Page 69 of Marked By His Hunger

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I didn’t see it.

But I felt it.

Like heat behind my sternum.

Like breath on the back of my neck.

Like something vast and starved had just taken notice.

Not malicious.

Not yet.

But still hungry.

The word slid through me like ice.

Hungry.

Why did that thought feel personal?

“Serena,” Ursula said quietly. “You’re pale.”

“I feel,” I trailed off.

Claimed.

The word came unbidden.

That was ridiculous.

I didn’t belong to anyone.

Especially not in a realm I’d been in for less than a week.

Another crack of thunder split the sky.

A glass shattered behind the bar.

Students flinched.

Rune lights along the tavern beams flared briefly.

The Institute wards really were responding.

To what? To me?

Or to whatever had sensed me?

Dietrich leaned forward, no longer teasing.

“So, Serena, you know Necromancers are rare,” he said. “Especially untrained ones.”

“That’s comforting,” I muttered.

“It means you’re powerful.”

“I don’t feel powerful,” I snapped.

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