Kaige

My throat was on fire, red-hot and unbearable. More crimson liquid ran down my fingers as my hands shook. The entire box was full of pint-sized bags of human blood.

So tasty. All I had to do was lift it to my mouth and drink. I could drink it all.

“Kaige. Kaige.”

Someone was calling my name.

My head lifted to find a pretty little human shaking me. The vein pulsed in her neck, and her heartbeat throbbed against my skin.

I was so damn thirsty.

“Kaige! Snap out of it,” she yelled. “It’s me, Solaris.”

Fear shot through my chest, but it wasn’t mine. It belonged to her.

Reality crashed over me, and I shook myself. My eyes widened as I stared between the blood staining my hands and Solaris.

Oh gods. This was the last thing I expected to find. In fact, the thought hadn’t even occurred to me.

Solaris was saying something, but I ignored her and ripped open another crate. Another metal box. I broke the lock, finding more human blood. I tore open another crate and another, all filled with the intoxicating elixir.

I stood inside the destruction of wood, metal, and charred machinery, breathing heavily. My control was barely hanging on by a thin thread, moments away from snapping. My jaw throbbed and hunger tore at my belly. I was as horrified as I was drunk with bloodlust.

I bolted out of the plane, sprinting over the fallen debris until my knees crashed on the shore of the lake. My lungs greedily sucked up air not polluted by so much human blood.

My head shook over and over as if I could shatter the images burned into my mind. Why were bags of human blood in crates branded by our seal? We didn’t drink human blood. It was illegal. Treason. Punishable by death.

My hands lifted. Crimson stained them. All I wanted to do was lick it off.

But if I did, I wouldn’t stop. And when I drained those bags, Solaris would be there to quench my thirst.

I dunked my hands into the cold water, scrubbing the blood off. My muscles trembled from the effort it took not to go back into that plane and suck those bags dry.

“Kaige.” Solaris’s honey and jasmine scent washed over me. “Are you all right?”

My jaw clenched, and I tried to hold my breath. “Get away from me,” I growled.

The stupid girl didn’t listen, and instead came closer. Her warmth slid over me as her hand landed on my shoulder. “Just take deep breaths.”

A humorless laugh exited my lips. Those deep breaths were filled with her. “Solaris, you need to—”

Her hand shifted, rubbing circles between my shoulder blades. A warm tingle zipped between the bond, stealing some of the tension in my body. My lids fluttered closed as I fell deeper into the calming sensations.

It felt as if ice had been tossed over the raging inferno inside me, melting across the scorching embers. The claws tearing at my chest had retracted, and the painful cuts were healing.

The bloodlust slowly slipped away, and my fangs retracted. I could breathe without fire coating my throat on every inhale.

I opened my eyes, meeting those lively green ones.

“Better?” Her voice was softer than usual, and feelings were flowing through the bond I couldn’t decipher. Or maybe I didn’t want to.

I nodded and slowly stood, letting out a long sigh.

Solaris’s expression suddenly darkened. “I thought nocturnes didn’t drink human blood.”

And there went the calm.

I began pacing along the shore. “We don’t, at least not that I know of.” I dragged my fingers through my hair. “None of this makes sense. If any nocturnes were drinking human blood, it would most likely be my family. And I would know if I’d been drinking human blood.” What if a rival noble family was the cause behind this?

“Nocturnes and humans aren’t even supposed to associate because of the prophecy.” Her gaze met mine, the air heavy between us. Neither one of us wanted to think about the prophecy.

“Do you think the Collective is selling human blood to someone in Draconis?” My father had to know about it and if he didn’t, it had to be someone very powerful to keep the secret under the radar.

Solaris grimaced. “I don’t know.” She stared at the ground, rubbing her shoe through the dirt as if the answers would magically appear. “Multiple people have to be involved to give out that much blood. They’re either donating it or…”

We both knew what it meant if it was taken by force.

I cursed myself for ever wanting to know what was in those crates. I wished I had never found them. I wanted to go back and undo the last few days. Nothing good could come of this knowledge. It would put both of us in danger, and I had a feeling Solaris wasn’t going to let this go.

My gaze settled on her, watching her nervously gnaw on her bottom lip. A million thoughts were running through her mind, all of them perilous. Perhaps it would be best to use compulsion to make her forget finding the boxes. Maybe I should make her forget this whole thing.

As if she read my mind, a narrowed glare appeared on her face. “Don’t even think about making me forget any of this.” A jolt of pain quickly passed through the bond.

I swallowed hard, my stomach in knots. “You have to promise me you will forget about the blood. You can’t go snooping around in Imera for answers.”

“Kaige.” She crossed her arms. “This isn’t something I can just ignore.”

I was in front of her in the blink of an eye, my hands gripping her shoulders. “I mean it, Solaris. It will only get you killed.” I gently shook her. “Do you understand?” I hated the desperation in my voice.

“Okay,” she hissed.

My fingers tightened. “Promise me.”

A line formed between her brows as she scrutinized me. Whatever she saw had the hardness melting from her expression. “I promise, Kaige,” she finally said.

A sigh of relief exited my lungs. “Good.” I couldn’t go looking either. It was too risky. It could lead back to Solaris, and if anyone found out what I did to save her, we were both dead. “Now I just need to get you back to your world.”

One golden brow arched. “And how are you going to do that?”

I swallowed the unease already shooting up my throat. “I have an idea.”