Page 1 of Frozen Star (Star Touched: Fae Bound #7)

Hunger burns through me—merciless and endless—turning every vein into molten wire. My limbs are lead, my body’s on fire, and my throat feels like it’s being scraped out from the inside.

But through the agony, something anchors me. Cool hands and unyielding arms. The scent of frost and blood. Fingers threading through my hair, brushing down my cheek like he’s memorizing every curve. A touch that doesn’t just soothe—it claims.

Because it’s his.

My eyes flutter open, and there he is leaning over me, those midnight wings stretched protectively around us, sheltering me from the world.

And his eyes… they’ve changed. There are tiny flecks of silver in the midnight depths I’ve gotten to know so well over the past few weeks.

But they’re still his, and the concern in them is unmistakable, his brow furrowed as he watches me.

“I’m here.” He moves closer to me, tightening his hold as if afraid I’ll slip away. “I’ve got you. And I’m not letting go. Ever.”

“Your eyes are different.” The words tumble out of me, burning as they escape my throat.

He pauses, surprised, but a small smile curves the corner of his mouth. “Not different,” he says, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “You’re just seeing clearly for the first time.”

“Clearly?” I ask, confusion clouding my brain.

He nods slowly, his gaze intense, never wavering from mine. “Supernatural sight. You’re a vampire now, Zoey. Your vision is sharper, along with all your other senses. You can detect intricacies that humans can’t.”

As he speaks, I try to glance around the room to center myself, but everything is too much.

Too sharp, and too bright. The candlelight stabs at my eyes like daggers.

A droplet of water hits the windowpane, echoing like thunder through my skull.

I can hear Aerix’s heartbeat, rapid and anxious beneath his composed exterior, a steady thrum filling my ears, as intimate as if it were my own.

And then, beyond it, adding to the music that’s unmistakably him, is the whisper of wind through his feathers.

Separately, it’s beautiful.

Together… my senses are flooded.

Panic rises in my chest, and before I realize what’s happening, the air in the room shifts, swirling with a life of its own. The sheets twist in my clenched fingers, and wind gusts around us, knocking books from shelves and rattling the candle holders.

Through it all, I realize—this wind is coming from me.

“Zoey.” Aerix’s grip tightens around me, anchoring me against his chest. “You need to breathe. Listen to my voice. My heart. You’re going to be okay. Just focus on me.”

His words cut through the storm raging around us, and I close my eyes, leaning into him, desperate for calm. Pressing my cheek to his chest, I grip his shirt like I might unravel without it.

Just like he promised, his heartbeat steadies me. Anchors me. It’s the only thing that feels real.

I match his breathing, listening to the rhythm of his heart as the wind begins to quiet. And when I open my eyes again, his concerned gaze is fixed on mine, like I’m the only thing that matters in the entire world.

“That’s it,” he murmurs, pressing his lips against my temple. “I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”

“I know.” I swallow down the burning pain in my throat, relieved when it helps a little. “I’m just…”

The words catch in my chest. Because I feel… well, that’s the scary part. Beyond the heightened senses, I don’t know what I feel.

“It’ll get easier,” he promises. “You’re overwhelmed because you’re newly turned. But it’ll settle. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to make sure you’re okay.”

The way he keeps repeating it— you’re going to be okay —makes me wonder if he’s trying to convince himself along with me. It’s almost like he needs to ground himself in me as much as I do in him.

“What happened?” I ask, the hunger clawing at my throat again as I speak.

I feel like I should remember, but everything’s so hazy, like I’m only halfway out of a dream.

And as much as I try to think back, it’s like my mind is trapped in a disorienting fog.

It reminds me of when I was ten years old and waking up from anesthesia after getting my tonsils out, putting together the pieces of where I was and what was happening.

Aerix’s expression softens with understanding. “Tell me what you remember. I’ll fill in the rest.”

I pause, sorting through what I can.

“Presque Isle.” I focus on the cool comfort of his body beside mine, steadying my breathing as I piece together what led to this moment.

“I remember my house. My shower flooding. I remember Sapphire, the ice bridge, and the waterfall…” My voice trails off, panic creeping back in.

“And Henry. I remember killing Henry.” I inhale again, the scent of Aerix’s blood flooding my senses, bringing another memory to the surface. “And I remember drinking from you.”

His breath hitches, his wings flaring. “You were breathtaking that night,” he says, tracing the lines of my lips with his thumb. “Bathed in moonlight and dripping with power. Nothing has ever been more beautiful than your mouth on my skin and my blood on your lips.”

His words stir something deep within me, and as I lean into him, it’s easy to let my eyes flutter closed. To live in his touch.

But I can’t. Not right now. If I do, I might lose myself completely, and the memories I’m trying to capture will fall through my fingers, never to be seen again.

So, I take a deep breath and move out of his arms, forcing myself to focus. Surprisingly, it helps.

Aerix bristles—apparently displeased that he’s not holding me anymore—but steadies himself quickly.

“You have questions,” he says simply.

“Yes, I have questions.” I glare at him, even though it’s not him I’m mad at. It’s myself, for not remembering what I obviously should. “Like…” I pause, grasping at the simplest thread I can find. “How did I get here?”

He takes a steady breath, although if the harshness of my words hurts him in any way, he doesn’t let it show. Instead, his fingers trail along my arm, leaving delicate frost patterns in their wake. The cold feels sharper than I remember, but it doesn’t sting like it used to.

