Home / Paranormal / His Hunger, My Curse / Chapter 46: The Rift’s Shadow

Share

Chapter 46: The Rift’s Shadow

Author: Nnenna
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-22 18:51:43

The night pressed against them, thick and unnerving.

Lena’s breath misted in the cold air as she stood among the ruins of the sanctum, her pulse still hammering from their escape. The Rift’s whisper clung to her skin like an unseen brand, a haunting presence she couldn’t shake.

She turned to Cassian. He was rigid, his silver sword still unsheathed, his jaw set in a way that told her he felt it too.

The Rift had left its mark.

And it wasn’t done with them.

Dorian exhaled, running a hand through his dark hair. “We need to move. Staying here feels like a really bad idea.”

Idris, still drained from holding Selene’s containment spell, nodded. “The Rift’s energy is still lingering. We don’t know what it might trigger if we stay too long.”

Cassian finally sheathed his sword. “We regroup at the Hollow Keep. We need answers.”

Lena swallowed hard and gave a small nod. The Hollow Keep—an ancient stronghold untouched by most. If there was any place to figure out what had happened to them, it was
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Related chapters

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 47: Whispers of the Rift

    Chapter 47: Whispers of the RiftThe air grew heavier the closer they got to the Hollow Keep.Lena could feel it pressing against her skin—an unseen force that curled around her like a shadow, whispering in a voice only she could hear. It wasn’t loud, not yet, but it was insistent. A pull that throbbed deep in her bones, beckoning her toward something she didn’t understand.She clenched her fists and kept moving.They had been walking for hours, weaving through the ruins of the ancient city that surrounded the Hollow Keep. Once, this place had been alive—thriving with people, with magic, with power. Now, it was nothing more than an abandoned skeleton, left to be swallowed by time.Dorian exhaled sharply as he kicked aside a loose stone. “I don’t like this.”“You’ve made that very clear,” Idris muttered.Dorian shot him a glare. “You’re telling me you don’t feel it? The way the air shifts, the way the ground feels wrong? Something’s waiting for us.”Idris sighed. “Of course, I feel it.

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 48: Beneath the Rift’s Shadow

    Darkness swallowed Lena whole.It was not the absence of light nor a void of colour—it was something deeper. A darkness that pulsed, that breathed. It wrapped around her like unseen tendrils, curling into her thoughts, whispering in a language she almost understood.She didn’t know if she was standing, falling, or floating.She only knew one thing.She was not alone.A presence lingered in the abyss with her. It was vast, endless—a force that stretched beyond the confines of reality.And it was watching her.Let me in.The voice—neither male nor female, neither kind nor cruel—echoed through her mind, sending tremors through her very soul.Lena gasped, forcing herself to move, to struggle. But there was no ground beneath her, no direction in which to flee.The Rift had claimed her.And it was hungry.She clenched her fists, willing herself to fight back.“I don’t belong to you,” she growled.A sound—low and amused—rippled through the darkness.Don’t you?Lena’s pulse pounded in her ear

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 49: A Rift Between Us

    Lena’s breathing was unsteady. The warmth of Cassian’s arms around her should have been grounding, but it only made the weight in her chest heavier. The Rift’s voice—the queen’s voice—still whispered in her mind, a thread of power winding through her veins.She felt Cassian’s steady gaze on her, felt the tension in his grip as if he could sense the war raging inside her.“Lena,” he murmured, voice edged with concern.She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to lean into him, to let his presence anchor her. But how could she? How could she let him hold her when she wasn’t even sure who—or what—she was anymore?A distant rumble shook the ground beneath them. The Rift’s magic was still present, still shifting, unstable.Dorian wiped dark ichor from his blade and glanced toward the warrior who had brought them here—the guardian of this cursed realm. “I assume this isn’t normal.”The guardian’s silver eyes flickered, their expression unreadable. “The Rift is waking.”Lena shivered. Waking.A

