House of Night Book

TEMPTED

ALSO BY P. C. CAST and KRISTIN CAST

Marked

Betrayed

Chosen

Unta med

Hunted

TEMPTED

A House of Night Novel

P. C. CAST and KRISTIN CAST

NEW YORK

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel r are used fictitiously. TEMPTED. Copyright © 2009 by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. All rights reserved. Printed in the York, N.Y. 10010. [http://www.stmartins.com] www.stmartins.com ISBN 978-0-312-56748-4 First Edition: November 2009

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Kristin and I would like to dedicate this book to our fabulous editor, Jennifer Weis, who is a pleasure to work with and who makes rewriting bearable. We heart you, Jen!

A C K N O W L E D G M E N TS

to think of them as family, and appreciate their kindness, generosity, creativity, and belief in us. Thank you thank you thank you: Jennifer Weis, Anne Bensson, Matthew Shear, Anne Marie Tallberg, Brittney Kleinfelter, Katy Hershberger, and Sally Richardson. We also want to send XXXOOO to our brilliant cover design team, Michael Storrings and Elsie Lyons. Thank you, Jenny Sullivan, for your excellent and scarily accurate proofreading skills. As always, we thank our amazing agent and friend, Meredith Bernstein, who changed all our lives with three little words: vampyre finishing school. And, of course, thank you to our fans! Especially those of you who contact us and tell us how much the HoN has touched your hearts.

TEMPTED

C H APT E R O N E

Zoey

The night sky over Tulsa was alight with a magical crescent moon. Its brilliance made the ice that coated the immortal and a rogue High Priestess, shimmer so that everything around me seemed touched by our Goddess. I looked at the moonlightotto, the place of power where not long ago Spirit, Blood, Earth, Humanity, and Night had been personified and then had joined to triumph over hatred and darkness. The carved image of Mary, surrounded by stone roses and nestled within...