Page 183 of Crave

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Jude.

A bruise that never healed.

And then?—

And then.

Gabe—

My eyes fluttered open.

The man from my mind—the shadowed monster—stood over me.

Real. Solid. Close.

Run.

It was the last word Gabe said to me. Screamed at me.

The old me would have.

But I didn’t run this time.

My lips moved. Sluggish. Dry. Curling as I formed the sound. “F…”

The monster tilted his head. Watching. Waiting.

“F-fuck… you.”

Confusion flickered in his face. Only for a second. A breath.

But it was enough.

Every touch my brothers ever gave me roared back.

Every flicker of desire. Every scream of rage.

Every broken thing they loved in me.

And I used it.

A shiver tore through me.

He felt it.

“Are you fighting us, little flame?” he asked, crouching closer. Voice like poison honey. “Are you fighting my hold on you?”

Yes.

Yes, I was.

Not for me.

For them.

A smile cut across his mouth. Slow. Cruel.

“It doesn’t matter.”

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