldn't have left." Kalona's frown was now turning into true pain, but I tried not to pay attention to it. "This isn't right. I know that it's hard, but you should have done what's best for you. You should've stayed in Nyx's Kingdom and married A-ya. You should have let me stay here and be with Stark and raise our child. We would have been better off."

Somewhere in my speech, Kalona looked down and fiddled with his fingers. He looked like a little boy, and I would've thought that that was cute if it weren't for our situation. I stood there, watching him play with his fingers, for what seemed like forever. I was just about to start talking again, when his wings beat once and he was suddenly on his feet.

Before I could say or do anything, I was in his arms. Instead of his normal, soft touch, his grips on my arms were firm. He wasn't hurting me, but he also wasn't in a loving mood. "Zoey, listen to me." His voice was so commanding that I looked up into his eyes. "I came back to earth because I couldn't stand the thought of living without you. What would be the point of being in Nyx's Kingdom if I wasn't happy? The whole point of life is to try and be the happiest you can. To find the one person who makes you the happiest and will be there for you.

"I felt just the smallest glimmer of that with A-ya. We spent centuries together, locked in the earth together. But I didn't realize until you and A-ya were separated that I never felt love with A-ya. I felt lust. I never really knew what love felt like until you and I got together." He paused, taking a deep breath. I was going to say something, but he put his fingers over my lips.

"I know you think that the best thing for me is to be in Nyx's land with A-ya. That I would be choosing light over darkness if I were still there. But I want you to know something: the color of my wings doesn't show what my heart feels. Just because my wings are black, doesn't mean that I have gone back to darkness. It just means that I am no longer with Nyx. Because being with her isn't the best thing for me. Being with you is. And that is why I am pledging to you." he ended.

My mind was thinking so many things at once that it took me a few moments to form a sentence. "What are you pledging?" I whispered, hoping that he wasn't talking about becoming my warrior. I already had one warrior, and that was enough. Start could feel my emotions, and if that wasn't weird enough, he could also read my mind sometimes. On top of that, I didn't really know what would happen if a Priestess had more than one warrior pledging themselves this way. I knew that there were a lot of warriors, but I didn't know if each one of them pledged exactly like this. It wouldn't make sense that they all would because then they would all feel her emotions. No, it couldn't be that way. So, then, would it cancel the previous pledge out? If so, that wasn't what I wanted at all.

But Kalona put that worry out of my mind and a new one in when he whispered, "To stand by you, my new Goddess."

[BREAK: STARK'S POV]

Thanatos wasn't happy at the fact that their group had kept Zoey's pregnancy from her, but that was to be expected. Stark could only thank the Goddess that Neferet wasn't the High Priestess anymore. Once they had explained everything to her, Thanatos sat in silence as she thought about what they should do. Just when it seemed like she had thought of something and was going to speak her thoughts, she would sit back in her chair and squint, as if she was thinking really hard.

Finally, after what seemed like hours - although it was only about ten minutes - she said, "Stark, there is something I think we should try. Don't be alarmed if it doesn't work. It is the only thing I can think of, though, and we must pray that it does work. Otherwise, the only chance of finding Zoey is if Kalona somehow brings her back for something."

"What do you mean, 'don't be alarmed if it doesn't work'?" Stark asked, feeling irritated that there always seemed to be something in the way of their only hope.

Thanatos narrowed her eyes at Stark, clearly not liking the tone that he had used. But instead of scolding him like Neferet would have, she simply sighed. "Stark, I realize that you are under a lot of stress, but you must take deep breaths and calm yourself if you want this to work. There have been a few cases of warriors being able to purposefully make their way into their Priestess's mind. This is something that is usually frowned upon, but it is acceptable in certain dire situations.

"What I want you to be warned about, though, is the fact that it may not work. As I said, only a few warriors have been able to pull this off, and - even then - they had been with their Priestesses for a long, long time. I only mention this technique because it is an emergency and…" Thanatos trailed off, clearly trying to read Stark's face.

Stark was tempted to shout at her, try to make her spit out what she was going to say. But, at the last moment, he remembered what she had said about trying to keep calm. He thought that this may be a test, so he stopped, took a deep breath, and asked, "You were saying?"

As soon as Stark saw the smile on Thanatos's face, he knew that it had been a test and that he had passed. "And you and Zoey share a bond that I have never seen before. I guess it shouldn't surprise me since Zoey is such a talented young fledgling. Ah, what a great vampyre she will make."

With that, Thanatos got up, waving Stark and Darius along with her. Earlier, they had waited just long enough for Aphrodite to wake up to tell her that they were going to the House of Night. She had wanted to come with them, but Darius told her that he didn't think that was best. He said that his job was to protect her and that he couldn't do that if she came with them. She would be much safer in the tunnels.

