Page 23 of Frozen Star (Star Touched: Fae Bound #7)

Zoey’s hair is longer, her skin paler, and she’s alarmingly still. Calm. As if she’s shellshocked, or in some sort of trance.

“Zoey,” I repeat her name and start toward her, relief flooding through me so powerfully that I almost stumble. She’s alive, she’s here, she’s?—

The night fae—I assume he’s Aerix—steps between us, stopping me before I can get closer. His wings flare, ice crackling around his hands, deadly intent in his midnight eyes.

Riven launches himself forward, his sword swinging in an arc aimed at Aerix’s heart.

Before the blade can connect, Zoey moves.

She’s fast—impossibly, unnaturally fast—and she throws herself between Riven and Aerix with a speed that makes my breath catch. Her hands come up, catching Riven’s wrist and deflecting the blow with strength that shouldn’t exist in her small, human frame.

“Don’t touch him,” she growls, and there’s something in her voice that makes my blood run cold. Something predatory and inhuman. And then there’s the way the air moves around her…

There’s only one type of supernatural species humans can become: vampires.

Fae, shifters, and witches… we’re all born the way we are. Which means that unless Zoey has supernatural heritage I’m unaware of—which is possible, given that I had supernatural heritage I was unaware of—she’s been turned into a vampire.

And she’s barely paying me any attention. Instead, she raises her hand and blasts a gust of wind at Riven. It slams into him with enough force to send him staggering backward, but he recovers quickly, his sword raised as he prepares for another attack.

Air magic.

Zoey just used air magic. Which means my suspicion was correct—she’s been turned into a vampire. Although I barely have time to process how I feel about any of this, because she spins back toward Riven, wind swirling around her hands as she prepares to defend Aerix again.

Water shoots out from my hand and wraps around her waist like a lasso, yanking her away from the fight.

“Let me go!” she snarls, thrashing against my magical restraint. She’s strong—too strong. As if whatever twisted emotions she feels for the Night Prince are fueling her, driving her to protect him.

Even if it means going against me.

“Zoey. Stop fighting me,” I beg, tightening my hold as she struggles like a caged animal. “We came to rescue you. We’re here to take you home.”

“This is my home.” Her eyes blaze with feral intensity as she twists in my restraints, wind whipping around her in violent gusts. “Aerix is my family now.”

My heart breaks at the rawness in her tone—at how much she seems to believe it.

“That man isn’t your family,” I tell her. “Whatever you feel for him isn’t real. He’s been controlling you—just like how the queen controlled Matt.”

The moment I say Matt’s name, she stops fighting me.

“How do you know about Matt?” she asks so calmly that my hold on her loosens.

“I talked to him,” I tell her, taking a tentative step closer. “He came to me from the Underworld. He told me about the queen… and about Aerix.”

My gaze shifts to where Riven is going head-to-head against Aerix.

The Night Prince is skilled, but Riven fights with brutal efficiency, ice magic and blade work combining in deadly harmony. He’s lethal—raised to kill—and that’s exactly what he’s determined to do right now.

So, my focus returns to Zoey.

Her eyes narrow, as if she doesn’t even know me anymore. “Matt didn’t have what it takes to survive here,” she all but growls at me. “And he’s dead because of it. Gone. You can’t have talked to him. It’s impossible.”

“He spoke to me through a ritual.” I keep my voice steady, even though I want to scream at her to stop staring at me like I’m a stranger. “He told me you’d been taken here. He warned me about what Aerix did to you.”

“He was lying.” Her face twists with something that might be pain, but she shakes her head, centering herself. “He never understood what Aerix and I have together. He didn’t understand that Aerix loves me.”

Her words are a dagger to the heart, and when I search her eyes for signs of doubt, I find none.

This can’t be happening.

My best friend can’t have been turned into… this.

“Zoey, listen to yourself,” I plead, but even as I speak, she starts fighting my restraints again. “Aerix is dangerous. He kidnapped you. He’s manipulating you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.

” She laughs, sharp and bitter in a way I’ve never heard from her before.

“You and your Winter Prince come in here and try to kill him, even though you know nothing about him. You know nothing about us. I’m telling you that I love him, and that he loves me, and you don’t even care.

It’s just about you. It’s always about you. ”

Her accusation tears through my heart at the same time as the sound of steel meeting ice echoes behind us.

I glance over to see Riven landing a solid blow across Aerix’s shoulder. The Night Prince staggers but doesn’t fall, his wings lowering as he regains his footing.

As he does, I notice the corpse crumpled near the wall behind him. A woman with dark hair and wings lying in a puddle of blood, her neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

“That was Princess Cierra.” Zoey scoffs. “She threatened me, and Aerix killed her. That’s what Aerix does for me—he kills anyone who touches me. He protects me. Because he loves me.”

Ice floods my veins, and I flinch back. Because my failure to protect her is why Zoey’s here in the first place. I let her get taken at the waterfall, and now she thinks she’s in love with her captor.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you before,” I say softly, praying for her to see reason. “But I’m here now, and I’m not leaving without you.”

She keeps her eyes locked with mine, and for a moment, I think I’ve gotten through to her. But only for a moment. Because a second later, she’s grabbing my water restraint and trying to yank it apart, so violently that I’m forced to heat it up to burn her skin.

She writhes against the scalding water, her face contorting in pain as she drops to her knees.

I instantly cool the restraint. Not enough to free her, but enough to stop hurting her.

“Remember that sleepover?” My voice softens as I move closer to her, kneeling so we’re eye level with each other. “The one right after Matt and I started dating? We stayed up until four in the morning watching those terrible horror movies.”

Her struggles slow, recognition crossing her face.

“You made those disgusting nachos with marshmallows on top,” I continue, desperate to reach her. “And we promised we’d never choose a guy over each other. No matter what. No matter who. Remember?”

Her eyes soften, and for a heartbeat, I see my Zoey. The one who defended me against high school bullies, who dragged me to parties when I wanted to stay home, and who always knew what to say to make me laugh. My best friend. My sister in everything but blood.

But as the words leave my lips, a cold realization washes over me. Because that promise we made each other all those years ago isn’t true anymore, is it?

If I had to choose between Zoey and Riven...

The thought claws at my heart, burning with guilt, but I can’t deny the answer. I’d choose Riven over anyone, every time, without hesitation. We share a soul now—my magic is his magic, and his heartbeat is my heartbeat. Choosing against him would be like choosing against myself.

The shame of this realization tears through me like glass. I’m betraying the Sapphire who existed before the fae realm—the girl who made that promise all those years ago over terrible nachos and horror movies.

I’ve changed. Zoey and I have both changed.

“You don’t understand.” Zoey’s voice is suddenly calm, pulling me back from my spiraling thoughts. Her eyes find mine, and there’s something almost tender in them now. It’s like she wants me to understand her as badly as I want her to understand me. “They need me.”

“Who needs?—”

Before I can finish, she breaks through my water restraint, lunges forward, and her mouth is at my neck, fangs sinking into my flesh.