Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 349: The Thing That Lurks Inside

Riona scanned the chaos around her, jaw clenched, heart pounding. She had to find Ol’gaz—now, while it was still unconscious from the blast. If she could reach it in time, she might be able to weaken it further.

The Fallen One had lent her the strength to strike down Florian’s body, but that wasn’t enough. The boy—her brother—was still trapped somewhere deep within it. She couldn’t destroy the vessel without rescuing him first. Somehow.

She didn’t know how she would do it, but she would.

The real problem was, she couldn’t even find him. The explosion had flung his body somewhere into the thick, swirling dust, and visibility was nearly zero. She coughed as the grit filled her lungs, instinctively waving her arm to clear the air around her.

"Where the hell is that demon?" she whispered, frustration rising.

The silence was eerie. The chamber, moments ago, was a thunderstorm of violence, now had gone still—unnaturally so. She moved with care, every step measured. She couldn’t risk waking the demon. But with no sign of it, tracking its presence felt impossible.

If only Puck were awake—he’d know where to look, what to feel for. She hesitated, torn between continuing her search for Ol’gaz or doubling back to find Puck and wake him up.

Then, she heard it—a faint sound. Barely audible. A rustle. Something was moving in the distance. Not wind. Something alive.

"Riona..."

She froze.

The voice—soft, strained—echoed through the dust. Her eyes flew open, stinging as grit whipped across her face. Still, she didn’t blink. She couldn’t. Not after what she’d just heard.

"Florian!"

"Riona..." Fainter this time, distant. But unmistakable. It was him.

All hesitation vanished. The choice between finding Puck or hunting down Ol’gaz no longer mattered. None of it did. In that moment, she knew—he was the most important. The only one who mattered.

She hadn’t even realized how intently she was following the voice. Her feet moved before her mind caught up. She didn’t notice the oddness of the battlefield, didn’t question the strange stillness that hung in the air like a trap waiting to snap shut.

If she had noticed, she would have known that...

"Florian, where are you?!" she screamed, her voice raw, reckless. The risk of waking the demon never crossed her mind. Nothing else existed now—only that voice.

"Riona... is that really you?"

Tears streamed from her eyes as she sprinted toward the sound, the wind and dust tearing them away before they reached her cheeks. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, not from fear, but from hope. Desperate, fragile hope.

She ran harder.

"It’s me! Yes, it’s me, Flo! I’m coming for you. Just hold on, little brother—I’m almost there!" Riona shouted, her voice filled with raw joy.

But this wasn’t the end. It was only the beginning.

"RIONA, WATCH OUT!!!!" Florian’s voice ripped through the haze—sharp, desperate.

Instinct took over. Riona spun around and ducked just in time. Something massive sliced through the air, missing her face by mere inches. She stumbled back, breath catching, eyes wide.

Panting, she now stood at a safe distance, staring at the monstrosity that had nearly ended her.

It was huge. Monstrous. Easily ten times her size. She’d always been small, especially for a vampire, but next to this thing, she felt microscopic. Like an ant beneath a god.

She craned her neck, trying to glimpse the creature’s full height, but the top of its grotesque body vanished into the shadows above. The darkness swallowed it whole.

Then, she saw the legs.

Countless of them—long, twisted, muscular. Like a spider... if spiders were built in nightmares. Each leg seemed to act independently, twitching, dragging, and lurching in different directions.

One limb pointed south, unmoving. Another twitched erratically. And one—the one that nearly shattered her face—was rearing back again, hungry for a second strike.

Each leg moved with purpose. Each leg thought for itself.

From the depths of the darkness, a hand emerged—thick as a tree trunk, coated in a viscous black slime that shimmered like molten metal. Its fingers were long, tapering into sharp points, but there were no nails. Just gleaming stubs of power and menace.

The hand swept across the space in front of her.

Riona leapt backward, just in time to avoid being pulverized. Her heart thundered in her chest now—not just from the near miss, but from the sheer size of the creature before her.

This thing could crush her without trying.

Another hand came for her, swinging low and wide. Behind it, the leg that had first attacked her twitched and skittered, almost... excited. Like it wanted to see her broken, squeezed until she popped.

Riona winced, a shiver running down her spine. She was disgusted, terrified, but focused. Fear didn’t dull her mind—it sharpened it.

She was fast. The creature, lumbering and oversized, was not. Using its sluggish momentum against it, Riona vaulted into the air. She scanned her surroundings, searching for a wall, a ledge—anything she could use to climb or spring from to reach higher ground.

But everything was darkness. A suffocating void. She could see only herself and pieces of the monster.

Her brow furrowed. Something was wrong. Reality began to creep in, like icy fingers at the edge of her thoughts. But the beast attacked again—no time to think.

Riona roared, unleashing her crimson aura. It flared around her like wildfire as she shaped it into a massive, double-pointed spear.

She slammed it into the ground, using the rebound to launch herself higher. The spear pulsed in her grip as she twisted mid-air, its point now aimed directly at the monster’s neck—the highest point she could reach.

But gravity had other plans.

As she descended, she spotted the creature’s hand below, palm wide open, waiting for her like a monstrous cradle.

She acted fast.

Spinning the spear downward, she drove it into the creature’s palm just as it began to close around her. The force of the landing cracked the air. Then—snap—the hand clenched into a fist.

The spear shattered into jagged pieces. But Riona wasn’t inside. At the last second, she’d vaulted clear, rolling across the ground, breathless but alive.

Riona crouched low, one knee pressed to the ground, panting. One hand braced against the floor, the other gripping her thigh for balance. Her muscles were tense, ready to spring. If the creature struck again, she’d be prepared.

But it didn’t. Instead, it began to move away from her.

Confused, Riona narrowed her eyes but didn’t lower her guard. She knew better than to relax just because the danger seemed to retreat. That’s when it happened.

A massive eyeball dropped from the darkness above and landed in front of her with a wet plop.

It blinked.

Riona’s heart leapt into her throat. She nearly screamed, but managed to swallow it down—barely. She had expected something grotesque, but not this.

Then it clicked. It wasn’t just an eyeball. It was part of the creature. freēnovelkiss.com

From the base of the eye, a long neck extended upward, thin as a strand of hair, disappearing into the shadows above. The neck pulsed grotesquely, and the lid covering the eye was raw, thick-skinned, and oozing. Slime and mucous-colored goo clung to the folds of flesh that twitched open and shut.

It was revolting. She gagged. Her stomach lurched, and for a moment, she nearly threw up.

And then... the teeth appeared.

A set of unnaturally white teeth, too bright, too clean, gleaming like polished porcelain. They emerged from beneath the eyeball, hanging low from what could only be described as a mouth, if one ignored that it dangled like a loose appendage, swinging on strings of mucus.

The teeth curled into a smirk.

Then, with a voice she recognized—chillingly familiar—the creature spoke. "Hello, Riona. Welcome to my home."

Her eyes widened. It hit her all at once.

She was inside Florian’s subconscious!