Eve
His talons ripped into my side, my body lurching against the agony that blossomed. I bit back a scream, gulping down the sound as my jaw set in desperate determination. I opened my mouth to tell him I was not the enemy, that I would never hurt or fight him, but I was cut short...
By his talons plunging into my now bleeding side, deep and without trepidation, I choked on a gasp as my eyes found his through the veil of anguish that was pulled over me, ripping the strength from my body, hope from my soul.
We held our gazes like that, his jaw grounded, teeth grating, shoulders bunched, face filled with—filled with betrayal masked as fury. But beneath the snarl, beneath the war mask he wore like second skin—I saw it. The fracture.
A flicker of something ancient and wounded.
His pupils shook. His breath caught.
And for a single heartbeat, I felt his pain merge with mine—not as enemies, not as monsters in war, but as two souls broken by the same curse.
