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Chapter 5: The Rules of the Night
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-02-02 19:39:00Lena stepped out of the car, the cool night air brushing against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. Gravel crunched beneath her boots as she hesitated, staring up at the Blackwood Estate.
The mansion loomed before her like a beast in the darkness—ancient, watching, waiting. It wasn’t just a house. It was something else entirely. Something alive. Its towering spires stretched high into the night, their blackened stone swallowing the moonlight rather than reflecting it. The ivy that clung to its walls was thick and gnarled, its creeping tendrils weaving through cracks in the stone like veins feeding a dark heart. Dimly lit windows flickered against the night, their glow feeble and muted. They reminded Lena of half-lidded eyes, observing her with quiet amusement. Behind her, the wrought-iron gates that had swung open upon their arrival stood closed once more, their twisted, claw-like designs casting jagged shadows against the cobblestone drive. It felt like a trap. It felt like she’d just walked into the belly of something hungry. Adrian stepped beside her, exuding the same effortless confidence he always carried. His silver eyes gleamed in the dim light, watching her reaction. “Welcome home,” he murmured. A strange sensation crawled up Lena’s spine. Home. The word felt foreign here. She clenched her fists. “Let’s get one thing straight—I agreed to be here, but that doesn’t mean I belong to you.” Adrian’s lips curled into a slow, knowing smile. “You say that now.” The way he said it—so certain, so absolute—made her stomach tighten. Lena wasn’t sure what unsettled her more—his confidence… or the small, treacherous part of her that wondered if he was right. Then, for the first time, she felt it. Eyes. Not just Adrian’s. Not just her own reflection in the car window. Something else. Something unseen. Watching. Waiting. She swallowed hard, fighting the instinct to turn and run. Instead, she lifted her chin. “Just tell me the rules. You seem like the type who has plenty.” Adrian let out a quiet, amused chuckle. “Clever girl.” Then, the amusement faded, replaced by something heavier. His voice, when he spoke again, was smooth, deliberate. Like the slow turning of a lock. The Rules: 1. Never leave the estate after sunset. 2. Never enter the West Wing alone. 3. Never, under any circumstances, invite anyone inside. Lena frowned. “The first one is obvious, but… what’s in the West Wing?” Adrian’s smirk vanished. His expression hardened, shadows playing along the sharp edges of his face. “Rooms meant for things far older and deadlier than me.” The words sent an involuntary chill down her spine. Lena wanted to believe he was messing with her. That this was some elaborate game to keep her on edge. But she knew. She knew from the way his voice lacked the usual teasing. From the way his gaze darkened, from the slight shift in his posture—like he was preparing for something he hoped wouldn’t happen. She exhaled slowly. “And the last rule?” Adrian’s gaze locked onto hers. For a moment, he was completely still. And then, finally, he said: “Because once you invite something inside, you can’t take it back.” Lena’s pulse jumped. Not someone. Something. An unspoken chill wrapped around her ribs. Adrian didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. She could feel it now—the house breathing. The weight of its history pressing down on her. The hushed whispers of the wind or something else curling against the walls. A single question formed in her mind. How many invitations had already been given? Adrian turned toward the mansion, his expression unreadable. “Come,” he said simply. Lena hesitated. For the first time since stepping onto this estate, she wondered if this was still a deal… or if she had already begun to lose herself to something she could never escape. Still, she forced herself forward, crossing the threshold. The heavy doors creaked as they shut behind her. The sound echoed like a final breath. Like something had just closed its jaws around her.
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His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 6: The Taste of Temptation
The Blackwood Estate pulsed with something ancient, something unseen.Lena felt it the moment she crossed the threshold—a presence thick as fog, pressing against her skin like an invisible touch.She wasn’t supposed to notice it.Most people wouldn’t.But it was there, whispering beneath her skin, curling at the edges of her thoughts.She glanced at Adrian. He walked beside her, his movements graceful and deliberate, but there was a tension in his posture, a sharpness in his gaze.Like he was waiting for something.Or someone.A shiver ran down her spine. Not from the cold—but from him.She tried to tell herself it was fear. That was the logical choice.But the part of her that still burned where his fingers had brushed hers knew better.It wasn’t just fear.It was something else.Something darker.Something hungry.Adrian led her deeper into the est
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-02His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 7: Whispers in the Dark
The fire crackled, spitting embers into the dimly lit room. The scent of burning wood mixed with something darker—an unfamiliar tension that pressed against Lena’s skin, thick as smoke.The man in the doorway smiled, a slow, knowing curve of his lips, as if he had already unraveled every secret buried inside her.Adrian moved before she could blink. One moment he was beside her, the next he was between them, his frame taut with restrained violence.“You’re not welcome here,” Adrian growled.The stranger merely tilted his head, unconcerned. He was tall, draped in a long black coat that seemed to shift with the shadows. His features were sharp, elegant in a way that made Lena uneasy. But it was his eyes that sent ice through her veins—pure black, void of light, of soul.Yet when he looked at her, something inside her stirred.A whisper. A memory. A feeling she didn’t understand.The stranger smirked. “Not welcome?” He took
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-02His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 8: The Devil’s Claim
