Page 86 of Golden Star

The taste of his blood floods my senses, warm and powerful, rushing through me like wildfire. I’ve never experienced something this satisfying in my life, and as I continue to drink, my exhaustion vanishes, replaced by a fierce, revitalizing heat that seeps into my muscles and sharpens my mind.

It’s dark. Potent. And with each fresh pump of his blood through my body, I regain strength, clarity, and control.

I’m not the prey anymore.

I’m the predator.

And I’m absolutely relishing in my latest kill.

Eventually, the rush of blood slows to a trickle, and I bite down harder, desperate for every last drop inside him. But there’s nothing left. As hard as I try, I come back empty.

Enough,I tell myself, and I pull back, my face flushed, newfound power pulsing through my veins.

His beauty’s still there, despite his deathly pale skin, his neck marred by my bite.

You did this to him,a small voice sounds in my mind.You killed him. You fed from him. You’re a murderer. A monster.

The world narrows around us—just me and this dark angel, one of us alive, and one of us very, very dead. But as I look down on him, all I see are his eyes, predatory and merciless as he fought me, pinned me down, and took the very source of what keeps me alive.

He did this to himself. He didn’t have to fight me. He didn’t have to fling Zoey aside like a piece of trash.

But he did.

It was either going to be him or me, and I’m glad it was him.

Not wanting to look at him a second more, I stand and rush back over to Zoey.

The bruise on her head is worse, and her blood isalready dotting the fabric of the recent makeshift bandage.

I kneel beside her, slide my arms beneath her, and stand. The weight that felt insurmountable moments ago is nothing now. She’s light—strangely light—and her breath, while still shallow, is there.

“We’re going to make it,” I tell her, holding her close as I turn to the forest, stride toward it, and step into the trees, setting off along the path to Riven’s cave.

I still don’t know if I can trust him.

I still don’t know what he’ll want from me when—if—he comes for us.

And I don’t know if he purposefully sent us across that ravine so the dark angel would find us and attack.

But I do know this: I’m stronger than ever. And if he tries anything against me, he’s going to discover just how dangerous I can be.