Page 15 of Golden Star

Instead, I run.

Not just run—I tear through the woods, the forestblurring as I pick up speed. By some miracle, I don’t crash into the trees.

Also, by some miracle, my wrist is already feeling better.

No—not a miracle. It has to be because ofmagic.My body’s healing itself, like it did after my near-death experience in the fae realm. And just like it probably did after that sledding accident with Zoey when I was a kid.

I have no idea where I’m going.

All I know is that I want to get as far away from that stream and silver tree—and from Riven and Ghost—as possible.

Branches snap behind me, and I push harder, but it doesn’t matter. The initial burst of adrenaline is gone. My body feels heavy, and I’m slowing down, the exhaustion hitting me like a sledgehammer.

Before long, they’re in front of me.

Ghost, as massive and calm as ever, with Riven perched on his back.

I skid to a stop, barely avoiding crashing into them.

“How did you…?” I glance around, confused about how they got in front of me so easily.

“I’m on a leopard,” he says simply. “You’re fast—impressively so—but he’s faster.”

I scan the forest, searching for an escape route, but it’s useless. Ghost can easily outrun me again. And Rivendoesn’t seem like the type of guy who gives up once he’s set his mind on something.

Right now, he’s clearly set his mind onme.

“I thought you didn’t want to see me again?” I ask instead.

“I told you that my business in Presque Isle is done. I never said I wouldn’t return.” He studies me like I’m a bird in a cage, and I shift uneasily in place. “Words, Summer Fae. You have to think about them—not just hear them.”

I glare at him again—I seem to be doing alotof that recently.

“I don’t have time for this,” I tell him. “If I’m not home when my aunt wakes up, she’ll be furious.”

“Then let me take you home,” he offers. “After all, that was part of our deal.”

I want to tell him no. That I’m not telling him where my house is.

But I feel that familiar, cold prickle on my skin. Frost. It’s crawling over me, latching onto me, warning me.

If I don’t follow through with this deal, it’s going to consume me.

Plus, there’s no denying that I’m lost. At the rate I’m going, I won’t get home before sunrise—which is when my aunt wakes up—anyway.

“Fine,” I give in, and then I tell him how to get to my house.

The threatening frost disappears as I do.

“Fantastic,” Riven says, motioning to the place behind him on Ghost’s back. “Climb on.”

With a sigh of defeat, I step forward and awkwardly make my way up to Ghost’s back.

The leopard’s skin is surprisingly cool, his muscles shifting as he adjusts to the added weight.

Riven glances back at me, making sure I’m situated. “Now, I recommend you hold on,” he says, and I wrap my arms around his waist, my pulse quickening as I feel the cold, hard planes of his body beneath my hands.

He doesn’t react. He just nudges Ghost forward, and we take off, the world blurring around us as we speed through the woods.

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