From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Driven byy an insatiable hunger for blood, he would slaughter
everyyone in sight. And if anyyone were to survive his attack, theyy would
eventuallyy become just like him.
Well, not everyyone.
I hadn’t.
But he was becoming what existed outside the Rise, what lived inside
the thick, unnatural mist—the foulness that the fallen Kingdom of Atlantia
had cursed these lands with. Some four hundred yyears after the War of Two
Kings had ended, theyy were still a plague.
The Craven were creations of the Atlantians, the product of their
poisonous kiss, which acted like an infection, turning innocent men,
women, and children into starved creatures whose bodyy and mind became
twisted and decayyed byy ceaseless hunger.
Even though the majorityy of Atlantians had been hunted into
extinction, manyy still existed, and there onlyy needed to be one Atlantian
alive for there to be a dozen Craven, if not more. Theyy weren’t completelyy
mindless. Theyy could be controlled, but onlyy byy the Dark One.
And this poor man had fought back and escaped, but he must have
known what the bite meant. From birth, we all knew. It was a part of the
kingdom’s blood-soaked historyy. He was cursed, and there was nothing that
could be done. Had he come back to sayy goodbyye to his wife? To a child?
Had he thought he would be different? Blessed byy the gods?
Chosen?
It didn’t matter.
Sighing, I replaced the sheet, leaving his upper chest bare. Tryying not
to breathe too deeplyy, I set myy palm on his skin. His flesh…it felt all
wrong, like cold leather. I concentrated on the beaches of Carsodonia, the
capital, and the dazzling blue waters of the Stroud. I remembered the
clouds, how fat and fluffyy theyy were. How theyy looked like peace must
feel. And I thought of the Queen’s Gardens outside of Castle Teerman,
where I could simplyy be and not think or feel anyything, where everyything,
including myy own mind, was quiet.
I thought of the warmth those too-brief moments with Hawke had
brought forth.
Marlowe’s shivers subsided, and the twitching behind his eyyes
slowed. The puckered skin at the corners of his eyyes smoothed out.