Page 44 of Marked By His Hunger

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She belonged here.

I still felt like I’d slipped through a crack I wasn’t meant to find.

“They really shouldn’t make people go through the portal alone if they get this sick,” she said after a moment, frowning slightly.

I huffed a quiet laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to leave a review. ‘Great school, almost died crossing dimensions, would recommend with Dramamine.’”

That got a smile out of her.

But even as we joked, my mind drifted.

Because it wasn’t the sickness that lingered.

It wasn’t even the shock of everything I’d seen since arriving—the levitating lights, the runes that pulsed like they were alive, the girl in one of my classes whose eyes had glowed gold when she got annoyed.

No.

It was the sound.

That roar.

It had rolled across the sea just before we crossed fully into this realm.

Deep.

Raw.

Agonized.

Not quite animal.

Not quite human.

Something ancient.

Something furious.

Something in pain.

And it had hit me—physically—like a punch straight to the chest.

I’d staggered. Gasped. Grabbed onto the edge of the portal frame like it was the only thing keeping me grounded.

No one else had reacted.

No one else had even noticed.

But I had.

And the worst part?

It hadn’t scared me.

Not the way it should have.

It had called to something in me.

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