Chapter 23 The Unraveling Truth

• I felt Cyrus’s stare on me like a heavy weight. Each word he spoke sent waves of fear through me, but it was more than just fear. Deep down, something darker was awakening—a pull, as he described, a force that drew me to him against my will.
• But why? What did he want from me? And why did a part of me seem to want to give in to that pull?
• “Asher,” I whispered, struggling to think as I knelt beside him, holding his shoulder. His body was limp and still, but I could hear his breath, faint and uneven. I tried to focus on him, on the warmth of his skin, to keep myself steady. But Cyrus’s presence was too much, like a dark cloud closing in on me.