Page 92 of Presence

“You’re mine,“ he gnarls, ripping off the clothes I borrowed from his wardrobe, leaving me exposed just as before. His claws dig into my skin as he pins my wrists above my head, flipping us over and pressing me into the ground. His eyes, dark and hungry, lock onto mine, reflecting the same desire that burns within me. “Don’t ever forget that.”

I look up at him with a smile, gasping for breath. “If I’m yours,” I reply, “then you’re mine, too.”

He lets out a deep, primal growl that gives me chills. His mouth crashes into mine again. His body presses against mine, and I arch up to meet him, the friction sending waves of pleasure and pain through me.

And then he’s already inside me with a sudden, powerful thrust that takes my breath away. I cry out, my nails digging into his back, drawing more blood.

His movements are relentless, each thrust sending shockwaves through me, stoking the fire within to an unbearable intensity. I feel like I might tear apart at the seams, but I don’t care. In this moment, all that matters is the heat, the hunger, the need. I cling to him, matching his intensity with my own, pushing us both to the edge.

“Echo,” I gasp, his name a plea, a command, a promise.

He growls my name in response, his movements becoming even more frenzied, more desperate. The power between us builds to a crescendo, and I can feel myself teetering on the brink, ready to plunge into the abyss.

And then, with one final, shattering thrust, we both erupt. The power between us explodes, a cataclysm of pure darkness. There are shadows all around us as I scream, the sound torn from my throat. Waves of pleasure crash over me, consuming me entirely.

Echo collapses on top of me, the energy still crackling in the air around us. For a moment, we just lie there, our breaths mingling, our bodies tangled together.But just as I taste satisfaction for a little while, something ruins it all.

“I’m hungry,” I say, licking the remnants of his blood from my lips.

I am, in fact, starving.

“Well, then,” he purrs, standing up, “how about I take you for a hunt?”

Damn, his words couldn’t have been more… macabre.

25

The Hunt

Echo approaches, his hand outstretched and a smile playing on his lips. Without a moment’s hesitation, I take his hand. There’s no doubt—whatever he means by this “hunt,” I’m all in. As our skin touches and shadows envelop us, a thrill tingles down my spine, anticipation kissing my lower back.

I want to feed again.

As we descend, I gasp deeply. Shadows still surround us, obscuring my vision. Yet, I don’t need to see anything. Because I feel everything. The vibrant hum of happiness, the heavy pulse of sadness, the buoyant bounce of hope. Emotions charge the air, electric and tangible, each one lingering around me.

It’s incredible, yet utterly alien. This place feels nothing like the realm I used to call home. It’s a foreign land, inhabited by beings unlike me. It’s beautiful. I am in awe the moment I take my first breath of earthly air. But as beautiful as it all is, it also destroys me. My stomach churns, my mouth fills with saliva and my fingers start itching from just how ravenous it all makes me.

My whole body begins to shake, the hunger rolling through me in waves.

The shadows around us stretch out and fade away, then disappear in a rush. Here we are, standing in the middle of a busy city street, invisible to the crowd hurrying past. A middle-aged woman walks right through me, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. For a split second, her soul is so close, almost like I could touch it, but still totally out of reach. I can’t grab it. I can only feel it, teasing me with its presence, leaving me to deal with the pain of it being so near.

“Echo,” I whimper, clutching my stomach and bending over from the pain.

This pain, though... it ignites a fury within me. I want to murder that woman for causing this torment. I want to unleash hell upon this realm.

Die, die, die, die, die. She must die. I must take away her will to live.

“This is what it feels like to be among the prey, Clarity,” Echo purrs beside me, his long, clawed fingers running through my shoulders and straightening me as he presses me against himself. “In order to hunt, we must endure.”

What does he mean by saying this is how it feels to be among prey? No, that can’t be right. Endure? How am I supposed to endure this? It’s driving me insane. I feel like a storm of restless energy that’s about to burst at any given moment.

I peer at him through narrowed eyes, my teeth clenched. “How did you endure it?” I ask, my voice strained. “How did you chase me for so long in this nightmare?”

For me to feel him shadowing me for most of my life, he had to spend years watching me, hanging around me like this, invisible to everyone but himself. I never thought about it before—about how it must have felt for him. Being the prey is tough, but being the hunter isn’t any easier, huh?

“Patience. Self-control.”

I swallow hard. “But this world, it’s… maddening.”

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