Chapter 13 · About time

It wasn't just liquid; it was *information*. It was heat. It was life. The second I tasted that first drop, the hunger in my core exploded. I didn't just want to eat; I wanted to consume every single cell of this creature.

I wrapped myself around the scavenger's leg, tightening like a vice. The creature shrieked, a high-pitched wail that rattled my non-existent teeth. It tried to shake me off, thrashing wildly, but I dug in. I pushed my shadow-tendrils deep into its pores, bypassing the skin and diving straight for the veins.

*Mine,* I thought. *Everything is mine.*

I felt the rush of essence pouring into me. It was like drinking liquid fire. My vision—or whatever passed for it—flashed white. The pain of the evolution returned, but this time it was accompanied by a surge of raw, unfiltered power. I could feel my form thickening, hardening. The soft, gelatinous edges of my body were crystallizing into something sharper, something meaner.

"About time," Lyra said. She had stepped in, her blade flashing in a silver arc that decapitated the second scavenger in one clean motion. She didn't even look at the corpse; she was watching me. "Look at you.