Publisher's Synopsis
In the bustling city, Nadine led an unassuming life as a paperpusher in a drab office, her quiet demeanor masking an insatiable curiosity about the occult. Behind the veil of her vegan lifestyle, she harbored a dark secret - an unnatural craving for the forbidden delicacy of rare meat. This primal desire burned within her, stoking the flames of her magical studies as she sought to harness unseen energies.
Nadine's respite came through her devoted yoga practice, a ritual that brought balance to her dueling identities. On the mat, she could quiet her mind and let her aura radiate freely, untainted by the weight of her secrets. Yet, the temptation forever lingered, a siren call that led her down an irreversible path. Her saviors emerged in the form of a clandestine group - coroners, police, prosecutors, and those privy to the underbelly of the city. United by unorthodox appetites, they became Nadine's providers, furtively sourcing the rare meats that sated her cravings. In their company, she could shed the vegan facade and indulge without judgment, savoring each illicit bite. As Nadine's powers over the occult blossomed, so too did the lengths she would go to feed her hunger. No boundary could contain her, not the laws of man nor nature's order. She wove intricate spells to mask her activities, shielding her deviant circle from prying eyes. The more she delved into the forbidden, the deeper her powers took root. With each meticulously prepared dish, Nadine's connection to the primal energies she had unleashed intensified. The rare meats became conduits, imbuing her with ancient knowledge and unholy abilities. She was a vessel of contradictions - a demure office clerk by day, a carnal priestess of the occult by night, and always a master of duality. Her clandestine world couldn't remain secret forever. Whispers of her activities spread like tendrils of smoke, carrying to the far reaches of a vegan activist community she had once called her own. Confronted with the truth of her betrayal, Nadine's former allies recoiled in horror and vowed to expose her misdeeds. As the noose of exposure tightened, Nadine's powers reached an apex. Drawing upon reserves of primordial magic, she enacted a ritual to summon a ancient, carnivorous entity. In a cataclysmic ceremony, she offered herself as a vessel, allowing the insatiable beast to take possession of her form. Where Nadine once stood, a ravenous, unholy monster now stalked the earth, hungering for the rarest of flesh. Her former vegan friends became mere prey as the entity reveled in its new corporeal form, indulging in a frenzy of consumption. Unbound by human constraints, the beast's rampage knew no limits, laying waste to all in its path. Only when the city lay in smoldering ruins did the entity's hunger finally abate. As its power waned, Nadine's consciousness resurfaced, trapped within the husk of her former body. Surrounded by the carnage she had wrought, she realized too late the cost of surrendering to her darkest temptations. Her quest for power and indulgence had consumed her humanity, leaving only an empty vessel in its wake.
