She didn’t respond, but with the way her throat worked as she swallowed, I easily picked up on her nervousness. She was pretty good at hiding how she felt, but not good enough to conceal it fromme.

Her face was calm, but her eyes? Oh, her eyes burned with defiance. Fuck, did that turn me on.

She had a darkness in her. Just like I did.

I went back to eating, but in-between bites, I said, “You’ll learn pretty quickly that when I’m conversing with you, it’s polite to converse back, Evelina.” She set her fork down loud enough that theclankof it hitting her plate rang in my ears. I held in my smirk and cut of another piece of steak before smearing it through the gravy.

I was nearly finished with my meal when I felt the first wave hit me and set my fork down. The feeling started off small, just a faint dizziness. The room tilted slightly, and I cleared my throat, reaching for my glass of water and downing half of it.

But as the seconds ticked by, this uneasy feeling didn’t pass. My heart started beating faster, and an oily sweat popped out along my temples. Fuck, my chest was thundering.

When I tried to focus on Evelina, my vision blurred at the edges, the colors in the room becoming too bright, too harsh, and blending together. Jesus Christ, what had she done to me?

I rubbed my temples, the slight pressure of my hands feeling strange, almost foreign, on my head.

“What in the fuck?” My words slurred, meshing into one, sounding distorted. I leaned forward, but as I spoke again, my own voice sounded distant.

Evelina didn’t say a word, but she looked shocked, her eyes wide as she watched me intently. But then that surprise faded as she leaned forward, her lips slowly moving to form a sweet smile.

That oily sweat broke out along the back of my neck now as my chest became even tighter. I couldn’t focus on my thoughts, as they scattered, becoming just fragments spiraling together to create chaos.

Fuck, I thought as I gripped the edge of the table and stood—or tried to. The chair scraped against the floor, but my knees locked, my body buckling at my hips.

“Evelina,” I gritted out. “What... did you do?” I growled, but my voice sounded so fucking far away that I didn’t even know if I spoke the words out loud.

The room twisted violently. My hold on the table faltered, and I spun and fell to my knees. My palms pressed against the floor, sweat covering my whole body, as lights shot out through the room. Hell, the wood floor seemed to ripple, creating another entity that appeared alive.

My breathing was ragged, each inhale sharp and desperate and becoming more difficult as time passed. Shapes formed in the shadows, creeping closer to me—these newly created faces twisting as they grinned at me.

She’d drugged me, and I was fucked up, hallucinating shit that seemed like it could quickly become reality.

I gritted my teeth and dug my nails into the wood, trying to push myself upright, but my muscles wouldn’t obey. My body felt heavy, disconnected, like I couldn’t control it. The shadows at the edge of my vision moved closer, their dark claws reaching closer to me.

I blinked rapidly as a ringing in my ears intensified. I fell onto my back, breathing shallowly. And then, for a moment, my vision cleared.

And she was right there.

Evelina stood over me, this eerie calmness surrounding her as she stared at me in the same manner I had probably looked at many of my victims.

Her face was shadowy, the light catching only the curve of her lips as they twisted into something dark. Something sinister.

Her eyes locked onto mine. “I’d say I’m sorry,” she breathed. “But I’m not.” Her voice was soft but dripped with malice. And then she reached out and pushed a piece of hair away from my forehead almost gently. “You’re wondering what’s happening toyou,” she murmured, not phrasing it as a question. “Why your body feels like it’s betraying you.”

I didn’t wonder. I knew. This beautiful psycho drugged me.

I tried to reach for her, but my arm felt too heavy to lift even an inch. My fingers twitched uselessly, and I opened my mouth, a garble of words spilling from my mouth as I began to hallucinate once again.

Her face blurred in and out of focus, but her voice was steady in the chaos.

“Want to know a secret?” she whispered, leaning in closer. “I’ve seen something like this before.”

The shadows behind her twisted and grew, and colors danced in shapes like I was in the center of a kaleidoscope.

“I watched my father act similarly to this. Because he was poisoned.” She got onto her hands and knees, her face hovering over mine, so close now that her lips were an inch from my own. “I watched him struggle to hang on to that last vestibule of life. But in the end, he had no option but to surrender.”

Monsters—just like me—whispered my name. They taunted me, laughing, because I wasn't the demon right now. I was its prey.

Evelina’s face came into sharp focus once more, her expression still calm, almost serene, as she watched me. “You’re a predator, Kane. I know that. I sense it,” she whispered. “But I’m one too. And I’ve hunted before.”