Page 65 of When Death Whispers

The way her fear bled into something richer, the way she came alive beneath him, the way her moans had turned into something sinful and?—

I saw it all.

And Ihungered.

But not for her death.

Not in the way I wasmeant to.Not in the way I was created to.

And this nightmare of a demon dared to block my path to her, used his powers to shield her from me. Inmydomain,myrealm.

Snarling, I tighten my hold, shadows snapping taut like chains, dragging Rad upright. His feet barely touch the ground before I drive my fist into his ribs.Crack.He wheezes, but his laughter only deepens.

“What’s the matter, Steo?” he taunts, fangs bared in something between an irritating grin and a snarl. “Feeling a little off lately?”

I don’t hesitate. I lunge. My claws rake across his chest, cutting deep, dark ichor spilling into the dirt. Rad staggers but catches himself, licking the blood from his fingers with infuriating nonchalance.

“You’re angry,” he muses, rolling his shoulders as his wounds already begin to close. “But not because I touched her.” He tilts his head, eyes gleaming, reading me in ways I do notlike.“No… you’re angry because youwatched.Because youfeltit too.”

He’s not wrong. And I loathe him for it.

The Evergloom pulses with my fury. The hunger inside me tightens, curls. It doesn’t want to feed on her final breath anymore. It wants to taste what he had. What she gave.

I lash out again, my shadows striking like whips, sending him flying into a jagged tree. The trunk explodes on impact, splinters and shards of bark spraying into the Gloom. Rad groans, shaking off the debris, and when he rises, his grin has sharpened.

“You’re slipping,” he taunts, tail flicking as he cracks his neck. “It’s adorable.”

I lunge again, shadows surging, but this time, he meets me. We clash in a violent storm of teeth, claws, and raw power. His strength is brutal, wild, all fanged grins and savage strikes. But mine—mine—is precise. Cold. Unrelenting. Deadly. I am Death after all.

We slam into the ground, tearing at each other like beasts, the very fabric of the Evergloom trembling under the onslaught.

Rad’s claws tear into my shoulder, sending a deep burn of scorching pain through my body and fury in my shadows. I snarl in his face, fangs bared. I drive my knee into his ribs, twisting, pinning him. Shadows stretch and writhe like living things in my domain, not just dark matter but extensions of my will, wrapping around his throat, tightening like iron bands.

His tail lashes around my ankle, yanks me off balance, and he flips me, slamming me into the dirt so hard the realm groans beneath us.

He looms above, frost-blue eyes blazing, breath ragged.

And then—he smirks.

“She even prefers the human boy toy over you,” he drawls. “Poor Bone Daddy. How’s it feel being thefourthwheel?”

That name again.Bone Daddy.Complete and utter nonsense.

I roar, my shadows exploding outward?—

Rad laughs, then, with a flicker of darkness, he vanishes.

I remain standing amidst the ruins of our battle, breath wild, uncontrolled. The hunger still lingers and the scent of her still clings to the air. And worse—Icraveit.

This is not over.

Not by a long shot.

25

The first thingI feel is heat. Radiating beneath my skin. Pooling low in my belly. Tangling in the ache between my thighs and the dull throb in my core.

The second thing is confusion.

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