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 50: The Rift’s Claim

    The air inside the Rift pulsed like a living thing. Lena could feel it, the way the shadows shifted, curling at her feet, whispering at the edges of her mind. Every breath she took felt heavier, laced with something ancient, something inevitable.She wasn’t supposed to be here.And yet, the Rift recognized her.The guardian’s words still echoed in her head: You are the Rift’s blood.Cassian was still in front of her, a shield between her and the guardian, his grip tight on the hilt of his sword. His entire body was tense, his stance defensive—as if he could physically fight whatever truth had just unravelled.But he couldn’t.None of them could.Because this wasn’t an enemy to slay. This was fate.“I don’t accept this,” Cassian growled. “Lena isn’t going anywhere.”The guardian remained impassive. “This is not for you to decide.”Lena sucked in a sharp breath, stepping out from behind Cassian before he could stop her. “What does it mean?” Her voice was steadier than she expected. “Wha

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 51: A Fractured Fate

    Lena sat in the quiet of the Rift, her knees pulled to her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. The shadows had retreated, but their presence still lingered beneath her skin—a quiet hum, a whisper at the back of her mind.Cassian hadn’t left her side. He was watching her, his jaw tight with worry, his body tense like he was preparing for another fight.The others stood nearby, giving her space but not straying too far. Idris kept his arms crossed, his golden eyes flickering between concern and contemplation. Dorian had his back against a jagged rock, looking more exhausted than anything else.And the guardian…The guardian stood in silence, their silver gaze piercing as they regarded her."You are beginning to understand," the guardian said at last.Lena swallowed hard, her hands curling into fists against her knees. "Understand what?""That this power is not something you can refuse," the guardian replied. "It has always been a part of you. The more you fight it, the more it w

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 52: Into the Abyss

    The darkness was absolute.Lena tumbled through the void, her body weightless, her screams swallowed by the suffocating silence. Cold fingers still gripped her wrist, dragging her deeper, deeper into the Rift. Her breath came in short, panicked gasps, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t break free.Then—suddenly—the pressure vanished.She crashed onto solid ground, the impact knocking the air from her lungs. The darkness receded slightly, shifting into something less absolute. Shadows swirled around her like living things, pulsing with a strange rhythm, a heartbeat that wasn’t hers.Lena pushed herself up, wincing. The ground beneath her was smooth and black, stretching endlessly in all directions. The air was thick, humming with energy.She wasn’t alone.A figure stood in front of her.Tall, draped in flowing black robes that billowed despite the stillness. Their face was obscured by a silver mask, their hands hidden beneath long sleeves.The same presence she had felt

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 53: The Breaking Point

    The Rift trembled.A deafening roar echoed through the abyss, the darkness surging in waves, its fury unleashed. Shadows clawed at the edges of reality, twisting and writhing, desperate to consume.Lena stood at the heart of it all, her pulse a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Power thrummed beneath her skin, waiting, wanting. The Rift was still inside her, a part of her—but she was no longer just a vessel.She was something more.Cassian’s grip tightened around her wrist. “Lena, tell me you have a plan.”Dorian stepped forward, his dagger glinting. “Because if not, I’d love to hear how we’re getting out of this alive.”Idris exhaled sharply, shifting his stance. “I can hold a barrier, but not for long.” His hands trembled as another pulse of magic flickered between his fingers. The Rift was draining him. Draining all of them.The masked figure remained still, watching. Waiting.Lena swallowed hard. The Rift had been trying to claim her, twist her into something she wasn’t. But what i

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22
  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 54: The Return

    The world snapped back into focus with a rush of air and blinding light.Lena staggered as she and the others tumbled through the portal, hitting solid ground. The cold, oppressive weight of the Rift vanished, replaced by the crisp night air and the scent of earth. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe—her body still thrumming with the aftershocks of the power she had claimed.Cassian’s arms were around her before she could fall. “Easy,” he murmured, steadying her. “You’re back.”Back.She lifted her gaze, her breath catching. They were standing in the ruins of the old temple, the same place they had been before the Rift had swallowed them whole. The night sky stretched above them, moonlight illuminating the cracked stone and twisted remnants of the Rift’s influence.Dorian groaned as he pushed himself up, brushing dirt off his jacket. “That was the worst trip I’ve ever taken, and I once fell into a cursed lake.”Idris exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “We survived. That’

