“Aerix?” I whisper, uncertain what to say, but wanting to ease his pain.
He inhales sharply, and when he speaks, his voice is low, stripped of its usual control.
“I didn’t know it would be this hard,” he admits, still facing away. “Leaving you. Even for one night.” His wings draw closer to his body, as if he’s physically trying to contain himself. “I’ve existed for centuries, and I’ve never felt anything like this.”
The vulnerability in his voice makes my chest ache. Because this is Aerix—the proud, powerful, prince of the Night Court—reduced to a barely controlled version of himself from the thought of leaving me alone.
“Have you ever done this before?” Anxiety rises in my chest, but I force myself to continue asking the question I wasn’t sure I wanted answered until now. “Turned someone?”
“No.” He slowly faces me again, his eyes fierce and exposed, shadows clinging to his features. “You’re the first, and you’ll bethe only. Because turning you was never about creating another vampire. It was about binding us together forever.”
His words steal my breath away. Because while he says it like a vow, it feels like a plea. Like part of him still can’t believe I won’t run, or worse, that I’ll resent him for turning me.
“I’ll be right here when you return,” I tell him again, steadying my voice through the hunger burning in my throat. “I promise.”
He nods, and finally—painfully—forces himself to step through the doorway. But just before the door closes, he turns his head slightly, his profile sharp against the dim light of the hallway.
“Don’t make me live without you, Zoey,” he says quietly, and then he’s gone, the door clicking shut, the lock turning with a sound that echoes in the sudden emptiness of the room.
Panic swells in my chest, the silence crushing in his absence. The air grows heavy and suffocating, and wind whispers through the room, extinguishing a handful of candles in its wake.
But as I lie back on the silk sheets, I hold the pendant close to my heart, drawing comfort from its warmth.
Tomorrow at midnight, Aerix will return with Laura. I’ll be able to ease the fire burning in my throat, which I’m close to positive is going to spread further through my body the longer I go without drinking.
Until then, I have this piece of him to hold onto. A tether in the darkness, a lifeline through the hunger, and a promise I’ll hold with every piece of my soul.
SAPPHIRE
Riven standsbeside me in Central Park, his silver eyes scanning the darkness with predatory awareness. We’re both dressed in clean, formal travel clothes—simple yet elegant fae attire that T provided for us on the plane. They’re hardly themost comfortable clothes I’ve ever worn—I’ve always been more of a jeans and sweatshirts girl—but at least we’re not covered in volcano ash and dried blood anymore.
Riven’s hand brushes mine, and I glance up to see him watching me, the ghost of a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.
“What?” I ask, smiling from the heat in his eyes as he studies me.
He leans in slightly, his voice dropping into a playful murmur. “Ten thousand feet in the air, and you still managed to ruin me.”
I arch an eyebrow, trying and failing to suppress the warmth flooding my cheeks. “I take it that means you enjoyed joining the Mile High Club?”
Confusion flickers across his face. “The what?”
“The Mile High Club.” My laughter is soft and genuine, chasing away the tension that’s been hanging over us since returning from Italy. “It’s a fancy way of saying ‘we couldn’t wait until landing.’”
His eyes widen slightly before that smirk deepens, edged with amusement and something decidedly more dangerous. “If that’s what it takes to join clubs, then I want to join every club with you, Starlight.” He steps closer, his breath cool against my ear. “The Royal Yacht Club. The Palace Tower Club. The Summer Court Gardens Club. The Winter Throne Club. Sign me up for all of them.”
“Riven!” I gasp in mock surprise, water splashing up from the nearby pond and landing around us. “You’re absolutely insufferable.”
“Only with you.” His voice drops to that velvet register that makes my magic stir. “Only ever with you.”
For a moment, we just stand there, connected by our joined hands and the magic flowing between us, surrounded by the distant sounds of the city that never sleeps. But it’s impossible to focus on anything—not even on the heat in Riven’s eyes when he stares down at me like he wants to join the Central Park After Midnight Club. Because the sealed Ember is humming in my satchel, a reminder of what we’ve survived and what still awaits us.
As it does, my mind spirals.
Snow stained with blood. Zoey’s panicked face as she was torn from me at the waterfall. The agony of Eros’s arrow lodged deep in my chest. Cetus forcing Riven and me into a deadly dance in the Tides. Riven limp and lifeless in my arms, drained of his blood. Thalia falling into the magma, swallowed by fire and despair.
Then there’s the battle with the Night Court to come.
“Riven,” I say softly, my voice cracking despite myself. “Is this what our lives will always be like? Moving from one battle to the next, trading one death for another, facing impossible task after impossible task?”
