Page 76 of Presence

Echo’s fingers curl inside me, sending another jolt of pleasure and pain through my body. He pauses, his eyes narrowing with dark, cruel satisfaction.

“Who knows?” he murmurs, his voice dripping with venomous delight even though I detect a hint of hesitancy. “Maybe you’re more broken than them.”

I gasp, struggling to process his words through the overwhelming sensations.

“I’m not broken,” I manage to choke out, my voice shaking.

“You, Little Soul, are the most miserable human I have seen in ages,” he hisses, his eyes blazing with desire. “No matter how many times I fed on you, you only tasted sweeter the next time. You were always so happy to see me in your dreams and then so scared to feel me in your world. Such a rollercoaster of emotions. Each one better than the other.”

The pieces of the puzzle fall into place in my mind, each one clicking with a sickening clarity that I wish I could deny. My breaths come in ragged gasps, my chest heaving as I stare at him, my mouth open in shock and horror. Through it all, his fingers continue their relentless rhythm inside me, driving me further into oblivion.

How can I make a deal with Echo if he has everything he wants? He told me about it in the first place just to toy with me. Just to give me hope.

“You don’t ever want to stop,” I choke out. “You want this to last forever.”

A dark, twisted smile widens across his face.

“Yes, Little Soul. Forever.”

He says the word with pleasure, showing me just how much he wants it—my misery.

Tears blur my vision as the full horror of his words sinks in. I haven’t woken up from here. I stayed even though I shouldn’t have.

“You are already dead, my naive little thing,” he continues, his voice a dark, mocking caress. “I took your soul the moment you gave it freely. Now there’s no escape for you anymore.”

His fingers keep moving, driving me to the brink of sanity. The pleasure and pain blend into a maddening whirl, and I am helpless against the onslaught. Powerless. Always powerless.

“And how good it turned out to be,” he purrs. “Such a good-tasting little cunt all for me for all eternity. Mine to fuck, mine to scare, mine to chase and cut and bite.”

With a final, brutal motion, he plunges deeper into me, the force of it sending a wave of pleasure and pain crashing over me. The shadows tighten around us, their cold touch amplifying every sensation, driving me closer to the edge.

I orgasm angry, confused, torn. Echo didn’t just fuck my pussy with his fingers, he fucked my mind with his words, too.

I, Claire McClain, am a soul owned by a demon.

In other words, I’m already dead.

21

Horde of Moths

“She can’t handle this,” the other Claire hisses, wrapping her hands around Echo’s torso. “Just let me kill her. I’ll take her place. I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

I collapse to the floor, shadows slinking away from their grip on me. My knees hit the ground with a heavy thud, but I don’t care anymore. I just stare at the rotten, moldy splinters in the wood, unable to lift my head.

Hell… If I’m always going to be the prey with no way out, then Echo and that bitch might as well kill me now. He’s hell-bent on tormenting me, and she’s eager to please him. All I want is an escape.

“Another escape,” the other Claire hisses. “She wants to run away again. She’s weak!”

“Enough,” Echo says, his voice low and calm. “You’re ruining the moment.”

A chilling silence settles in, the kind that makes your skin crawl and hints at something far worse than death. The other Claire’s eyes blaze with jealousy and anger, her gaze searing into me. She doesn’t just want me gone; she’s determined to erase me.

Honestly, if escape is impossible, maybe the answer is surrendering, letting the darkness consume me. Perhaps there’s happiness to be found in it. Maybe I could learn to silence the pain by giving myself over to Echo entirely.

I force myself to look up and meet his eyes. They’re black, but I think I catch a hint of color—fine silver and cobalt blue. Just like back then.

“So, was that it?” I whisper, my voice trembling. “Did you just want to make me suffer? From the very beginning?”

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