Chapter 4 Stark POV

"Stark, just do it." And then Zoey fell unconscious.

I stared at her for a few minutes, just doing nothing and hoping that she'll wake up any minute now. After five minutes, I had a lot of doubts. I tried to shake her, but she wouldn't budge. She was just limp.

And then I got scared again.

"Zoey?" I said hesitantly, hoping she would hear me. "I'm sorry. Please wake up."

Before I was about to panic, I heard the same voice that came to me last night. Just drink, Stark, it said. She asked you to.

"No," I said aloud, to nobody at all. "I won't do it."

Then you'll risk her life, said Nyx. And she will die. You won't be able to make it to the island on time.

I looked at Zoey's beautiful face, and I saw a smile on her unconscious face. She looked so beautiful and magical. And she was so gifted and talented and full of wisdom. How can I let her die? And after all we've been through. I suddenly got a flashback to the night I died in Zoey's arms. The very first time she kissed me was while I was bleeding to death. And she never left me. She made me feel safe. But I don't want to bite her. I can't. I'll be taking her energy, her spirit, and all the things that can make her weak.

I tilted my head down and bared my teeth. I gently turned Zoey's arms and put my lips on them. Automatically blood poured out, and I was sucking it. It burst through me, and shocked me into the only embrace that is possible to experience it. There weren't even any moans. And I remembered something that was in the Fledgling Handbook 101, a chapter that now I realized would change my world forever; soul mates.