Page 21 of High Noon

Tears fell from my eyes as we walked back into camp. Maru didn’t offer any words of comfort, though his hand clamped onto mine and didn’t let go. He didn’t lie and say that what I saw was impossible. That it wouldn’t and couldn’t happen.

That was the most upsetting thing at all.

Maru didn’t lie to me.

He never had.

Never would.

That meant he thought it was entirely possible.

Deep down, so did I.

At first, I thought I was seeing a monstrous version of myself, but when I went into her head… when I thought her thoughts and tore out Hotah’s throat… when I enjoyed the sight of his death, knowing he was in pain and that I was the one who inflicted it, it was me.

I was proud of what I’d done.

It was me – before I traveled, before I met Enoch. The only difference were the fangs.

I could not stop shaking. I trembled violently, teeth chattering, until Hotah returned with the horses.

And even they backed away, ears pinned, wary of me when Hotah brought them near.

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