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The moment he appears, I strike.

My shadows coil like living things at my command, lashing out, grabbing, tearing, wrenching him through the gloom with a force that rattles the very bones of this wretched place.

Rad barely has time to snarl before I slam him into the ground, the impact splitting the earth beneath us. The air trembles with the force of it, trees groaning, fog swirling, the Evergloom itself reacting to my fury.

“You dare touch what is mine? ” My voice is a death rattle, as lethal as a blade before it slips between ribs and steals the breath from a man’s lungs.

Rad lets out a sharp laugh, unfazed by the way my shadows coil tighter around his limbs. “Didn’t have to dare, Deathling,” he grits out, flashing sharp, wolfish teeth. “She wanted it.”

I lift him from the broken dirt, shadows still gripping his limbs, only to slam him down again. He chokes on the impact but grins up at me through bloodied teeth.

“You have taken what does not belong to you,” I grind out, shadows lashing around him, slithering under his skin like poison.

Rad simply smirks, the infuriating beast licking his split lip like he’s savoring the taste of my rage. “You sure about that?” he breathes. “Because from where I was buried inside her, she sure as hell felt like mine.”

A growl rumbles deep in my chest, low and guttural, vibrating through the air between us. Lies. But the scent of her still lingers in the Evergloom, clinging to his skin, soaked into his fur, and— worse —laced with something more potent than fear. Something I was never meant to know.

Desire. Her desire.

It’s wrong. It’s unnatural. It’s a twisting, aching thing inside me that I do not care for— do not want —but cannot rid myself of.

I watched.

I felt it.

The way her fear bled into something richer, the way she came alive beneath him, the way her moans had turned into something sinful and?—

I saw it all.

And I hungered.

But not for her death.

Not in the way I was meant to. Not in the way I was created to.

And this nightmare of a demon dared to block my path to her, used his powers to shield her from me. In my domain, my realm.

Snarling, I tighten my hold, shadows snapping taut like chains, dragging Rad upright. His feet barely touch the ground before I drive my fist into his ribs. Crack. He wheezes, but his laughter only deepens.

“What’s the matter, Steo?” he taunts, fangs bared in something between an irritating grin and a snarl. “Feeling a little off lately?”

I don’t hesitate. I lunge. My claws rake across his chest, cutting deep, dark ichor spilling into the dirt. Rad staggers but catches himself, licking the blood from his fingers with infuriating nonchalance.

“You’re angry,” he muses, rolling his shoulders as his wounds already begin to close. “But not because I touched her.” He tilts his head, eyes gleaming, reading me in ways I do not like. “No… you’re angry because you watched. Because you felt it too.”

He’s not wrong. And I loathe him for it.

The Evergloom pulses with my fury. The hunger inside me tightens, curls. It doesn’t want to feed on her final breath anymore. It wants to taste what he had. What she gave.

I lash out again, my shadows striking like whips, sending him flying into a jagged tree. The trunk explodes on impact, splinters and shards of bark spraying into the Gloom. Rad groans, shaking off the debris, and when he rises, his grin has sharpened.

“You’re slipping,” he taunts, tail flicking as he cracks his neck. “It’s adorable.”

I lunge again, shadows surging, but this time, he meets me. We clash in a violent storm of teeth, claws, and raw power. His strength is brutal, wild, all fanged grins and savage strikes. But mine— mine —is precise. Cold. Unrelenting. Deadly. I am Death after all.

We slam into the ground, tearing at each other like beasts, the very fabric of the Evergloom trembling under the onslaught.

Rad’s claws tear into my shoulder, sending a deep burn of scorching pain through my body and fury in my shadows. I snarl in his face, fangs bared. I drive my knee into his ribs, twisting, pinning him. Shadows stretch and writhe like living things in my domain, not just dark matter but extensions of my will, wrapping around his throat, tightening like iron bands.

His tail lashes around my ankle, yanks me off balance, and he flips me, slamming me into the dirt so hard the realm groans beneath us.

He looms above, frost-blue eyes blazing, breath ragged.

And then—he smirks.

“She even prefers the human boy toy over you,” he drawls. “Poor Bone Daddy. How’s it feel being the fourth wheel?”

That name again. Bone Daddy. Complete and utter nonsense.

I roar, my shadows exploding outward?—

Rad laughs, then, with a flicker of darkness, he vanishes.

I remain standing amidst the ruins of our battle, breath wild, uncontrolled. The hunger still lingers and the scent of her still clings to the air. And worse—I crave it.

This is not over.

Not by a long shot.