Page 48 of Morning's Light

“What in the—”

She screamed at the image burned into her mind and left Elon standing shocked into silence behind her.

Aisanna burst onto the busy street. Her throat was raw. Ice stung the soles of her feet but she ran regardless. Heedless. No matter how fast she went or how her lungs ached, she ran to escape the sliver of Darkness inside of her. The sliver burying deeper and deeper until soon, she knew, it would be a part of her.

She tasted blood. Somewhere along the way, she’d bitten the inside of her lip. Her feet slapped the pavement.

She felt Darkness like a phantom limb, a thorn in her side she couldn’t tear out. In the nooks and crannies of her mind, she heard laughter, deep and feminine.

Run. Run!

And she did, until her body finally protested and broke down. Her chest heaved and she fell to her knees in a pile of slush.

Did you enjoy the preview? It is a small taste, I assure you. Once you’ve taken my place as keeper of the veil, the world is yours.

People walked around her, with only a few turning to look in her direction and none offering a hand of assistance. Life, laughter, the sun shining down…yet she saw only night.

“Get out of my head!” Aisanna viciously scratched the skin on her ankles and left bloody wakes in zigzag lines.

Never.

She rocked back and forth, arms covering her head and her shoulders bumping the side of the brick building she’d collapsed against.

“Get out, get out. Leave me alone!”

Why don’t you try and run? Run, run, right to your death. You are mine, daughter, ripe for the plucking. And the closer you get to the edge of insanity, the sweeter the taking will be.

“I’m not insane!” she shrieked at the passing public. “You aren’t taking me.”

Darkness chuckled, the sound sinewy, trailing through her mind. I beg to differ.

She sank down to the ground, lying in a curled position, ignoring the cold icy slush and hard unforgiving concrete. Agony slowly faded, replaced by feelings of guilt and dread. She was relieved to be alive, yes. But she couldn’t help thinking she’d made a terrible mistake somewhere along the line.

Lost in her misery, Aisanna didn’t realize when hands reached down to draw her up, when strong arms lifted her. She drew Elon’s scent into her overworked lungs and clutched at his lapels, fighting a tide of nausea.

He shushed her, whispered sweet nothings in her ear meant to comfort. Giving in to her vulnerability, Aisanna cried and let Elon carry her away.

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