Amelia had read the records. Parasites were scavengers—bottom feeders who survived by attaching themselves to stronger hosts, eating their emotions and manipulating from the shadows. They weren't warriors. They weren't conquerors.
And yet the thing before her—the abomination that had once been Freedman—was radiating a power that made even the air tremble.
That wasn't the strength of a parasite.
That was something else. Something wrong.
The snow swirled violently as the monster let out a guttural roar, a sound that seemed to scrape at her mind rather than her ears. The world dimmed for a heartbeat, the light of her magic flickering under the sheer pressure of it.
She swallowed hard, forcing her hands to stop shaking.
'This… this isn't something I can face head-on.'
Her eyes darted to Julies again—his figure barely visible through the flurry of snow and shadow.
He wasn't running.
He wasn't hesitating.
If anything, the faint grin on his face suggested he was enjoying this.
