Page 195 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I caught sight of myself in the mirror as I stumbled around, naked and wet. My gray eyes were intense, frenzied. My long, damp hair was a tangled mess. Jagged scars in various symbols littered my body, including one over my heart.

I glared at Juliette’s handiwork. It wasn’t nearly satisfying enough to hear Aster betray her. I needed to see her bleed.

I needed tomakeher bleed.

When the sight of me nude and wearing what was essentially Aster’s collar was too much to stomach, I turned away from the mirror.

Before I could continue my search for a makeshift weapon, a chill swept down my spine.

I heard my own giggle.

But my mouth was closed. I whirled back around, heart thumping as I faced my own reflection.

Except while I remained nude, my reflection was now wearing a pastel purple dress. She smiled at me, lifting a finger to her plump pink lips.

She made a come-hither motion while hooded eyes scanned my body.

Okay, yep, I’d officially lost my damn mind.

Even still, I approached. Because what the fuck else was I supposed to do?

“Does Kylo love me?” my reflection asked.

I studied her in confusion. “Of course.”

“Would he ever betray me?”

“Never.”

What kind of cosmic lesson was this? And how was I able to vision with my power blocked? Unless of course, this truly was a hallucination of the psychotic variety.

She sighed. “That sounds really beautiful.”

My voice was shaky with emotion. “Being loved by Kylo is like staring up at the vastness of the cosmos and not feeling small. He has seen and studied all of me and fallen in love with every piece. Loving each other is worship.”

Our lips curved, and our eyes grew glassy.

“A devotion to life itself.”

Her smile faded. She nodded her head. A coldness snuck into her eyes as she looked down at her lilac dress. “Time to learn how it feels.”

“What?”

I blinked, and for a moment, the mirror was empty. But as soon as my fingers brushed the glass, my nude form reappeared. Our confused faces matched perfectly.

At the sound of a knock, I jolted. “Just a moment,” I called.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood in high alert, as if I’d seen a ghost. I pulled a towel around me. I searched the bathroom once more for a weapon.

Aster barged in.

“Are you all right?”

Translation: I was tired of waiting, and I’m going to pretend that my intrusion was for your benefit.

Calling him out would be useless, so I merely admitted defeat. He led me out of the room and had me lie on a loveseat. I was feverish and disoriented.

His breath hitched when he gingerly pried the towel out of my death grip. Tears brimmed my eyes as he applied healing salve to my nude form.