The whisper slithered through the air, curling around Lena’s spine like unseen fingers.“Mine.”The single word sent a violent shudder through her body. It wasn’t just a voice—it was a claim, a demand, a force that wrapped around her like chains, tightening around her soul.Adrian moved before she could react, shoving her behind him, his entire body coiled with fury. The moment his fingers left her skin, she felt the loss—like something inside her had been severed.His silver eyes burned like molten steel, scanning the room with deadly intent.“Show yourself, coward,” Adrian growled, his voice low, razor-sharp.The air shifted, thickening with an ancient, electric charge. The fire in the hearth guttered, spitting embers before shrinking into a faint, dying glow. Shadows stretched unnaturally, creeping across the floor like ink spilling from an unseen wound.And then…The room darkened.Not like a candle
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-02His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 9: Bound in Fire and Shadow
Darkness swallowed everything. Lena’s body felt weightless, as if she had been pulled from reality and thrown into a void where nothing existed—no light, no time, no sense of self. Only the echo of a name, whispered in the depths of her mind. Lucien. She didn’t know how she knew it. She only knew that the moment it left her lips, something ancient and unrelenting had awakened inside her. Then— Light. A violent, blinding flash. And the sensation of falling. Lena hit the ground with a gasp, her lungs seizing as she struggled to breathe. The world snapped back into focus, but it wasn’t the world she had left behind. The Blackwood Estate was gone. She was standing in the middle of a grand hall—one she didn’t recognize, yet somehow, deep in her bones, she did. The walls were made of obsidian, the floor polished black marble t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-02His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 10: The Taste of Damnation
Lena’s breath came in shallow bursts, her body caught in the space between two worlds—two men.Adrian’s grip on her wrist was tight, but not painful. A silent plea. A desperate command.Lucien, on the other hand, held out his hand—an invitation. His black eyes glowed with the promise of knowledge, power… and something else. Something dangerous."Choose, Lena."Lucien’s voice curled around her like silk and smoke, soft but suffocating.Adrian said nothing. He didn’t beg. Didn’t demand. He just stood there, eyes burning, waiting for her to decide.Her pulse thundered.Every part of her screamed to run, to flee from them both. But the truth was far more terrifying.She didn’t want to run.She wanted answers.She wanted to understand this hunger inside her, this aching need that had been clawing at her since the moment she met them both.She took a single step forward—toward Lucien.
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-03His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 11: The Edge of Desire and Despair
Darkness swallowed Lena whole.Not the simple absence of light, but something denser, something that slithered through her mind like smoke curling through the cracks of an old house. It seeped into her bones, into her thoughts, filling the spaces between her heartbeats. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t breathe.And then—Heat.A pulse of warmth against her skin, like fire struggling against the void. A voice, rough and desperate, calling her name.“Lena—”The darkness splintered.She gasped, lungs burning as if she’d been holding her breath for hours. Her body was heavy, her limbs sluggish as she blinked against the swirling shadows. A cold hand gripped her wrist—not cruel, but insistent, tethering her to something real.Adrian.She knew it before she saw him, before her vision sharpened enough to take in the strong lines of his face, the silver of his eyes burning against the darkness. His expression was
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-03His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 12: Shadows of the Past
A dense, eerie silence filled the room as the darkness around Lena and Adrian slowly receded. The weight of what had just happened clung to the air, thick and suffocating. Shadows curled at the edges of the walls, reluctant to fully release their grip on reality. Lena’s pulse pounded in her ears, her breath uneven as she tried to ground herself. The name she had spoken—Lucien—still lingered on her tongue like a forbidden curse. Adrian held her close, his arms locked around her protectively, his chest rising and falling with slow, controlled breaths. His grip was firm, but she could feel the tension in him—his muscles coiled, his heartbeat hammering against her own. She pulled back just enough to look up at him. "Tell me," she whispered, barely recognizing her own voice. "No more secrets." Adrian’s jaw tightened. His silver eyes were stormy, torn between hesitation and something deeper—something he didn’t want to say.
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-03His Hunger, My Curse Chapter 13: Veins of Destiny
The darkness lingered in the corners of the room like a weight that Lena couldn’t shake. Every breath she took felt heavier than the last, as if the air itself had thickened with anticipation, tightening its grip on her chest. Adrian stood in the center of the room, his back to her, his broad shoulders stiff with the tension that emanated from him.She could see his hands flexing by his sides, as if he was holding himself back from something—something dangerous. Something that might snap at any moment.“Adrian,” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure if she was calling to him or simply trying to ground herself in the midst of the storm swirling inside her. “What’s going to happen?”His shoulders tensed further, but he didn’t turn around. “I don’t know.” His voice was strained, but there was an underlying hardness to it that sent a shiver down her spine. “The rules have changed. And now... now it’s out of our hands.”Lena’s heart thudded painfully i
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-03
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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
