Chapter 89 The Weight Of Choice

• Henry****
• The darkness around us seemed to close in as the power inside me pulsed, still alive and burning beneath my skin. I couldn’t escape it. It was a part of me now, a constant reminder that the life I had known—my identity, my safety, everything—was slipping from my grasp. But even as I felt its grip tightening, there was something else in the air. A presence, a force that had never been there before, and I wasn’t sure whether it was something to fear or trust.
• Xavier held me close, his hands steady against the shaking of my body. His breath came in soft, hurried gasps, and I could feel his heart beating beneath the heat of my skin, an anchor amidst the storm. But my mind was a maze of conflicting thoughts, and the echo of Diego’s words still reverberated in my ears.