Manshu collapsed sideways. Empty. Broken. Dead.
Blood dripped steadily from Calix’s fingers as he turned and walked toward me, holding out the heart like a gift.
“This is for you. For all you’ve suffered. Drink.”
The heart rested in Calix’s blood-covered palm, still twitching weakly between his fingers. Crimson slid down the lines of his wrist, dripping from his knuckles onto the concrete below.
I stared at it too long.
When my eyes finally dragged upward, Calix was already watching me. Blood streaked across his cheekbones and jaw, but his expression never wavered. Those sunset-pink eyes stayed steady on mine, patient and unwavering, like he already knew what choice I would make.
Then he tipped his chin toward me.Take it.
The thing beneath my skin stirred instantly.Hunger.
It uncoiled through me like smoke flooding my lungs, thick and suffocating, whispering against the inside of my skull.
Drink him. Consume what’s left. Make sure he never rises again.
My breaths shortened, one after another.
“You used a lot of energy to heal,” Rack murmured as he stepped up beside Calix, his gaze flicking over me carefully. “You need blood.”
The sound of his voice nearly snapped the last thread holding me together.
My pulse thundered through my ears as my hand lifted on instinct alone. My fingers shook before they even touched the heart. Blood slicked across my skin, warm and slippery, and the organ nearly slid free before my nails dug in hard enough to puncture flesh.
A tremor rolled through me, and I looked at them once more.
Rack’s jaw had gone tight. Calix stood perfectly still, but his chest rose slower, heavier, like he was holding himself back from something.
I lifted it to my lips, giving Rack and Calix another look before my fangs came out. I sunk them into the flesh and pulled the contents out.
The rush was sudden, not from the taste of it, but from the power. It was like I was sucking down an eternal force that was going to fuel me for a lifetime.
It poured down my throat molten-hot, spreading through my veins so violently my knees nearly buckled. My fingers clenched harder around the heart while something feral clawed up my spine, demanding every last drop.
A rough sound tore through the room.
For one dizzy second I thought it came from me.
Then I realized Rack was the one breathing unevenly beside me.
Wet pulls echoed against the concrete walls. The sound should’ve embarrassed me, should’ve made me stop, but the hunger swallowed everything else whole. I drank until the twitching beneath my fingers stopped completely.
And then suddenly, there was nothing. The heart had collapsed into ash.
Black dust drifted between my fingers and scattered into the air. I stared at it, chest heaving. Gone. I’d destroyed him completely, and I’d liked it.
Taking the life of my enemy felt good, satisfying. The power I’d been deprived of as a human wasn’t an issue now that I was a monster. The realization settled over me slowly, and with it came another thought.
Oh god. They heard me. Theysawme.
Heat flooded my face as shame hit hard and fast. Unable to look at either of them, my lashes lowered automatically. I didn't want to see the disgust in their eyes at what I’d just done.
I’d expected some sound, some indication of my wrongdoing, but only silence followed. I lifted my eyes carefully, and every thought vanished.
Two sets of eyes devoured me openly, one sunset pink, the other stormy purple, both filled with enough hunger to set my skin on fire.
