thrumming with the hope he’d return and finish what they’d started.

And it had freaked the hell out of her.

Just as daylight was breaking, with her wrapped tightly in the fur nearly hyperventilating due to stress, she’d heard him leave.

Perhaps he thought she was asleep, but she knew he must have left to obtain her water like he’d promised. He wouldn’t be gone long, maybe an hour or two, but Reia had started moving.

She’d dressed in her green gown, made sure her amulet circlet was firmly in place, grabbed a dagger, and jimmied the lock until the door opened. He probably thought locking it would be enough to keep her inside, but Reia had been barred inside her house in the village so many times that she’d taught herself how to break through them.

Then she bolted, heading toward what she thought was the way to the Veil’s cliff edge so she could escape.

The smart thing to do would be to wait until he left to hunt, when he might truly be gone for hours. But after what they’d done...

Reia couldn’t stay, refused to stay.

I am NOT going to be one of those people that falls in love with their captor. She couldn’t remember what the word was

– she wasn’t thinking straight enough to. But Reia didn’t want Stockholm Syndrome to be in her future.

I can’t believe I came because of him.

Her breaths sawed through her lungs as she continued to sprint, thankful her bath was hiding her scent and she hadn’t seemed to come across any Demons hunting her.

He’s a Duskwalker! I let a Duskwalker lick me!

And she had wanted him to. Once more, shame crashed through her like a fist to her very soul. I’m a pervert. People would laugh at me. Not that she actually cared what anyone thought of her, a harbinger of bad omens. But she was using

anything she could to fuel her feet to keep moving like her heels were on fire.

Which they were, filled with cold as she lacked any shoes.

None of the other offerings had feet that were the right size for her. Her feet weren’t dainty, but they sure made her fast.

She groaned when a part of her wanted to turn back in hopes he might run his tongue over her again. Okay, fine. I like his stupid tongue, and glowing eyes, and bony face, and his stupid smell. Why does he even smell so good anyway?

It was evil, calling for her to want to sin in its embrace.

She refused to turn back despite that she liked how sweet and thoughtful he had been. He thought he hurt me. And his reaction was so damn... adorable.

Guilt weighed on her, though. She was running away, fleeing, and she was sure that was going to hurt him. Why should I care if he’s lonely? He can find someone else to be with, someone that actually wants to live in the Veil.

No one wanted to live in the Veil.

Who cares if I’m the first one who made trinkets with him?

She continued to sprint. Who cares if I’m the first one who had wanted to sit in his garden? She had to stop her feet from slowing when she thought, who cares if I’m the first one that had wanted him to touch them?

And she knew that was the truth, simply because he hadn’t understood about why she’d bled. She was the first human he’d taken the virginity of; Reia knew that deep down to her soul.

Am I really the first one who wanted him to touch them?

Her eyes bowed in sadness for him. But he’s not so bad.

He’s gentle, and sweet, and he just wanted to make me happy. She was sure he’d tried to do the same for all of them.

She knew he’d been taking humans for over a hundred years at least, maybe even two. Had no one else seen this in him?

His touch in the bath was filled with care, wanting to make sure they were protected within his home. The amulet, the salt circle, the dill trinkets. He wasn’t a beast trying to lure humans into feeding him.

Am... Am I running away because I like him? Was that why Reia had done this, something even she considered very, very stupid?

She sprinted harder, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. I don’t want to like him. I don’t want to be excited by his touch, his voice. I... don’t want this.

Trapped in the Veil, surrounded by a gloomy forest that was quite beautiful in its own way. It was filled with monsters that would eat her.

It didn’t matter that his home was warm and cosy. That it had a nice garden that actually had sunlight. That it had him in it.

Reia grunted when she tripped over something, feeling her amulet dislodging and pulling from her hair. It bounced away and she went to go to her hands and knees so she could get up.

She tripped again, losing her dagger this time, then she felt her foot tangled in something. She turned to dislodge her foot and ended up wrapping it further in whatever had her trapped.

Her brows drew together into a tight crease when she could see something wispy and white surrounding her foot.

She yanked her foot and it yanked her back.

Leaning forward to pull it off, the substance stuck to her fingertips and her hand caught also. Stuck to whatever it was, she wrapped her other hand around her wrist to try to yank it away. It remained firm, keeping her to it by both her hand and foot.

What the hell is it? She relaxed her tugging and inspected the wispy, sticky substance. Her eyes widened as dread so cold crept through her it chilled her all the way down to her bones.

No. Nonono. She attempted to get to one foot, her body arched and bent as she used all her strength to pull away.

It’s a spider’s web, anything but a spider!

Not much made Reia afraid, but there was always something creepy about a spider. She didn’t care if they had cute little eyes and furry little paws. The fact they were small, could get into anything, and were usually venomous had always freaked her out.

She fell over and started clawing at the ground, her eyes searching around for a way to leverage herself, only to find more webbing was around her. She looked back, realising she’d only been running through this area covered in webbing for a few metres, but she’d been so distracted by her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed.

I’m stuck! And now her body was bent awkwardly because even placing her hand against it had ensnared her. She hopelessly reached for the dagger and the amulet, but both were totally out of her reach.

Just as she was searching for a stick to wack them closer, the snapping of a branch, not a twig, caught her attention.

Such an ominous sound was followed by the loud crunching of leaves getting closer and closer.

She desperately tugged to free herself while looking around her surroundings until her eyes fell on a black figure crawling closer in the white mist. Multiple spindly legs moved, and Reia’s heart leapt to her throat.

Spider. That’s a big spider.

And she wanted the fuck away from it.