Page 229 of Marked By His Hunger

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This place did not pretend to be safe.

It did not hide its power.

It simply was.

Serena shifted slightly in my arms as we descended, her gaze lifting as the structure came into full view.

“Raven…”

I felt the awe ripple through her.

Good.

She should feel it.

This place had once been feared.

Respected.

Avoided.

And for a very long time—abandoned.

I landed in the courtyard, stone cracking faintly beneath the force of my wings folding inward.

Silence followed.

Not empty.

Waiting.

This castle recognized me.

It always had.

But now—it recognized her as well.

The runes along the walls flickered faintly, reacting to her presence, to the bond, to the shift in what I had become.

I set her down slowly but did not release her.

Not fully.

I never wanted to.

“This,” I said, my voice quieter than I expected, “is my actual home since coming here, Unnasta.”

The words felt strange.

Unfamiliar.

Because they had not been true for a very long time.

“Though I’ve not dwelled here for an age,” I continued, my gaze sweeping over the courtyard, the towers, the worn stone that had once echoed with voices long gone. “Because it never felt like home.”

Not with the curse.

Not with the hunger.

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