BLAZE – POV
I left her in the bathroom, thinking she'd be in there for hours. That was the plan.
Let her have privacy. Let her breathe. Let her body ease, even if her mind never could—not in this house, not with me.
So I left.
But not far. Not long.
Just enough to feed.
Just enough to keep the monster from surfacing when I touched her again.
Because the humans in this castle?
They didn't fear anymore.
They were numb. Doll-eyed and docile. No trembling pulses. No sharp rush of adrenaline singing through their blood. No real thrill.
A feeding from them was like drinking from a corpse that still blinked.
So I left the castle.
I went to the village.
It was easier when the prey ran.
When they screamed.
There's something sacred in the chase—a prayer in every footstep they take away from me. It calls the older part of me forward. The one I keep caged behind politeness and silk. The one my father bred, sharpened, then feared.