“You were with Sapphire,” he finally says. “She was looking for her own answers, and you followed her, loyal to the end.”

“And you took me,” I say, the memory sharper now. Thrashing around as I tried and failed to swim, his black wings gleaming against the sky, the terrifying flight to the forest, and riding on Nyx’s back to the Night Court.

“I brought you home.” He pulls me closer, as if he’s afraid I might try to run away from him if he lets go for even a second. “So you could be where you belong—with me.”

I gaze up into his eyes again, those mesmerizing silver flecks shining softly in the candlelight. As I do, something flares to life between us. An intense, primal tether to what feels like the core of his existence—one I feel in my pulse, in every breath, and in every heartbeat.

“I feel you everywhere,” I say in amazement, touching his chest as if I might feel the physical link inside.

“Because I sired you, Zoey. I created you.” He leans into my touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment—like they do when I touch the base of his wings and he’s trying to stop himself from unraveling. “We’re linked forever.”

His words trigger another rush of memories. His fangs breaking my skin, pleasure mingling with pain, and his venom flooding my veins. He stayed with me through the final moment when my heart stopped beating, when the darkness claimed me completely.

“I remember now. Your bite… your venom.” I reach for my neck, finding the skin smooth and unscarred. “It burned me. Consumed me. It felt like I was dying.”

“You did die.” His eyes travel along my body, like he’s making sure every part of it survived the transformation. “And then you rose again, reborn. Stronger, perfect, and mine in a way you never were before.”

My hands find his face, tracing the sharp angles of his perfect features with new sensitivity. I can feel the subtle texture of his skin, and the pulse beneath it as the bond thrums between us, a living current of energy that grows stronger with each touch.

“When you turned me, it wasn’t just venom,” I tell him, my voice dazed as my mind continues to sort through the memories. “It felt like you poured your soul into me.”

“When I turned you, the two of us…” He pauses, his pupils dilated so much that they nearly cover all the silver flecks. “I was part of you in every single way. Mind, body, and soul.”

Another wave of memories crashes over me, searing and overwhelming. The sensation of his body pressed against mine, our movements fierce and desperate as his fangs pierced my neck.

“I felt you.” My breath hitches as my gaze drifts down his naked, beautifully sculpted body. Heat pulses through me, matching the vivid recollection of him moving inside me, consuming me as completely as his venom did. “All of you.”

“Yes.” Dark satisfaction drips from his tone. “Every single part of me.”

He doesn’t elaborate. He doesn’t need to.

Instead, his wings envelop us, creating a cocoon of shadows and frost as his lips find mine.

It’s like he’s breathing himself into me, fusing us further with every heartbeat.

But as our kiss deepens, that unyielding thirst claws at my throat again, demanding more than his lips can offer.

Blood.

I break the kiss, my hands flying to my throat, as if pressing there can cool the inferno raging beneath my skin.

Luckily, as delicious as Aerix’s blood smells, I know not to take it.

Not just because I might never be able to stop, but because of something primal that roars through the sire bond, screaming at me that if I took from him without permission, it would be a violation on a deeper level than I could comprehend.

“You’re thirsty.” He traces his finger across my cheek, soothing and steady. “But you don’t have to worry. You’ll feed soon. Tomorrow at midnight, I’ll bring Laura to you. She’s the pet you chose at the barns. Remember?”

My eyes widen as the memory emerges through the fog.

The barns. The towering structure of cells, stretching impossibly high, each cage holding a human awaiting their fate at the hands of the night fae.

Aerix and I walked those halls together.

Sophia was there, I remember, but even though I know it distressed me to see her there, I can’t feel that distress anymore. Like all my memories from before, it’s hazy. As if it happened to someone else and not to me.

But not all my memories are hazy. Because the ones I shared with Aerix… they’re returning stronger than ever.

I remember standing defiant in that bunker, dagger in hand, determined to kill him for taking me from Sapphire and Riven.

The way his eyes widened with surprise—not fear—when I pointed the tip of the blade at him and lunged at him.

How easily he disarmed me. The first time he kissed me, and how I fought against the desire that consumed me.

The fountain, where I drank his blood in front of the entire court.

Him using the same dagger I tried to kill him with to carve his name into my hip, claiming me in the most intimate way possible.

I pull away from him slightly, just enough to let my hand drift to where his name is raised on my skin. Like he promised, it stayed through the transformation.

In a heartbeat, he’s leaning down, kissing the scar. And when he does… my entire body comes alive. The touch of his lips against my skin sends electricity racing through me, and the air around us stirs in response, swirling in patterns that mirror the frost spiraling across his skin.

I gasp, tangling my fingers in his hair, needing him closer. The hunger is still there, scorching my throat, but for this brief, intoxicating moment, desire overtakes it, hot and all-consuming.

He doesn’t give in to me. Instead, he pulls away, his cool fingers gently untangling mine from his hair.

My frustration spikes, and I huff out a breath. “Why are you stopping?”

He chuckles, amused by my obvious impatience. “Because,” he says, those silver specks in his eyes sparkling as he traces a finger along my hip, sending another shockwave of pleasure through my veins, “I brought you something to help with the hunger.”

“What, a snack?” I try to joke, but the desperate edge in my voice betrays me.

“No.” He laughs softly. “I brought you something better. Something I created specifically for you, that you’ll cherish for all eternity.”