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“Yes, you are. Well, you’re also dying—even though you already did technically die—but…details.” He shrugged mockingly. “Who needs them?” He winked as he leaned back on his throne, chuckling at his own joke.

The sense of privilege exuding from him made my skin crawl.

“What I mean to say, my dear, is that the hunger you feel is most certainly not the kind you remember. It’s not food, nor vengeance, although you definitely are feeling that urge right now, I’m sure.” He stopped and grinned at me, smugness oozing from his voice. “No—you see, what you desire are hearts of darkness, my dear.”

My face contorted in confusion. “Hearts of darkness?” I asked, tired of not understanding anything that was going on anymore. “What the hell does that mean?”

Layne watched me with a cold fascination, his golden eyes gleaming like two lanterns in the shadows. He drifted closer, beckoning the water with his hands to propel him forward at his behest. “Oh yes, that’s the price for all of this,” he gestured towards me. “Every gift comes with a price. You must feed on the darkness within those whose hearts have already been hollowed out by its rot.” He paused, craning his head towards me. “I think you know a good amount of those…wouldn't you say?” He waved his hand, and a reflective mirror made of shadow and bubbles appeared before my face. The mirror showed the very man who had done this to me—Preston Willows.

I seethed with rage at the sight of him, and the water around me boiled in response. I let out a violent scream that shattered the mirror into shards before bursting into a flurry of bubbles.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Stop with the riddles.” I clenched my fists, exhausted with his games.

Layne circled me slowly. “Everyone carries darkness in their hearts. Men, women—I won't discriminate!” His lips curled. “Some more than others, of course. These people carry a darkness so vile and corrupted inside their hearts. You know the type, need I remind you again of why you’re here?” he said sarcastically, tapping my chest right above my heart.

I scoffed, glaring at him as I swatted his hand away.

Layne's expression flickered, a gleam of mischievousness behind his eyes. “You can think of those hearts, the ones you’ll feed upon as, well…appetizers,” he chuckled. “There are said to be rarer ones out there—hearts of true darkness.”

The rage continued to surge through my body, still unclear on what anything he said meant. “And what the hell am I supposed to do with that? What’s so special about them?”

Layne drifted closer, his voice dropping low as it ghosted across my ear. “They say hearts of true darkness hold a special kind of power. The ability to reshape and break things…” He paused, his golden eyes beaming. “But! That’s just rumors and stories, nothing for you to worry about, darling. Besides, you've barely taken your first breath down here.” His fingers twirled the locks of hair that floated around my face. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

I growled, my patience at its limits. “I don't give a shit about that! How does that stop this pain?”

“Marvelous question!” Layne said, raising his hand, the glow of golden light and undulating shadows pulsing in his grasp. The water around him warped into a smoky haze. “Well, let me just show you, shall I?”

He thrust out his hand, birthing a volley of shadowy magic that landed in front of me. A figure began to take shape—a man, and one I recognized. He looked short, broad-shouldered, and rough, the gleam of malice in his eyes, of which I couldn't possibly forget. It was one of Preston’s goons. I could almost smell the stench of rum as he loomed in front of me with a spellbound look in his eye, swathed in shadows.

I couldn't tell whether the man was truly there or if he was just a manifestation of Layne’s magic and my own memory. But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was the feeling that tugged at my chest to rip him apart. Layne's golden eyes gleamed as he looked on with delight. I could tell he was really enjoying this.

“You feel that...don't you? Yes, my dear, that tug at your chest will always be there to guide you, like a lighthouse in the dead of night. Follow it, and you will find the ones that will satiate that hunger.”

I could barely hold myself back from the feeling inside. I wanted nothing more than to rip into the magical manifestation of Preston’s lackey. The invisible tug pulled all throughout my body, like one of those marionette puppets. “What do I do? Show me!” I begged, my voice pleading more than I would have liked.

“Like this!” Layne’s shape began to ripple into a cloudy mix of shadows and golden light, as the darkness around him grew double in size, almost engulfing me. As the whirlwind of magic faded and the darkness thinned, I could see him transformed into something else entirely.

Something monstrous.

I looked on in terror as dark veins burst across Layne’s form and he twisted into something nightmarish and brutish. The once handsome and alluring man was now transformed into something truly sinister. His arms elongated and bulged with muscles, his fingers now distended into obsidian claws, far more terrifying than my own, and chains of shadows snaked around his body.

His claws gleamed like the weapons they had now become, and he raised his arm back in preparation to strike. He moved with impossible speed, plunging his clawed hand into the conjured man’s chest, like a knife slicing through paper.

Just as fast as it had happened, it came to an end. Layne's monstrous form dissipated back into the wicked man who had been both my angel and devil all at once. He held something out to me in his hand—a still beating heart. It dripped with inky shadows and a glowing golden light that seemed to mimic its rhythmic beating.

As I looked at the heart in his hands, the hunger inside of me took over, and the craving fully ignited within me. What would have easily repulsed me before now made a desire roar inside every cell of my body. All my rage and yearning burst within me as I lurched forward and snatched the darkened heart from his hands.

Everything around me faded, and my gaze remained transfixed on the heart in my hands as the hunger gnawed at my insides, growing even stronger.

Layne's eyes glowed, burning with excitement as he watched me like a caged animal in a zoo. As if I were some kind of pet to him that was about to devour its meal.

“Take it, Evelyn. Devour the darkness. That is your lifeforce now…”

My gaze darted between Layne and the heart pulsing in my hands, and as if by instinct, I brought it towards my mouth.

The swirling inky darkness responded to my touch, and I could have sworn I heard a melodic hymn buzzing from within it. The darkness around the heart grew, funneling from it in thick, smoky tendrils of shadow threaded with golden light. It coiled and twisted, drawing itself towards my mouth like a snake returning to its home. The feeling was irresistible as I inhaled it, the darkness funneling into me while the golden light streamed down my throat.

A vibrating hum of a melody I couldn’t place settled itself in my throat—quietly singing inside me, diffusing into my veins and limbs.