They followed Thanatos to the library, and from there, they went to the back room. Inside lay all sorts of supplies; from pencils and paper, to candles and herbs. She plucked a couple of herbs, a white candle, and some matches before turning back to Stark and Darius. "We don't have time to talk through the ceremony, so I am just going to walk you through it. It isn't very hard, so don't worry. Let's just hope it works."

[BREAK: ZOEY'S POV]

"I-I can't be your Goddess. I'm not a Goddess! Kalona, think about what you are saying." I shrieked, freaking out on the inside.

He bent down onto one knee, clearly trying to prove his point. "I have. Zoey, think about it. You are so powerful, and just as a fledgling. Think about what you will become once you have fully changed! I wouldn't feel right worshiping a woman who doesn't love me. You are my lady, and therefore the only woman whom I should ever worship. I will not disrespect Nyx; I will acknowledge her and respect her, but I will not worship her. She will understand."

"Don't you see that she doesn't understand? Your wings are black! No matter what you try to tell me, Kalona, I know that they aren't that way because you are on earth. They represent…well, you." I replied.

Kalona got up off one knee and walked to the small window in the tree house. He stood there, not saying a word, not looking at me. I felt horrible, but at the same time, I knew that I was right. And I didn't want to be the one to cause Kalona to have his beautiful white wings back, and then have them stripped away weeks later…

I sat on the bed, not trusting my legs to keep my up anymore. Then I realized that there was a bed in the tree house! I took that moment to look around, trying to forget about my current situation.

It was a really small room, made out of two-by-fours and vines. The room was bare except for the bed in one corner and a couple of cardboard boxes with food and water in them. There was a hole in the floor on the opposite side of the room than the bed, but I really hoped it wasn't for what I thought it was. No way would I be…doing deeds in public like that.

"You don't want me." Kalona whispered so low that I almost didn't catch it.

"I didn't say that!" I whispered back, not wanting to be too loud in the silence. "You know that I do want you. If I didn't, I would be fighting you right now - "

Out of nowhere, Kalona turned around and took two strides toward me. There were tears flowing down his face, but he didn't look sad. He looked more angry than upset. "You are fighting me right now!"

I was about to argue that I would be fighting with him over staying here, not fighting with him over pledging to worship me as his Goddess, when something stopped everything around me. Kalona completely disappeared from my mind as I stood there, stock still. I felt as if I was paralyzed, but I knew that I could move at any moment. My breathing hitched, and I felt my eyes starting to water.

"Zoey?" I was vaguely aware of Kalona's worried voice, only a foot away from me now.

Finally, I inhaled, and was able to move again. Slowly, I looked down, my hands automatically coming to my stomach. I felt the smile creep up on my lips without me even meaning to. I let out some sort of sound, not sure what emotion it conveyed. I looked back up at Kalona, who looked blurry through the water in my eyes.

For a moment, Kalona seemed confused, but then he looked down to my stomach and then back up to my face. I could tell the moment it dawned on him. "Oh, Zoey…" he whispered, before closing the space between us and putting one of his hands on my stomach. The other hand went behind me to rest on the small of my back.

"I felt her." I whispered. "I felt her."

"Our daughter." Kalona said, bending down to kiss my stomach. "Are you getting ready to come out into the world, little one?"

At her father's words, my little girl rustled around inside me again. This entire time I had been so excited to have her, and had already loved her. But that moment, when she moved, I felt the full impact of how much I loved her. Until then, she had just been an idea, even though that sounds bad. But she was a baby now, a real person.

Kalona let out a laugh, obviously feeling her move, too. Then he got up and kissed me, picking me up and twirling me around as he did. I don't know how long we twirled, and kissed, and laughed, but I do know that it was one of the most exciting moments of my life.

[BREAK: STARK'S POV]

Thanatos had all the herbs put together in a little bowl in front of Stark. She made him sit down in front of it while she lit what had to be sage and smudged the room with it. She was chanting something, but Stark couldn't seem to get a grasp on what she was saying. He felt as if he were falling asleep, but completely awake at the same time. It didn't really make any sense to him, but he knew that anything was possible.

Stark felt a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't know whose it was. It seemed as if he couldn't open his eyes. But he didn't need his sight to know who it was, because she spoke to him in a very soft voice. "Stark, I want you to visualize Zoey. I want you to picture what it felt like every time you would feel an emotion coming from her. Picture every time you caught words that she had been thinking. Do not think about anything but Zoey."

