Page 87 of Primal Hunger

If he dies, it’ll be my fault.

The portal crackles, and I look up to see it shrinking once again. The edges are getting closer together, my view of Earth diminishing right before my eyes. Tyler is watching, his mouth hanging open, his gaze bouncing between Syros and me.

“The portal is closing,” he snaps. “Come on before you miss your chance. We’ve got to go.”

Syros raises his hand and strokes my cheek with one of his claws. “Go, little human.Please…” He chokes on the word, and my heart shreds into pieces. “I’m sorry I tried to stop you. I… I was being selfish.”

Everything fades away as I stare down at him. The portal, Tyler, the radio, my need to return home. Nothing matters in this moment aside from Syros, each and every one of his breaths that are becoming more erratic.

“No,” I mutter, pulling his skull closer to me. “I… Syros, I’m so sorry. This wasn’t… I didn’t want you to get hurt. You can’t die. Please, don’t leave me.”

“Little human, you have shown me that there is light yet in this dark world,” he says slowly, gasping for air between words. “If I die, I can think of no better way to spend my last moments.”

“You’re not going to die. You can’t.” I shake my head firmly. “Syros, you can’t leave me.”

Tears stream down my cheeks as my emotions cartwheel. I don’t want him to die. I don’t want to leave him.

“Let me run and get your healing salve,” I urge, squeezing his hand in mine. “It’ll help. I’ll be quick.”

“It will not work.” He shakes his head. “The wound is too deep.”

“Please,” I cry, pressing my cheek into his palm, desperate for his warmth to melt the icy fear gripping my insides. “Let me try. I… I don’t want to lose you.”

Reality slams into me like a brick wall. I’ll do anything if it means saving him. I’ll get the salve, I’ll tend to his wounds, I’ll stay here with him. Anything, if it means he’ll be okay.

I need him to be okay.

Whatever has blossomed between us is more than attraction, more than mere fascination. I care about him, more than I care about anyone else in the world. I need him to be okay, not just because he doesn’t deserve to die, but because I can’t imagine a world where he doesn’t exist.

“Syros,” I say when he’s gone too still, fear shooting through my system. “Syros, I need you to hang on. I’ll stay here, I’ll be with you, but you have to pull through. You have to live. I… I… I love you.”

“Love?” he repeats, his growly voice softer now. “Is that what I feel? Like you are the piece I have always been missing? Likemy world is a little less dark when you’re near? Like I need you more than I need to breathe, more than I need to eat?”

A smile crosses my face right as a sob wracks my chest. “Yes.” I nod. “That’s what it means.”

He takes a deep breath, groans, and lets it out slowly. “Then, I love you, little human. And you must leave before the portal closes.”

I shake my head again. “I’m not leaving you. We’re in this together. If I have to choose between you and Earth, I choose you, Syros. Do you hear me? You can’t die, because I still need you to protect me. I need you to live.”

I lean down and press my lips against the side of his skull, my stomach sinking further as the red glow in his eyes dims.

“Erin, come on, we’ve got to go,” Tyler snaps, his voice frantic. “Much longer and the portal will be too small for you to pass through. Forget him.”

Forget him.The words bite through my fear, and anger sparks in my gut.

I could never forget Syros, even if I wanted to. He’s branded himself on my soul forever, taken things and given things to me that I never imagined were possible.

He ismine, no matter if I’m here with him or in my own world.

I belong to him, body, soul, and mind no matter the distance between us.

“Hold on, Syros,” I say gently, and slip out from beneath him. I approach the glowing portal, my eyes locked with Tyler’s. If I wasn’t so upset and confused and afraid, I’d cuss him out ten ways to Sunday for hurting the Grim—possibly killing him—but I can’t think about any of that right now.

The portal flashes white, and Tyler disappears for a second before he returns. I can tell the portal is getting more unstable asit closes, probably too unstable for me to pass through even if I wanted to leave.

“Tyler, I’m… I’m staying here.”

His eyebrows shoot toward his hairline. “You can’t be serious right now. After all this work? After trying so hard to get back, you’re staying there withhim?” His eyes fall to the downed monster. “He’s going to eat you, Erin. He’ll kill you when you let your guard down.”

---