Burned by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Burned:
Things have turned black at the House of Night. Zoey Redbird’s soul has shattered. With everything she’s ever stood for falling apart, and a broken heart making her want to stay in the Otherworld forever, Zoey’s fading fast. It’s seeming more and more doubtful that she will be able pull herself back together in time to rejoin her friends and set the world to rights. As the only living person who can reach her, Stark must find a way to get to her. But how? He will have to die to do so, the Vampire High Council stipulates. And then Zoey will give up for sure. There are only 7 days left…

Enter BFF Stevie Rae. She wants to help Z but she has massive problems of her own. The rogue Red Fledglings are acting up, and this time not even Stevie Rae can protect them from the consequences. Her kinda boyfriend, Dallas, is sweet but too nosy for his own good. The truth is, Stevie Rae’s hiding a secret that might be the key to getting Zoey home but also threatens to explode her whole world.

In the middle of the whole mess is Aphrodite: ex-Fledgling, trust-fund baby, total hag from Hell (and proud of it). She’s always been blessed (if you could call it that) with visions that can reveal the future, but now it seems Nyx has decided to speak through her with the goddess’s own voice, whether she wants it or not. Aphrodite’s loyalty can swing a lot of different ways, but right now Zoey’s fate hangs in the balance.

Three girls… playing with fire… if they don’t watch out, everyone will get Burned.

In the seventh installment of the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, the story begins where it left off in Tempted. Zoey's soul has been shattered after witnessing Kalona murder her consort Heath, and she follows his soul into the Otherworld. The only way to save Zoey from dying is to reunite her soul with her body, and the only way to do that is for Stark to follow her to the Otherworld -- only if he were to die, Zoey would be devastated and would splinter even more and would never be able to heal her shattered soul in order to return and defeat Kalona. Stark and the rest of Zoey's friends travel to Scotland, and more specifically the "Isle of Women", a place of ancient history and unwelcoming to travelers. Residing on the island is Sgiach, a Warrior known as "The Great Taker of Heads" and she was once the trainer of the Sons of Erebus. As the Vampyres became more civilized the ancient knowledge of Light and Darkness became lost and it is this knowledge that Stark must gain in order to save Zoey. Stark is a member of the MacUallis Clan, some of the original Warriors that remained with Sgiach after the training of the Warriors was taken from her. In order for Stark to save Zoey, he must become her Guardian - connecting with Zoey on a baser level and entwining their souls together.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, Stevie Rae is still hiding Rephaim and her imprint with him from the other red fledglings and the Vampyres at the House of Night. To help Zoey she turns to Rephaim for answers and what she learns she shares with Aphrodite, who then asks her to cast a circle to ask the Earth for more help on learning how to get Stark into the Otherworld without him having to die. But Aphrodite mistakenly forgets to mention that the white bull represents Darkness and the black bull represents Light, Stevie Rae calls upon the white bull and he appears and gives her the answers she is seeking, but demands that a blood price must be paid. In her agony, Stevie Rae calls out to Rephaim who comes to her rescue taking the debt upon himself. To save Rephaim Stevie Rae summons the black bull and without hesitation pays the price demanded of her, that price being that she is now bound to the humanity within Rephaim for eternity.