He didn't find this very hard to do. In fact, Zoey was all he had been thinking about since Kalona had taken her off. No, before that. Zoey had been everything he had been thinking about pretty much since the day he met her. It was really hard to forget a girl like her.

Stark barely heard the words, "Okay, Darius, I need you to…" from Thanatos before he was no longer in the room with them. Instead, he was inside Zoey's mind. He could see everything she was seeing, although it was hard to hear what she and…Kalona were talking about. It seemed like he could hear more and more as time went along.

"I know you think the best thing for me is to be in Nyx's land with A-ya." Kalona said. He was making some sort of speech to Zoey.

Yes! Stark thought. Zoey doesn't want to stay there with him! She wants him to go back where he came from.

"…being with her isn't the best thing for me. Being with you is. And that is why I am pledging to you."

What? He can't pledge to her! I already have… Joke's on you, dude. You're too late. Besides, Zoey would never accept your pledge.

"What are you pledging?" Zoey whispered.

"To stand by you, my new Goddess."

Stark literally felt like his heart was going to stop beating. What in the hell was this guy talking about? Stark got that he had fallen - once again, apparently - from the Goddess's graces, but he couldn't just declare Zoey a Goddess and then pledge himself to her. If that was possible, Stark would have done it a long time ago. Of course, he would still worship Nyx, but he would also stay with Zoey.

Zoey denied to be his Goddess then, but Kalona got down on one knee and made a big speech about how it would all be alright. Of course, Zoey countered that it wouldn't be alright with examples of why it wouldn't be alright. Stark didn't feel bad at all until he heard Kalona say, "You don't want me."

Stark knew that feeling all too well. There had been times when he thought Zoey didn't want him. These past couple of weeks had been like that for him. There were so many times when he would kiss Zoey, or walk in while she was sleeping, and she would either pull back from him or whisper Kalona's name in her sleep. He had been so afraid that he would lose her, but at the last moment he got her back.

"I didn't say that!" Zoey said.

Stark thought he heard glass breaking, but then decided it was his heart. So he hadn't just been being paranoid lately. Zoey really did want Kalona, she was just settling for Stark. He wanted to pull out of her mind right then, but he wasn't able to. Something was holding him here.

"You know that I do want you. If I didn't, I would be fighting you right now - "

Kalona turned around and strode toward Zoey. He looked just like Stark felt; hurt, but angry. "You are fighting me right now!"

Zoey was going to counter him, but then something happened. Stark felt the weirdest sensation. At first, he thought that maybe his own body was trying to pull his mind out of Zoey's, or that maybe he was hungry or something. But when Zoey didn't speak, Stark knew that something had happened with her. Did she sense him in her mind? Would she be mad and try to push him out? Even though Stark knew that it would be better if she did, he couldn't help hoping that she wouldn't be able to. Yes, he was heartbroken that she wanted to be with Kalona, but that didn't stop him from loving her.

Kalona was saying something, but because Zoey was tuning him out, Stark couldn't hear him. Finally, Zoey whispered, "I felt her."

Stark was confused until he figured out that she had been talking about the baby. Suddenly, a dangerous, burning flame started in him, one that wouldn't go out no matter what. He knew that it was mostly jealousy - because he could never have a child with Zoey, therefore would never feel that joy with her like Kalona can - but it was also something else. A determination to get Zoey no matter what the price was.

Stark took in everything he could. The tree house, the bed, the boxes, the hole, the window - The window! That was it! Stark made sure to try and remember everything he could see outside the window from this point. It looked like there were some hills and a lot of trees. There was a look about it that stirred something in Stark's memory, but he couldn't pay attention to it now. Not when the baby first moved.

Kalona was now holding Zoey's stomach. He said something, but Stark didn't hear it. He then jumped up and started making out with Stark's girlfriend.

Stark felt the flame grow higher, and suddenly he was back in the room with Thanatos and Darius. Darius was watching outside the door and Thanatos was watching Stark.

"Did you find her?" Thanatos asked.

Stark realized that he knew exactly where she was. "Yeah. And I'm going to go get her."

Darius heard them speaking and turned around. "Stark, it is almost dawn. There's only two more hours until the sun rises, and then you will fry. The sun will bother me but it will not burn me. Let me go."

Thanatos nodded. "Yes, Stark. You should go back to the tunnels and get some rest. Then, if Darius somehow fails, you will be well rested for tomorrow."

"No." Stark replied, surprising the both of them. "I'm going now. I have to get Zoey as soon as possible. It's my job. I don't care if I lose my life trying to save hers."

And then Stark got up and ran out before either one of them could react.

O.o Leave me some reviews and let me know what you think! Also, if you would like to see a different character's POV, let me know. I will try my best to write their POV. Thanks!