Page 16 of Night Fae (Monsters of Veridia #3)

Malik's arms wrapped around Zev's waist, his face pressed against Zev's chest. "I won't."

Darius realized what they intended. "Stop them!" he shouted, striding forward with shadows gathered around his hands.

In one fluid motion, Zev tightened his hold on Malik and leapt backward into the pool of darkness.

The last thing he saw was his father's face, contorted with rage and something else—fear.

Then the darkness swallowed them whole.

The shadow path welcomed them like a starving predator, eager to feed. Cold beyond any natural chill enveloped them, sinking into their bones. Malik gasped against Zev's neck as the darkness pressed in from all sides.

Without the protective symbols, the path's hunger was unchecked. It reached for them, tried to pry into their minds, to feed on their emotions and memories.

Zev wrapped his power around them both like a cloak, creating a barrier—not impenetrable, but enough to filter the path's hunger. He let it taste certain memories, inconsequential ones he could spare, offering them as sacrifice, the way Rhys had taught him.

No, don't think of Rhys , he chided himself.

That was a memory too precious to offer to the shadows.

He had to focus.

But the power he'd taken from Malik's nightmares was already beginning to strain under the pressure.

There was so much pressure.

Malik whimpered.

Zev tried to pour more magic into the barrier that was supposed to protect them.

Around them, images flickered—fragments of other times, other places, other worlds. Memories not their own played out like distorted reflections: a silver bridge arching over dark water; a throne room where discordant music played; a battlefield littered with bodies beneath a three-mooned sky.

"Don't look," Zev warned as Malik's head began to turn toward one particularly vivid scene. "Focus on me. Just me."

Malik nodded against his chest, his eyes squeezed shut. But even with his eyes closed, the path found ways to reach him. Zev could feel him trembling as the darkness whispered temptations to them both, promises of relief from pain, from guilt, from the weight of everything.

Worse, it was drawing Zev's magic out of him.

And it was doing so quickly.

In a minute or so, Zev wouldn't have enough to offer them any protection at all, and then they would be lost.

Forever adrift in the darkness.

"Zev." Malik's fingers dug into his clothes.

Something strange happened as Zev focused on the human.

He didn't know if it was the nature of their surroundings or something else, but he could feel Malik's heartbeat as if it were his own, could sense his thoughts brushing against the edges of his consciousness.

There was energy there, within that connection. Something Zev could take and use.

He wasn't sure if that would be wise.

But what choice did he have?

"Hold tight," he whispered to Malik, and then he drew on all the power he could gather, everything he had left inside him and everything he could pull from the warm mortal who clung to him.

Heat flooded his system in a rush unlike anything. The sensation was more intense even than when he'd fed on Malik. His thoughts escaped him as he lost himself in it.

He hadn't just acquired power.

He was power.

He was a terrifying force.

He would bend to no one, least of all these shadow paths.

Without even thinking, he released magic in a burst, an explosion.

The darkness around them screamed—a sound felt rather than heard, vibrating through their very souls.

For one horrifying moment, they were everywhere and nowhere at once, stretched across realities.

Then they were falling, tumbling through empty space.

They struck something solid, Zev twisting at the last moment to protect the source of his power. Cold stone pressed against his back, and above them, a ceiling of black crystal reflected their faces back at them.

Zev barely recognized himself. That pale fae could not be him. Not when he felt so vast and mighty and uncontainable.

Except now that they were out of the shadows, all that glorious power receded, leaving him cold and empty and hungry .

So fucking hungry.

The human shifted on top of him, breathing hard, fingers still digging into Zev's shoulders.

He still contained energy…

Zev wanted it.

He needed it.

Without thought, he rolled until he was on top of the human, lips finding Malik's, forcing the connection between them wide open again.

Malik made a surprised sound that turned into a soft, pitiful whimper as Zev took what he wanted.

His victim didn't pull away. His fingers loosened their grip on Zev's shoulders, his body going pliant as Zev drank—not blood or breath, but something more essential.

Fear, anger, guilt, every negative emotion that could be turned into raw power in the hands of a night fae.

Malik tasted like moonlight and desperation, and Zev's whole body sang as dark energy filled the void the shadow paths had left behind.

He was alive, so alive.

Beneath his fingertips, Malik weakened, heartbeat stuttering, skin cooling.

But the more Zev took, the hungrier he became.

There was no end to it.

Malik's hand lifted weakly, but not to push him away. His fingers brushed Zev's cheek in a gesture he could not interpret.

"What the—Zev! STOP!"

The shout barely registered until hands clamped around Zev's shoulders, ripping him away from Malik with such force that Zev was thrown backward.

A feral snarl tore from Zev's throat. How dare someone interrupt his feeding?

Incubus. It was a fucking incubus.

He launched himself at the intruder, darkness gathering around his hands. His vision tunneled, focused only on the threat, on eliminating whatever had come between him and his meal.

His attack connected with solid muscle. The figure blocked Zev's strike, staring at him with golden eyes that seemed vaguely familiar.

"Zev! It's me!" The voice cut through the haze of bloodlust. "What is wrong with you?"

Zev froze with his blade in mid-air.

This was Knox.

He'd been about to attack Knox.

"Have you lost your mind?" Knox demanded. "You were killing him!"

Reality crashed back into Zev. The heady rush of power faltered as he looked past Knox to where Malik lay motionless on the floor, skin ashen, lips parted but barely drawing breath.

What had he done?

"I didn't—" Zev's voice died in his throat. He had. He'd fed on Malik like a starving animal. Would have drained him completely if Knox hadn't intervened.

"Fuck." Knox dropped to his knees beside Malik, pressing fingers to the human's throat. "He's alive, but weak."

The chamber around them came into focus as Zev's power-drunk vision cleared. Black crystal walls curved upward into a dome, etched with silver symbols. Torchlight cast long shadows across polished stone floors.

They weren't in the Night Court territory anymore.

"Where—?" Zev managed.

"The Shadow Kingdom." Knox gathered Malik gently into his arms, shooting Zev a wary look.

It made sense. This was where the shadow paths converged.

The Shadow Kingdom was not Zev's favorite place, but at least they were out of reach of the Night Court.

At what cost, though?

Zev couldn't tear his eyes from Malik's limp form. The human looked so small, so fragile in Knox's arms.

"I need to get him to a healer." Knox stepped back as Zev moved toward them. "And you need to stay away from him until you get yourself under control."