Unlike the other stories, Tempted is told from the point of view of not only Zoey, but Stevie Rae, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Rephiam, Heath, and Stark.
After Kalona rose and helped Neferet attacked Zoey and her friends the two retreated to the House of Night leaving the 'nerd herd' to gather their allies. But Stevie Rae notices that Zoey is becoming exhausted and takes the reigns to allow her time with Stark and her grandmother. Sylvia recovers from her car accident and explains the relationship between Zoey and the reincarnation of Ay-a Kalona searches for. A sliver of Zoey's spirit is Ay-a, and she has the power to re-imprison Kalona. However the part of Zoey that is Ay-a is drawn to him, despite her desire to stay away.
Kalona, Erik, and Stark all vie for Zoey's attention, but when Erik is overly possessive and jealous she dumps him. Erik turns and starts up a relationship with Venus, Aphrodite's former roommate. Kalona takes the opportunity to sneak into Zoey's unguarded dreams, when Stark senses her panic he climbs up to her room and acts as a shield against Kalona's entry into Zoey's dreams. Aphrodite takes Darius, the group's resident Sons of Erebus Warrior and Aphrodite's love interest, to Stark's empty room where she reveals her feelings and he pledges his Warrior's Oath to her.
When the group returns to the House of Night they find Anastasia Lankford has been killed by Rephaim, a Raven Mocker. Dragon is devastated, Jack stays to comfort him and help him through the pain. Aphrodite's visions and Kramisha's prophetic poems show the 'nerd herd' Neferet and Kalona planning to return the vampyre world to the old ways. Jack uses social media to find the pair and locate them on the isle of San Clemente with the Vampyre Council. Zoey and her friends go to Italy to have their say at the Council. Zoey has a dream revealing if she is with Kalona the world will end, if she chooses Nyx and rejects him he will "die", but Zoey feels he can still be saved and has a hard time rejecting him completely. Zoey learns she is the only one who can defeat Kalona, but he promises to change if she will have him and shows her his past as Nyx's Warrior.
At the council Neferet claims to be Nyx incarnate and places Kalona as her consort Erebus. The council names Aphrodite a Prophetess of the goddess, but distrusts Zoey because of her age. After the Council meeting Zoey and Heath talk, then Zoey sends him to find Stark. When Heath finds Neferet and Kalona in secret conversation he is found and uses the imprint with Zoey to call her just as Kalona kills him. Zoey throws Spirit at Kalona. Her action shatters her soul and sends her to the Otherworld.
Meanwhile Stevie Rae has stayed in Tulsa to watch over the red fledglings and finds Rephaim injured on the Benedictine Abbey grounds. She rescues him and binds his wounds, but when she discovers he is the one who killed Anastasia Lankford, she doesn't know how to deal with it. The rogue red fledglings find Rephaim and use him to capture Stevie Rae and leave her in a cage on the depot roof where she is nearly burned alive. They get free and Rephaim offers Stevie Rae his imortal blood to save her, breaking the imprint between Stevie Rae and Aphrodite.
The revolving relationships and power structures of the House of Night change how the students grow and develop. Zoey stands her ground and fights for what she believes, despite her friends' disbelief and the discouraging response of those in power. She finds inner strength and the changing world around her only adds to her convictions. Aimed toward middle teens, Zoey's story and that of her friends takes the age-old struggle of the average high schooler and puts it in an epic-quest format.
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