    Last Updated : 2025-02-22

Latest chapter

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 142: The Rift’s legacy

    The cavern felt wrong.Even though the Riftgate had disappeared, something lingered in the air—an unnatural stillness, thick with expectation. The Riftfire still simmered inside Lena, coiled like a beast waiting for permission to strike. But it wasn’t just hers anymore.It belonged to her.And she belonged to it.A cold shiver crawled up her spine, but she forced her body to move. One step. Then another.Behind her, Cassian exhaled sharply, shaking his head as he slid his daggers back into their holsters. “Alright. I have questions. Many, many questions.” His voice was light, but his eyes were sharp as they flicked toward her. “Starting with what the hell just happened?”Lena flexed her fingers, watching the faint traces of violet fire dance along her skin before flickering out. The Riftfire wasn’t resisting her anymore. It wasn’t raging. It was waiting.The realization made her stomach twist.“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice quieter than she meant it to be. “I—I felt it. The R

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 141: The Rift’s Voice

    Lena’s pulse roared in her ears. You were meant to open it. The King’s words curled around her mind like smoke, insidious and inescapable. She wanted to deny them, to cast them away like a lie. But the Riftfire inside her didn’t reject them. It recognized them. She staggered back, breath ragged. “You’re wrong.” The King only watched her, his golden eyes steady, unreadable. “Am I?” Lena clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms. “I came to close this gate, not—” A sharp pulse of power cut through her words. The Rift trembled. And suddenly, she wasn’t alone. Not just with the King. But with the echoes of something long buried. The vision struck like a lightning bolt to the skull. A battlefield. The air thick with Riftfire, burning violet against the endless night. Creatures—monstrosities—crawling from the gate, their shrieks tearing through the void. And at the center of it all— Her. Or rather— The woman who wasn’t her. The woman who was. A w

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 140: The Rift’s Song

    The pull tightened around Lena like invisible chains, wrapping around her ribs, her spine, her mind. It wasn’t violent. It wasn’t forceful. It was patient. A silent whisper, a presence at the edges of her thoughts, waiting. "Lena?" Ronan’s voice cut through the haze, grounding her. She blinked. The tunnel stretched before her, Cassian and Ronan already a few steps ahead, both watching her now—Cassian with wary confusion, Ronan with something closer to understanding. She forced herself to move. One step, then another, until the pull loosened its grip. It didn’t leave. But it let her go. For now. She exhaled slowly and followed them into the narrowing passageway. The tunnel walls pressed in, rough stone scraping against her arms. The air smelled of damp earth and something older—something untouched by time. Their footsteps echoed, the sound swallowed too quickly, as if the Rift itself was listening. No one spoke. Cassian led the way, navigating the uneven terrain wi

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 139: The Rift’s Truth

    The cavern still hummed with the remnants of Lena’s power, the air thick with the scent of scorched flesh and magic. The Riftfire coiled around her fingers like a living thing—no longer wild, no longer resisting. It had chosen her. Lena’s breath came in ragged pulls, her heart hammering against her ribs. She wasn’t just standing in the aftermath of battle; she was standing at the edge of something irreversible. She could feel it. The Rift’s presence, no longer just a force that haunted her, but a part of her. Her. Cassian took a hesitant step forward, his daggers still in hand, though his grip had loosened. “Lena… what the hell was that?” Lena swallowed hard, but the words tangled in her throat. She didn’t know how to answer. Because she didn’t fully understand it herself. Ronan was watching her closely, his jaw clenched. His sword was sheathed, but his stance hadn’t relaxed. “Your fire—” He cut himself off, then exhaled sharply. “It’s different.” Lena flexed her fingers, st

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 138: The Rift's Curse

    The ground trembled beneath Lena’s feet. Not with violence, but with recognition. The Rift knew her now. And it wanted her back. Lena’s breath came in sharp, uneven pulls as the air around her thickened, reality bending at the edges. She could feel the Rift pulling, not with brute force, but with something far worse—familiarity. She was sinking into it. Becoming part of it. No. Lena clenched her fists, summoning every ounce of willpower to push back against the weight pressing on her chest. Riftfire surged at her fingertips, flickering wildly, caught between obedience and rebellion. The King watched her struggle, his burning gaze unreadable. “You still resist.” Lena swallowed against the rising panic. “I don’t belong to this place.” The King tilted his head slightly. “No,” he agreed. “But it belongs to you.” The words struck something deep inside her, something she wasn’t ready to face. Because part of her felt it. The Riftfire inside her wasn’t just reacting

