Hunted (Cast novel)

Hunted

The first edition cover of Hunted
Author	P.C. Cast Kristin Cast
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	House of Night
Genre	Young adult Paranormal romance
Publisher	St. Martin's
Publication date	March 10, 2009
Media type	Print(Paperback & Hardback) Audio CD
Pages	439
ISBN
OCLC	243544574
Preceded by	Untamed
Followed by	Tempted

Hunted is the fifth novel of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was published in March 10, 2009, by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers. By February 2010, according to Publishers Weekly it had already sold 950.000 copies. Since, it was translated in more than 20 languages.

The book picks up after the events in Untamed. Kalona has sprung free of his prison and reigns over the minds and hearts of the fledglings at the Tulsa House of Night. Zoey and her friends hide deep under Tulsa, but they will soon learn that they can't hide forever and soon they'll have to get together to send him and Neferet away.

Zoey and her friends help Stevie Rae heal after the events at the end of Untamed – the arrow did not kill her, but took most of her lifeblood, so Kalona could be freed from the earth. Zoey and Stevie Rae reconcile, and the latter introduces Zoey's group to some of the red vampyre fledglings. Aphrodite lets Stevie Rae feed on her to heal, which forms an Imprint between them. When Erik follows Zoey on her way to her room they kiss, but then Erik gets too rough and scares her. Erik and Zoey get back together, though Zoey's not entirely sure due to Erik's possessiveness. Kalona starts getting into Zoey's dreams to seduce her, and calls her A-ya.

Kramisha, a red fledgling, is revealed to also express prophecies through her poetry, and Zoey gives her the title of Poet Laureate. This is how they find their first clue. One of Kramisha's poems states that Kalona and Neferet will be banished when Night, Humanity, Blood, Spirit and Earth come together, but Zoey doesn't know who will represent these elements.

Heath arrives at the tunnels, and Zoey goes outside to talk to him, much to Erik's anger. Heath tries to reconcile with her, but to no avail. A Raven Mocker attacks them and critically wounds Zoey. She drinks from Heath to heal and they Imprint again, but she is still weakened. Kramisha gets exited and loses her control a little when she sees Heath (a human), leading Zoey to realize that the red fledglings may still have problems with their self-control. Darius finally declares that Zoey needs exposure to more adult vampyres to survive, and she is forced to return to the House of Night, much to Neferet's pleasure. She finds out that Kalona's presence has caused the fledglings and the vampyres to turn their backs on Nyx. Kalona's favorite son, Rephaim, and Darius get into a fight. Kalona intercedes and gives Darius a huge scar which upsets Aphrodite.