Page 144 of Marked By His Hunger
Eventually, the nurse came back, checked me over, and cleared me to leave.
“Try not to summon anything catastrophic tonight, ladies,” she said dryly.
“I’ll do my best,” I replied.
“No promises,” Emery added.
We left after a little while together.
The four of us moved through the winding halls of the Asgarheim Runevald Institute without hurrying or worrying.
And it should have felt good.
It should have felt grounding.
Safe.
Instead—it felt off.
The castle wasn’t the same.
Or maybe I wasn’t.
The walls seemed to watch now.
The runes pulsed a little stronger.
The air felt heavier.
Like something had noticed me.
Outside, the storm hadn’t calmed.
If anything—it had deepened.
My stomach growled.
Loudly.
Embarrassing me.
I pressed a hand against it automatically.
“Didn’t they feed you?” Emery asked.
I shook my head. “No, I never got around to eating.”
“That’s not okay,” Ursula said immediately.
She dug into her bag and handed me a wrapped cookie. “Here. Lemon shortbread. I grabbed it earlier.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking it.
I bit into it.
Sweet.
Buttery.
