Page 90 of Demon Monster's Little Human

I lunge forward, wings flaring open, body plummeting after her before thought can even form. The wind howls around me, the cold biting against my skin as I tear through the night, chasing her into the void.

She does not get to leave me.

I will catch her.

I have to.

Because if I don’t and I lose her?—

I will burn the world to the ground.

38

LIORA

The wind tears at me as I fall. Cold and brutal, it whistles past my ears, howling like a beast savoring its next kill.

The world spins, weightless yet crushing, the pull of gravity relentless. I should be afraid. I should be screaming. But all I hear are whispers. They slither through my mind like silk and venom, a language both foreign and familiar.

You were not supposed to exist.

My heart lurches. A vision unfurls, flickering in and out of clarity, a woman standing in the same space I once stood, dressed in flowing white, her golden hair catching the light of an unseen sun. Her lips move, murmuring incantations I do not understand yet feel in my bones. The edges of my vision darken. The whispers tighten around me.

Amara.

My stomach clenches at the name. My chest seizes with a pain that does not belong to me.

The river below rushes closer, jagged rocks lining the shore, waiting to break me. The icy grip of reality shatters the vision as my body braces for impact?—

But I don’t hit the water.

Something catches me.

Not something, someone.

Dain’s arms clamp around me like iron, the force of his grip nearly knocking my breath away. His wings beat furiously against the wind, fighting against my momentum, but it isn’t enough.

We plummet together.

The river slams into us with merciless force. The cold is a dagger to my ribs, shocking the air from my lungs in a violent burst. The current is a living thing, a monster dragging me under, coiling around me, determined to pull me into its depths.

I thrash. My limbs burn, my lungs scream, my mind begs.

Hands, unyielding, punishing, it seize me.

Dain.

He drags me up, breaking the surface in a desperate gasp. My chest convulses, coughing, retching water from my lungs. The sky is blackened with storm clouds, the night air thick with rain and rage. The river fights to reclaim me, but Dain’s grip doesn’t falter. He hauls me toward the jagged riverbank, his strength tearing me from the water’s grip, forcing me onto the cold, uneven rocks.

I collapse, heaving, trembling, my body raw from the impact.

Silence stretches between us, heavy, suffocating. Water drips from my hair, seeping into my clothes, making the cold worse. My pulse hammers in my ears, but it’s nothing compared to the heat of Dain’s gaze.

He stands over me, soaking wet, his wings shaking, his chest moves up and down in sharp, furious breaths.

He moves.

His hand snaps to my throat, not squeezing, but holding, warning.

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