Page 149 of Claimed In Darkness

Faster than I should be able to, considering I am still bleeding.

The wound she gave me burns with every step, but I welcome it.

I need it to push me harder.

It is the only thing keeping me grounded.

The only thing keeping me from losing my sanity.

The only thing that reminds me?—

She is still out there.

And she belongs to me.

I don’t give a damn about what the High Council has poisoned her with.

I don’t give a damn what the relic is turning her into.

I don’t care that she stabbed me, walked away, looked me in the eye and made me watch her leave.

She is still mine.

And I will burn this entire fucking kingdom to the ground before I let them take her from me.

She thinks she is careful.

That she is covering her tracks.

She slips deeper into the shadows, sinking into the hands of the men who think they own her now.

But she’s wrong. I see the trails everywhere.

She was to be found.

By me.

I follow the scent of blood, the whispers of her name, the rumors of a girl too dangerous to be human, too wild to be controlled.

I follow the destruction she leaves behind.

Even when she tries to become something else?—

She is still Naira.

And Naira?

She was always destined to be chased.

The city is burning.

From her.

I watch from the shadows as she moves through the streets, her body coiled tight, her hands stained red.

She is already fighting.

Already killing.

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