Page 115 of Feral Possession

His arm shot out.

His fist opened.

Dove dropped.

Marcus watched in terror as his entire world plummeted to the ground. In that second, nothing else mattered. His lordship, his scars, his wealth. In that second, it all became clear. Everything he cared about hurtled toward its demise.

“Now!” the demon at his center barked. The demon who’d invaded his body. The demon who’d fought him at every turn. The demon who gave him life, only to ruin his comfortable existence.

Marcus tipped his head back. Took one last look at the stars. Before Dove, he’d never even noticed the stars. She was the light in his darkness. With his fate in her hands, he…

Surrendered.

Fiery blades of agony ripped Shadow from his host. Despite the pain, the shade pushed harder, tearing the bonds between him and his vessel. For once, both halves of Shadow-Steele were of one mind. Shadow’s essence broke free, shooting into the void.

Time froze.

For a single bone-chilling moment, he hung in the ether, alone, bereft. Shock trembled along his synapses. His entire being had been slapped into the world without preamble or warning.

In that chilling moment, cold replaced the warmth he’d enjoyed. Icy winds ripped through his hollow being. Color leaked from his vision, the landscape cloaked in shades of murk and mist. Gone were the complex aromas carried on the wind. His senses were muted. Dull. Lifeless. He shuddered at the loss.

In this plane, his being was without substance. Life in Carcerem had been the same. Before the possession, his sole purpose was to serve the hive. Being the weakest of his brothers, he didn’t dare want for more. Until the moment he was thrust inside a cage of flesh and bone. The undeserving leech had turned him into a creature who was weak, vulnerable…

Alive.

At first, his host had siphoned his life-force, abusing the shade’s power without preamble. Shadow was shoved into the background, cursed, hated, and imprisoned during the host’s waking hours. In return, Shadow had given the leech just enough energy to keep them whole, refusing to fully heal his captor. Both existed in a constant state of war, each fighting for the upper hand.

Until her.

He locked his conscious on the plummeting female below him. Frozen in time, Dove peered up at him with wild eyes. Silver hair swallowed her fear-stricken features. Her fingers clawed for a grip she would never find.

The day her essence was tied to his, everything changed. Since its creation, his hive had never had a queen, only a ruthless master. Zion. It was Dove who had given the lowly drone purpose. He’d served her not because he was forced, but of his own free will. Because of her, his existence had meaning beyond the survival of his host.

His host.

Fraying threads remained between them. One at a time, they unraveled. Each broken strand weakened them. Neither could survive without the other in this realm. Not the shade. Not the vessel. At first, he’d resented the constraint. Made his frustration known in bursts of violence. In time, he’d come to appreciate his new freedom. Because of her. His queen. While chasing fireflies, she’d taught them both that darkness could not exist without light.

Dove was that light.

“You cannot save her. You are weak,” snarled a voice from his past. The words spoken in his native tongue.

He turned his attention to his former master. Tiberius stood frozen, his arm locked where he’d thrust Dove off the building. Zion peered back at him from his host’s body. Piercing eyes glared out of a face of shadowed horrors. His inky form draped his vessel’s frame like a burial shroud.

“Give up and return to your host, drone.”

In his hive, drones were not considered worthy of names. Only the master was granted that privilege. Shadow was no longer a nameless drone. Dove had given him an identity. A name all his own. He was done taking orders from this bastard. “I thought you’d perished. Like my brothers,” he answered, using the language of their ancestors.

“You thought wrong. I was the first to succeed. My host’s strength was equal to my own. When bonded, I sank my roots deep inside of him. Took hold. Refused to let go.”

The others were dragged into their hosts against their will. However, Zion went willingly. “You abandoned the hive. Left us to be enslaved by Tiberius and his retched experiments. Left us to die.”

“The hive kept me weak. You pathetic drones failed to appease my hunger.”

Because their master was insatiable. No matter the number of souls they’d reaped, it was never enough. In the mortal realm, Zion’s appetite seemed to have only grown. “It was you who weakened us. Always taking. Never giving. Now, you suck the life from this plane as well.”

Satisfaction blazed in Zion’s eyes. “This vessel has great influence over this world. With my aid, he grows stronger. Together, we will have more power than either of our realms have ever seen.”

“Then you know little of this place. Its inhabitants will not be subjugated.” From what Shadow had seen, most would rather die than live as slaves as he had been. None desired to be drones. Especially not his queen.

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