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“S-Sorry, do I know…you? You look so familiar…”

His gaze dropped to my hands. He gasped, crawling backward.

I looked down at my glamour as it flickered back at me. Black scales and taloned claws peeked beneath the sheen of the waning illusion, the magic failing from the wave of emotions that had struck me.

“Wha—What are you?” Eddie’s voice shook, his back pressed tight against the now soulless carcass of my home.

The question sat in the silence, hanging in the air as I considered my response.

But I didn’t have one. At least not one that would ease his mind. Nothing to make me not sound like a monster.

But that is exactly what I am now, I thought.

Everything inside of me screamed to run. But my legs wouldn't move, my brain no longer listening to reason or my own humanity, if there was even any left.

And I was just so, so, fucking hungry. The desire washed over me, and the same feeling I’d had down in the depths with Layne returned. The hunger’s hooks pulled at me, dragging me forward instead of away.

I looked at Eddie, the swirling sheen of darkness slowly undulating off him. It didn’t look or feel anything like the kind I’d seen from the conjured man, but it still pulled at my chest, whispering in my ear to take it.

My pulse quickened, glacial-blue eyes cutting through the night back at him.

“I’m sorry, Eddie.” My voice shook as I moved toward him, the glamour on my legs weakening. “I’m so…sorry.”

The hunger roared inside me, drowning out everything else. The grief, the guilt, the horror of everything I’d just learned—all of it paled in comparison to the hunger inside. My claws were desperate to plunge inside his chest, devouring every bit of inky darkness that lived within his heart. It was nothing like what I had felt with Layne—this was softer, sadder even, worn down by a life of cold nights and an empty stomach.

But it was still darkness. And I was starving.

I need it.

Eddie pressed his back against the wall as I towered over him, wild eyes burning back at him.

“Please—please. I don't understand what's happening,” he begged, stumbling backward.

Shadows as black as my scales curled from my clawed hand as I reached out toward Eddie. My throat was already vibrating with power, ready to silence and paralyze him with fear. It was a kindness to make this easy.

Take it, Evelyn. Devour the darkness, it is your lifeforce now. Layne’s words echoed in my mind, driving me forward.

I was so close now. Close enough to feel his fear. To taste the darkness in the air as it radiated off him. Close enough to⁠—

“Miss Evelyn?...Is–Is that..you?”

The name hit me like the cold water of the Bay, ripping me out of the hunger’s drunken grasp.

His voice came out small, unsure, and trembling. His eyes searched my face, recognizing something familiar beneath the monster standing over him.

Bless you, Miss Evelyn. Your mama raised you right.

Eddie's words came back to haunt, shattering my crazed trance, ripping me back to the moment.

What the fuck am I doing?

I stumbled backward, my throat tightening, unable to let the words or sobs find a way out. I looked down at my hands—my claws—primed to rip, hunt, and devour. What the fuck was I becoming?

The hunger screamed inside me despite it all, clawing at my chest, begging me to finish what I’d started. The weight pressed down on me, demanding I give in to its pull.

The world around me spun, and my vision darkened at the edges.

I had to get out of here.