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“You don’t look good,” he muttered. “You need to eat.”

“I’m fine.” As if to prove it, I slowly stood up, swallowing the pain of my throbbing head. Once I was on my feet, I leaned against the bars, crossing my arms. “See?”

“Right.” He met my eyes for a split second before looking away and motioning for me to leave the cage.

Forcing one foot in front of the other, I only made it a few steps before grabbing onto the bars for support. I sucked in shallow breaths before asking the question that had been plaguing me. “Have you heard from Zan?”

“No. But I hope you eat before I talk to him because he’s gonna blame me if he finds out how bad off you are.”

“I’m not hungry,” I mumbled.

“Or you are…” he trailed off.

“What does that mean?”

“Maybe it’s not food you need. You’re aShadow, Kali.”

“I know that,” I snapped.

He arched an eyebrow. “You’re not human anymore. We don’t need food to survive. We drink blood. You’re showing symptoms of needing to feed. After your little show with entrancement, I figured it wouldn’t be long.”

His words had my heart plummeting. It was something I’d already thought of, but didn’t want to admit. As much as I loved the power of being a Shadow, drinking blood would be proof that I wasn’t my old self anymore. I was like Zan. Like his brothers. Like Amaros. I was becoming the creature I used to despise.

I attempted to walk again, only to grab the bars to steady myself after just a step. Dizziness swarmed me, and in my heart, I knew Viggo was right. I needed blood. My gaze swung to him as he entered the cage, concern etched on his face.

“I don’t want to feed,” I whispered hoarsely. “What if it changes me?”

“It will,” he answered with a shrug as he averted his eyes from me again. “But not in a bad way. All that power andstrength that you can’t control? Feeding will only make you stronger.”

I studied him curiously. “Why won’t you look at me?”

He let out an uneasy laugh. “What are you talking about? Come on, let’s get the hell out of this room.”

“Viggo, look at me,” I demanded.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because you can entrance vampires,” he said slowly. “And I have no idea if you can control my mind. I’d rather not find out.”

A small laugh escaped me. “You’re scared of me.”

Just like I expected, his eyes cut to mine as he glowered at me. “I’m not scared of you.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not exactly sure how I did it,” I admitted quietly. “And right now, I don’t think I have the strength to do anything.” I hadn’t even been able to walk out of the cage in all this time because I was so weak.

My words caused the tension he was holding to deflate. “Good. I don’t want you to try.”

For the first time in days, amusement filled me. “I won’t make any promises.”

He didn’t share my humor. “I know you won’t. I’m one of your only friends in this place. Don’t ruin it.”

I scoffed. “Friend? I heard what you told your father when he entranced you. Your loyalty is tohim. You’re not a friend, Viggo. You’re an enemy, just like Amaros.”

He shot forward, and was in front of me before the words left my mouth. Shock coursed through me when he crowded me against the bars of the cage.

“If I didn’t say that, then I wouldn’t be here right now,” he hissed under his breath. “You’d be surrounded by my father’s most trusted. I stayed here to watch over you—for Zan.”