Control (Dark Romance)

Chapter 25

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a century and a half, I have returned and I am better than ever!

I am truly sorry for how it's been since I've updated or really interracted with many of you. As you know, I'm graduating soon and that took priority for me. There's still a lot of madness going on, but I'm at least able to write as I used to, so updates will be coming once more!!!!!

ALSO!!! WE HIT 1 MILLION READS THIS WEEK!!

I lowkey couldn't believe it since this book is just off the ground, but clearly there's a lot of love behind it so thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So, after such a long wait, I hope you guys enjoy this tasty, fat chapter!!

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Hagen's P.O.V

Waking up feels like being yanked from another dimension, soul first. Usually, that meant I'd slept really damn good, and it wasn't a state I left willingly. On a normal day, I'd keep my eyes closed, roll over, and soon enough, I'd be knocked out again.

Today was different. Today, it was as though my brain and body had joined forces to drag me back to the land of the living, until I had no choice but to face being conscious.

I open my eyes, but it's a slow, painful struggle with the way they suddenly feel like 100kg. I might as well not have opened my eyes in years with the amount of work I have to put into managing a squint. My misery quickly worsens when the morning light assaults me with the vengeance of a thousand deceived sirens.

I squint, cringing back with a groan as I try to figure out where I am and what day it is. All attempts are useless, with my head being effectively blank except for the blaring distress signal that my bladder was full. Fuck.

Groaning some more, I try to drag myself out of bed, but the task is literally impossible– and not because of laziness, but the brick house I find lying on top of me. I frown as I push at its foundations, trying to wiggle free, but the shit refuses to budge.

I slump with a sigh, giving up the fight for the moment as I force my eyes open just enough to see whether I was gonna be fighting clay or lime bricks here, but instead, I spot broad shoulders and long, chocolate-coloured hair splayed over my chest. The brick house was alive.

The brick house was also my mate.

"Move," I groan, shoving at Nikola's big head.

He doesn't even budge. Maybe because his head isn't actually that big and I'm still half sure this is a dream, but he remains still. I give him another shove, one with more kick to it, and this time he groans heavily, but the sound remains distant, as though he was still prancing around in the dimension I'd just been dragged out of.

I grumble my frustrations under my breath as I shove at Nikola's shoulder, managing nothing substantial other than "pillow wall", before deciding to tap in my legs in to help get free.

Turning myself into a lever, it takes a combination of pushing and wiggling for me to eventually manage to claw free from the fucking squid and make my escape. I slip off the bed, falling with a thud that makes both me and Nik groan, but he remains unmoving on the bed while I stay slumped on the floor.

If I was awake, I'd be complaining and way past annoyed, but half-asleep as I was, I only rub at my eyes while I contemplate what it would be like to sleep right here.

Floors were nice enough, comfortable even, and this floor had a rug. My eyes start to weigh.

I bet that rug felt like a bed if you were tired enough– fuck, it felt like a bed right now. I could feel my vision begin to spot.