Page 230 of Marked By His Hunger
Not with the constant fear that I would become something that destroyed everything around me.
But now—I looked down at her.
And everything changed.
“With you now,” I began, my voice roughening slightly, “there is possibility.”
Her eyes softened.
Gods.
That look.
That trust.
That certainty.
It undid me far more thoroughly than any hunger ever had.
“I know there is much to do at the Institute,” I went on, forcing the words out before I lost them entirely. “Much to learn. Much to control.”
Especially now.
Especially with what she had become.
What we had become.
“But I thought—” I paused, something unfamiliar tightening in my chest, something dangerously close to hesitation, “perhaps we could continue our studies and live here. Together.”
The words felt fragile.
Ridiculous.
Hopeful.
“Make a home with me?” I finished quietly. “A future?”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Not because I feared rejection.
But because I realized—I had never asked for anything like this before.
Not in all my years.
Not in all my cursed existence.
Serena stepped closer.
Not away.
Never away.
“On Asgarheim?” she asked softly.
“Yes,” I said. “Earth is not the place for me. I cannot hide my true face for long.”
I let the truth sit there.
