Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 233

“Yes,” I say, “That’s the priority.”

Cassian shifts beside me. He looks awful. He’s pale, and there’s still dried blood under his nose and his eyes haven’t stopped tracking Allison’s movements since we got here.

“I think being a siphon,” he says, voice hoarse but steady, “and having the wraith as part of her being… is affecting how the dark magic

behaves.”

“No shit,” Kael replies instantly.

Cassian gives him a look that would have sent a lesser man scrambling, then continues.

“The magic would have killed anyone else by now,” he says. “Or at least rendered them catatonic. But her body isn’t rejecting it. It’s… feeding on it, regenerating it., reshaping it and using it, while it uses her.”

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20:34 Thu, Jan 15

Ravenous

The words hang heavy between us.

“I think,” Cassian adds quietly, “we might be able to remove it.”

Hope is a dangerous thing, but I feel it spark anyway.

“Have you heard of cases like this before?” I ask.

A28

“No,” he admits. “The Council didn’t exactly leave comprehensive archives on her kind. Or if they did, they burned them. I’m working with

what I’m seeing in real time.”

Allison slams into the bars suddenly, shadows lashing outward, the metal ringing with the impact. Kael half-rises from his chair on

instinct before forcing himself back down. Cassian doesn’t flinch.

“It hasn’t killed her,” he says. “That matters. It means there’s hope.”

I glance at Rhaziel. His expression doesn’t change, but his fingers tighten slightly against the arm of the chair.

“We will need time,” the demon king says. “And control. Both of which she currently lacks.”

Inside the cell, Allison’s gaze flicks to him. Her lips curl into something like a smile.

Time passes strangely after that. Someone brings water. Someone brings food that none of us touch. Rhaziel orders a bed brought down. A real bed, with a solid frame and reinforced enchantments. It takes four demons to wrestle it through the cell door without getting shredded. Allison attacks it twice before they manage to shove it into place. Then she stops. She circles it slowly, shadows trailing along the floor like fingers. She sniffs it and presses a hand into the mattress, testing. Her movements slow.

“Look at that,” Kael murmurs. “All the murder must’ve worn our little beast out.”

She glances at him sharply. He grins anyway. Rhaziel stands. Steps closer to the bars.

“Do you need anything else?” he asks her.

For a moment, I don’t think she’ll answer. Then she moves… fast. Her hand shoots through the bars, shadow slipping just enough for skin to follow, and wraps around Kael’s throat. His chair skids backward as she yanks him forward, his back hitting the metal with a clang. He doesn’t fight it. Doesn’t shift. Just freezes, eyes blown wide in shock and something else entirely.

“Yes,” Allison says.

Her voice is wrong. It’s all wraith, no Allison. It’s a bone-chilling sound.

“I am ravenous.”

Kael chokes out a laugh despite the grip tightening.

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20:35 Thu, Jan 15

Ravenous

“Enough,” Rhaziel says calmly.

Her eyes slide to him.

“You cannot eat him.”

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She considers that. Then releases Kael slowly. He doesn’t move; he stands there in shock, coughing and swearing as he rubs his throat. She steps closer to the bars, presses herself against them, shadows writhing around her like silk. Then she leans in and licks the side of

Kael’s face slowly and seductively.

“I won’t eat him,” she whispers.

Then her gaze flicks over all of us, dark and glittering.

“Just let me play with him.”

Silence crashes down around us.

Kael wipes his cheek, breathing hard, and mutters, “Oh shit… turns out murder isn’t the only thing she wants.”

I don’t laugh. None of us do. Because whatever is wearing Allison’s smile right now… is not done with us yet.

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Jessi Michelle

What if Cage is the one who can help her?

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20:35 Thu, Jan 15

Thornhill Academy

Corrupted Cravings

Kael

:

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Fuck me, that lick she just gave my cheek still burns. It was slow, seductive and promising all kinds of pain and pleasure I shouldn’t want

right now… But I do. Gods help me, I do.

Evander’s eyes narrow, Cassian’s gone even paler if that’s possible, and Rhaziel… well, the demon daddy is just sitting there like a statue

carved from midnight, but I catch the flicker in his gaze.

Allison’s lips curl into a grin that’s all teeth and shadow, her eyes glittering as they rake over me.

“Play,” she whispers again, the word slithering out like a command, her claws tapping the bars in a rhythm that matches my pounding

heart. She’s not entirely our girl right now; she’s the wraith, the corruption, the dark magic, a predator toying with her food. And damn if

it doesn’t make my blood run hot, even as the sane part of me screams that she’d rip me apart without a second thought.

“I’ll do it,” I blurt out, the words exploding from my mouth before my brain catches up. I stand tall, half-grinning.

“Come on, she’s starving for it. Let me in there; I’ll give her a good time and ease that itch. What’s the worst that could happen? A few

bites? I’ve had worse foreplay.”

Evander shoots me a look like I’ve lost my mind-which, fair-but Rhaziel’s reaction is instant, his voice a low thunder that vibrates

through the stone.

“Absolutely not,” he growls, rising slowly, his presence sucking the air from the room. “She will kill you before she even finds her pleasure.

I will go.”