Chapter Thirty-Five

In a near-empty French restaurant, Harry meets Lara for their February date, which coincides with Thomas’s birthday week. They discuss White Court feeding: Lara hasn’t fed since New Year’s, still sated by the vital energy from Harry’s earlier spell. She explains feeding rhythms, the risks of starvation and overfeeding, and why restraint matters.

Harry proposes two paths for Thomas: pacify the Hunger as with Lara, or cut it out entirely. Lara warns that Thomas’s Hunger is far stronger and feral, that abrupt “force-feeding” could harm him, and that excision would fundamentally change Thomas’s identity. They agree the decision must be Thomas’s.

After dinner, Lara outfits for danger and pilots a vintage Bell Sioux helicopter with pontoons. Harry guides her through Demonreach’s subtle repulsion, revealing the island with werelight. They secure the chopper and descend into the tunnels to Thomas’s crystalline cell, where Harry rouses Thomas’s image.

Harry outlines the options and timelines: a week to excise the Hunger, or a month-plus to attempt bringing it out under control with Lara’s help. Lara reports Justine is still missing; her retrieval team was ambushed by Russian organized crime, and the pregnancy is several weeks from term, longer than human average.

Confronted with the chance to live as a normal man, Thomas weighs the promise of a life with Justine against the immediate danger to her and their child. Hearing his Hunger stir, he decides that “plain human Thomas” can’t help Justine now and asks Harry to bring the demon out with him.