The void sealed behind Lucian, and I was alone with him.
Not alone. Never alone. Malevolent was everywhere here, in every non-existent breath, every impossible shadow. He WAS this place, and I was just a rat trapped in the belly of a snake.
I had been tempted to keep Lucian in with me, to have a familiar face.
But seeing him was enough to rouse my confidence Malevolent had ruthlessly been chipping at ever since he possessed me.
"That was foolish," his voice resonated through my bones, through the essence of what I was. "Now you have no one to share your suffering."
"Good." I turned to face the presence that had been violating my body, my mind, my very soul for days. The rage that flooded through me was cleaner than anything I had felt since he'd taken me. "I don't want anyone else here for what comes next."