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 137: Riftborn King

    The cavern trembled as the Rift’s energy expanded outward, swallowing the air, pressing against Lena’s skin with a force so dense it was almost suffocating.The King stepped forward.He wasn’t like the mindless creatures that had come before. He wasn’t grotesque or malformed.He was whole.His form was cloaked in shadows that moved like living smoke, shifting around him in slow, deliberate waves. Beneath the darkness, glimpses of something ancient and inhuman flickered—jagged obsidian armor, silvered veins pulsing with Rift energy, a face that was too sharp, too perfect, too unnatural to belong to anything mortal.His eyes—twin voids of fire and stars—settled on Lena, and the cavern dimmed, as if the very world was bracing for what came next.A voice, low and endless, rumbled through the chamber."You are the one."Lena’s pulse pounded in her ears. Her Riftfire reacted violently to his presence, rising in defense or recognition—she wasn’t sure which.But she forced herself to stand he

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 136: Blood of the Rift

    The world tilted.Lena’s breath caught in her throat as the weight of realization slammed into her. The Rift’s power thrummed beneath her skin, but it was nothing compared to the force radiating from the woman standing before her.Her mother.No. That couldn’t be right. Her mother had died when she was a child. She had no memories beyond fleeting warmth and a lullaby whispered in the dark.And yet—The woman’s presence felt familiar.Ronan shifted closer, tension coiled in his frame. “Lena…?”Cassian didn’t speak, but his fingers tightened around the hilt of his blade.Lena swallowed hard. “Who—who are you?”The woman smiled, stepping forward. The edges of her form flickered, like she existed between realms. “You already know, child. You’ve always known.”Lena’s pulse roared in her ears. “That’s not possible.”“And yet, here I stand.”The Riftfire in Lena’s veins surged, responding to the woman’s presence like a long-lost tether being pulled taut.“No.” Lena shook her head. “You can’t

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 135: Riftfire

    Lena exhaled, steadying herself as the cavern pulsed with anticipation. The Herald stood motionless, hand still outstretched, its offer tangible in the air. The Rift’s power thrummed beneath her skin, no longer just a whisper but a steady, insistent call.This was the moment.She reached forward—then clenched her fist, drawing her hand back. “No,” she said, her voice stronger than she expected.The Herald’s expression didn’t falter, but the cavern trembled in response. “You refuse?” it asked, tilting its head.Ronan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, but his stance remained guarded. Cassian edged closer, his eyes never leaving the Herald.Lena swallowed hard. “I’m not a pawn in whatever game the Rift is playing.”The Herald regarded her with something that almost resembled amusement. “A pawn? No, Riftborn. You were never a mere piece. You were meant to be the one who shapes the board.”The cavern walls pulsed again, and the Rift’s energy surged forward like a wave.Le

  • His Hunger, My Curse    Chapter 134: The Fall

    Darkness swallowed them whole.Lena’s breath caught in her throat as the air rushed past her, cold and unrelenting. The abyss stretched endlessly below, an empty void that felt like falling through time itself.Ronan’s grip on her wrist was iron-tight. He refused to let go.Cassian was just ahead, his body twisting midair, trying to prepare for whatever awaited them below.But there was no ground.No end.Just falling.The Rift’s presence coiled around Lena’s mind, whispering in a voice that sounded so much like her own.You are home.You were never meant to run.The air shimmered.Lena gasped as reality split apart.For a single, horrifying second, she saw it—the Rift in its true form. A world between worlds. A chasm of shifting energy, pulsing with life and death, beginning and end.And at the center—a throne.A throne waiting for her.Her blood burned. The mark on her skin pulsed in time with the Rift’s heartbeat.It was trying to pull her in.No. No, I won’t—“Lena!”Ronan’s voice

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status