Page 87 of Rok's Captive
I pull back, my heart pounding as I watch him, helpless and terrified.
And then…his glow changes.
It happens so suddenly, so drastically, that I fall back in shock.
The soft amber light beneath his skin darkens, shifting to something deeper, something…different. It looks like smoke, like shadows writhing under the surface, swirling and coiling in unnatural patterns until they consume him from within.
His skin has gone pitch black.
“Oh, shit,” I whisper, chest heaving.
His body convulses, his head tilting back as a guttural, animalistic growl tears from his throat. The darkness beneath his skin grows thicker, consuming him, and for a moment, I think he might explode.
And then?—
Stars.
The darkness is suddenly filled with stars.
Tiny, glimmering points of light swirl beneath his skin, like entire galaxies trapped within the confines of his body.
It’s beautiful and terrifying all at once, like staring into the heart of the universe.
He collapses forward, catching himself on his hands, his head hanging low as his body trembles.
I scramble toward him, my fear overridden by the need to help him, to dosomething.
“Rok, talk to me.” I plead, intent on pressing my forehead to his so he can tell me what’s going on. Is he dying? He can’t be dying. My heart lurches at the thought, tears filling my eyes. I push them back.
He can’t be dying. Because I refuse it.
When my fingers brush his shoulder, he flinches again, but this time he doesn’t pull away.
Instead, he lifts his head, his glowing, star-filled eyes locking onto mine.
The look in his eyes…
I cannot explain it.
I seemyself. All my dreams. All I’ve ever wanted.
And in that moment, I know.
Whatever’s happening to him, it’s because of me.
And there’s no going back.
Chapter26
THIS SOFT CREATURE IS MINE
ROK
Iam burning from the inside out.
The fire that began when she touched me, when I tasted her essence, has spread through every part of me until I am nothing but flame. My body has become alien to me—shifting, changing, reforming itself according to some ancient pattern I can’t begin to comprehend.
I collapse to the stone floor as waves of sensation crash over me. Pain, yes, but more than pain—awareness, heightened to a point that borders on agony. I can feel every current of air against my skin, hear the rapid beating of Jus-teen’sdra-kir, smell the fear and concern radiating from her like a dust cloud.
