~~XANDER MORTAIN~~

~~THE ECLIPSE PACK~~

Minutes earlier

 

The pain was unbearable.

 

It had been four hours since I let Anika walk away, and every second since felt like a slow burn. I sat behind my desk, watching the clock tick with agonizing precision. My blood simmered just beneath my skin, and a relentless throb pulsed at the base of my skull. Every attempt to read the scrolls before me failed; the letters blurred into meaningless ink.

 

I craved the relief I had tasted the night before. I needed her—and I hated that dependency. I hated that my sanity rested in the hands of a girl who looked at me with...