Page 117 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

We pull back with the survivors as fire continues to scorch the north line. The Brood falls back with it, not chasing—because they’re already moving to therealprize.

Whatever Adora’s become… She’s not waiting anymore. And neither are we.

We gather what’s left of our forces. I feel the eyes on me. Shifters. Wolves. Witches. They look to me now.

But I look ather.

At Kendall.

Because this isn’t just my war. It’sours.And we’re going to finish it. Together.

47

KENDALL

The old city is a graveyard.

Cracked stone and twisted metal jut out like the ribs of a fallen beast. It’s not even on maps anymore—just whispered about in hunter reports and Brood intel. The place where the Veil cracked the first time. Where the divide between supernatural and human started bleeding at the seams.

And where Adora is now.

I feel her before I see her.

Not just her scent—but the thrum of her blood, the way it echoes in my chest like it’s calling my name in reverse. It’s not just her I’m tracking.

It’s the Hollowed.

It’sawake.

The magic here is thick, suffocating. The air smells of burnt ozone and memory. I can feel it seeping into my skin, brushing against the inside of my bones.

I keep moving. Barefoot. Shifted, claws out, senses open.

I don’t even realize I’m crying until the first tear drips off my chin and hits the broken ground.

Because I know.

I know what I have to do. But I don’t want to do it.

She’s standing at the heart of the ruins, arms lifted, hands glowing like suns dipped in shadows. Her hair whips around her like it’s alive. She looks taller somehow. Stronger.

But hollow.

I shift back to human. “Adora,” I say, voice catching.

She doesn’t turn.

“Come to stop me?” she calls. “Or save me?”

“Both,” I breathe.

That makes her laugh. It’s broken glass and thunder.

“I don’t need saving.”

“Youdo. You just don’t know it anymore.”

She lowers her arms. The air around her shudders.

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