Page 95 of Tharn's Hunt
"Tharn?" I whisper, my voice trembling.
He jerks suddenly, his entire body twisting as if something inside him is breaking and remaking itself all at once. His claws rake against the stone floor, carving deep gouges as a guttural snarl tears from his throat.
I stumble back, my heart hammering as I watch his body convulse. His golden skin darkens, the glow fading into an eerie, star-speckled black, shifting like constellations in motion. His eyes snap open, and they’re no longer the warm amber-gold I’ve grown used to. They burn with a violent, molten light, glowing so brightly they seem untamed.
"Tharn!" I cry, reaching out, but he rears back, his movements jerky and unnatural, like he’s fighting somethingunseen. His head snaps toward me, his lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth, a sound somewhere between a growl and a roar erupting from deep in his chest.
The air around him feels charged, heavy, like a storm is building inside the room. His claws curl and uncurl, his body writhing in agony as he snarls, his gaze flickering between me and something I can’t see.
"Help!" I scream, my voice cracking. "Somebody help!"
He lunges forward suddenly, but not at me—at the wall, his claws tearing into the stone like it’s nothing. His entire body is trembling, his muscles straining as if they’re trying to contain something too big for him to handle.
"Tharn, stop!" I shout, but it’s like he can’t hear me.
He turns again, his glowing eyes locking onto me, and for one terrifying moment, I think he’s going to attack. But then his expression changes—just for a second. His snarl falters, replaced by something raw and desperate.
"Jah-kee," he rasps, his voice distorted and broken, like it’s being pulled from the depths of his soul.
His body twists again, a strangled sound escaping him as he staggers back, his hand clawing at his chest. The black patterns on his skin pulse violently, the pinpricks of light shifting and swirling like a living galaxy.
Then he collapses to his knees, his head thrown back as a roar of pain tears from his throat.
Chapter 27
MY GLOW-UP GOT A LITTLE TOO LITERAL
THARN
Fire.
My blood is liquid fire racing through veins too small to contain it. My bones crack and reform with each heartbeat. My skin—my skin is wrong. The familiar gold that has marked me since birth is gone, replaced by something darker, colder, yet somehow... more.
I can't see Jah-kee anymore, though I hear her screaming my name. My vision has fractured, the world splitting into shards of light and shadow.
"Tharn!"
Jah-kee's voice pierces the haze of pain, but I can't answer. Can't speak. Can barely think past the agony tearing through me.
Her soft lips against mine. She shared water from her lips. That was the trigger. That small connection unlocked something beyond my control.
This is wrong. Rok warned me it would be intense, but this—this is like dying and being reborn at once. The stone floorcracks beneath my claws as they extend involuntarily, sharper than they've ever been.
I can feel the change spreading through me like a fast-acting venom, a dark fire racing through my blood, remaking me from the inside out.
"Help! Somebody help!"
No. No one can help. No one should come. I am dangerous like this. Uncontrolled.
Must get away. Must protect Jah-kee... from me.
I lurch to my feet, staggering toward the chamber entrance. Jah-kee steps toward me, her hand outstretched, her water-blue eyes wide with fear. Fear of me. The realization cuts deeper than any physical pain.
"Jah-kee," I try to say, but it comes out as a guttural snarl. "Stay... back."
She doesn't understand. How could she? We have no mindspace connection, no way to communicate the danger.
But I need her to understand. Need her to run, to hide, to get away from me until this passes. Because if she stays?—
