Chapter 99

• Caleb's laughter echoed through the room, a sound that was more chilling than any battle cry. It was devoid of the warmth I once knew, a mockery of the bond we once shared. He took a step forward, his eyes dark and inscrutable, as if searching for something within me that he could still recognize.
• “You want to know what I am?” Caleb said, his voice low and dangerous. “I am what this world made me. I am the result of every lie, every betrayal, every ounce of darkness that people like you tried to bury. I am the truth, Selena. The truth you and your kind refuse to see.”
• His words hit me like a punch to the gut, each one driving deeper into the wound that his betrayal had left behind. I wanted to reach out to him, to pull him back from the abyss, but I knew that the Caleb I once knew was gone, replaced by this twisted version of himself.