The first thing I felt was hunger. Not the kind that gnawed at your stomach but the kind that gnawed at your soul. Sharp, electric, pulsing through my veins like liquid lightning.
I sat up too fast.
The room spun.
“Easy,” a voice said gently from the shadows.
Kael.
I didn’t answer. My skin itched like it didn’t belong to me, like something beneath it was trying to claw its way out. I could smell the forest through the stone walls, and hear the heartbeat of a bird outside the window. My vision flickered—once, twice—and then I saw the veins in Kael’s neck pulse with every beat.
I flinched.
“What did you do to me?” My voice sounded like cracked glass, full of sharp edges.
Kael stepped forward, eyes calm but unreadable. “I didn't do this. You were always meant to become. I only gave yo
