Page 100 of Demon Monster's Little Human

I jolt upright, pressing a hand to my temple as a voice that is not mine threads through my skull. The sound is softer than I expect, filled with sorrow and longing. It is the first time I have heard her clearly, not just fragments of a memory, not an echo of the past, but her.

Amara.

The name sends a cold shiver racing down my spine.

Flashes of something I should not remember flicker behind my eyes, half-formed moments slipping through my grasp.

Dain’s face, younger, untouched by hatred.

Fingers twining with mine. Lips brushing my forehead. A whisper of devotion, soft as silk.

Pain. Betrayal. Magic that burns and chains.

A curse spoken in blood.

I close my eyes forcefully, my breath sharp and uneven. My hands tremble as I dig my nails into my palms, trying to ground myself in the present. This isn’t real. These memories, these feelings, they are not mine.

Are they?

A rustle of movement pulls me back.

I don’t need to turn to know that Dain is awake. He’s watching me. He always is.

I steel myself, forcing my expression into something neutral before glancing his way. But the moment our eyes meet, my stomach clenches.

He knows.

I see it in the rigid line of his shoulders, the quiet fury simmering behind his gaze. He doesn’t say a word, doesn’t demand answers, he doesn’t need to. He sees the change in me.

He hates it.

I swallow hard, shifting against the furs, trying to shake the lingering pull of Amara’s voice from my mind. “I—I just needed some air.”

A lie. A weak one.

His expression doesn’t change, but something inside him tenses further. “What did you see?”

I hesitate. I could tell him the truth. I could tell him that I felt her, that I saw things that didn’t belong to me. That for the briefest, most terrifying second, I wasn’t sure if I was Liora at all.

But I don’t.

I can’t because if I admit it, if I say it out loud, it’s real.

“I don’t know,” I murmur instead, shaking my head.

His eyes narrow, golden and piercing. “Liar.”

The accusation cuts deeper than I expect. I flinch, my fingers curling into the furs. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth.” His voice is quiet, dangerous. “What did you see, Liora?”

The way he says my name makes my chest ache.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” I disagree.

He moves faster than I can react. In an instant, he’s on me, his hands gripping my shoulders, his body caging mine against the cave wall.

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