Page 154 of Marked By His Hunger
“You are doomed,” I muttered to myself.
Because I knew the truth.
I could stay away.
I could hide.
I could pretend this was control.
But sooner or later—the hunger would win.
And when it did—it would not be blood I craved most.
It would be her.
Chapter 18-Serena
The first month at the Asgarheim Runevald Institute felt less like orientation and more like controlled chaos.
Graduate school for supernaturals was hardcore.
We weren’t eighteen-year-old freshmen figuring out dorm life and cafeteria schedules.
Some of us—like me—were pushing thirty, fully formed, supposedly grown.
Others? They were ancient. Powerful. Monstrous in the most literal sense.
Creatures who had walked battlefields and other realms long before my ancestors ever set foot in New Jersey and they were still here to learn more.
It was fantastic.
Terrifying.
Mind-bending.
Learning about the multiverse and the planes of existence magical beings could traverse nearly blew my mind apart.
The idea that reality wasn’t singular but layered—stacked like invisible cities atop one another—lit something inside me.
I loved learning.
Always had.
Eternal student, that was my thing.
If there was a syllabus, I’d read it twice.
If there was extra credit, I’d volunteer.
But the truth?
Even with all of this—I was distracted.
I tried to forget it.
Forget him.
Asgarheim didn’t make that easy.
