Chapter 22 · The Beast's Claim

"Get back! Sia, get the hell away from him!"

Justin's boots tore through the dirt as he stumbled backward. The obsidian dagger shook in his hand. His face had gone gray.

I couldn't move.

Kane stood between us, but he wasn't the man I'd argued with an hour ago. He wasn't the man we'd dragged from the stone coffin, either.

Dark energy crawled over his skin. His torn clothes hung from him in strips. His chest rose and fell like he was fighting for air, but his glowing eyes never left Justin.

"Kane?"

My voice barely carried.

His head jerked toward me.

A growl rolled out of him. Low. Deep. It buzzed through the ground and rattled my teeth.

Justin pointed the dagger at him. "You see? You see what he is? He's a monster!"

"Justin, lower the knife."

"You're defending him?"

"I'm telling you to lower it!"

Justin laughed, but it broke in the middle. "He'll tear you apart the second he gets bored. Look at him, Sia. Look at his eyes!"

Kane vanished.

One second, he stood ten feet away.