Chapter 4 The Predator’s Perspective
Noah Riley was trying very hard not to move.
If he moved too fast, the humans would notice his grace was unnatural. If he breathed too deeply, he would lose his mind.
He watched the girl sit next to him. Katherine Becker. He had heard her name when she spoke to the teacher. He watched the way her pulse jumped in the hollow of her throat—a steady, rhythmic thump-thump that sounded like a dinner bell to his ears.
Judging by the way she was gripping her pen until her knuckles turned white, she was uncomfortable. Or nervous. Noah fought the urge to smirk. It was a cruel irony: she was attracted to the very thing designed to end her life.
If you knew the truth, he thought, his gaze drifting to the delicate skin of her neck, you wouldn't be blushing. You’d be screaming. He imagined the scenario with the cold detachment of a creature who had lived too long. If he gave in, he would be a blur of motion. He would drain her in seconds, her blood tasting of the life he could no longer possess. Then, he and Veronica would be back in the car, fleeing across the state line while the sirens wailed behind them.
But it wasn't just hunger. There was a gravity to her. Noah had graduated from high school a dozen times. He had mastered the art of being a ghost. He had even attended Stanford in the 1970s, back when the air felt different, and the world was simpler. He had seen everything humanity had to offer, yet this girl in a small Virginia town felt... new.
And then, there was her scent.
Most humans smelled like salt and copper. Katherine Becker smelled like a bakery in the middle of winter. It was sweet, rich, and creamy—like cheesecake topped with berries. It was intoxicating. It was a test of every ounce of willpower Veronica had spent eighty years teaching him.
He thought of Veronica, the doctor who stole blood bags so he wouldn't have to kill. He thought of the "balanced diet" of deer blood and refrigerated O-negative. It kept him sane, but it didn't stop the hunger from clawing at his insides when a girl like Katherine sat three inches away