Page 74 of Demon Monster's Little Human

A name.

“Amara.”

The memoryshatters.

Istumbleback, gasping, body trembling violently. A sharp, wet heat drips from my nose.Blood.

I lift a shaking hand to my face, my breath ragged. The vision lingers, branded into my mind. That woman, the Purna, was the same one I saw before. The same one who sealed away the dark presence.

She sealedDain.

Dain.

My gaze snaps to him.

He stands as still as stone, but his expression betrays him. His hands tremble at his sides, his wings rigid, his chest movingtoo fast.He looksshaken.

No.

He looksterrified.

I swallow, my voice hoarse. “Who is Amara?”

His entire bodylocks up.His pupils slit, his lips pull back in somethingclose to a snarl.Hisfearturns sharp, turnsdeadly.

His next words are a growl, low and vibrating with something dangerously close to rage.

“Don’t say that name.”

My heartbeat pounds against my ribs. “Why? Who is she?”

His hands clench into fists. “Don’t say it again.”

But I don’t stop.

I step closer, my body still trembling, my fingers curling around my arms as if that will stop the shaking. “She was the one who sealed you away, wasn’t she?”

Dain flinches. A barely-there reaction, but Iseeit.Feelit.

I press further. “What was she to you?”

Silence.

He turns away, shoulders tight, his entire body drawn like a bowstring. “This isn’t your concern.”

“The hell it isn’t,” I snap, anger and somethingelseclawing at my throat. “She’s in myhead,Dain. I see her. I feel her magic. And that thing out there—” I gesture toward the ruin’s entrance, where the shadows stillpulse,where the darkness iswaiting“it’s after me for a reason. I need to understand why.”

“You don’t need to understandanything.”

His voice is too rough, too sharp. Hiscontrolis fraying.

I step in front of him, forcing him to look at me. “Then tell me why the mere mention of her makesyoulook like you’ve seen a ghost.”

His jawlocks.

The space between us is thick, suffocating. I can feel the tension in his muscles, see the war raging in his eyes.

Just when I think he might actuallysay something, the ruinshudders.

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