She’s a virgin.
A vicious jolt of hunger rips through me, locking my muscles tight, so suddenly that my shadows snap. One coils around my wrist, bracing, like it just heard the filthiest fucking secret.
A Daughter’s power manifests after her first time, and I know that if she had claimed her power, she would’ve used it.
But she didn’t.
Because she’s untouched.
Still her own.
Something deep inside me shifts. Not just hunger. Not just the need to possess.
Something worse. Something older.
Something that knew her name before light broke the dark.
Before the stars screamed themselves into existence.
It’s a hunger to awaken her. It has to be me. It will be me.
My shadows squeeze tighter, curling against my chest. They feel it too.
What the hell is happening to me?
I’d flay myself down to muscle and sinew if she whispered her delicate, desirous prayers with her teeth against my throat. I’d carve my own heart out and bleed for her vicious joy. And when she’s ready—when she finally understands what she is—I’ll build her a throne from the bones of those who wronged her. I’ll weave it with wildflowers, soft and delicate, so she never forgets she’s exalted.
And I will kneel at her feet, patiently waiting for her command. Because I am the knife she holds. The storm she calls. The monster who would torch creation, just to watch the firelight dance in her eyes.
I press my hands against the desk, grounding myself, but it’s fucking useless.
Every instinct in my body is screaming. Every pulse of my shadows demands that I go to her, that I make sure—make goddamn sure—she doesn’t waste herself on some human who isn’t worthy of touching her.
This is it. This is where I finally lose my fucking mind.
I’ve devoured men alive, burned cities to the ground, shattered empires with my bare hands, but this? This is what breaks me?
Some tiny, freckled thing with fire in her blood and a sharp fucking mouth?
My shadows ripple with quiet amusement. One curls around my throat, petting me like I’m some trembling little beast in need of reassurance.
I snarl, baring my teeth as I shove it off.
Pathetic.
Utterly fucking pathetic.
But none of it changes the fact that I’m already on my feet, already moving, already pulling on my coat like I don’t know exactly what I’m about to do. The chime of my grandfather clock interrupts the battle between the white knight and the black monster in my head.
Shit.
She’s going on her little date. With a human.A human.
I should let her go. Let her play.
Let her scrape her knees and come home crying.
But I won’t because she’s mine. She just doesn’t know it yet.
