Chapter 206
The tingling under my skin gels stronger, like whatever’s inside me is reacting to my emotions: I try to push it doen, but it doesn’t want to go sam
The room goes quiet again. Derek shuffles through h his papers, Sarah fidgets with her coffee cup. Orion keeps fucking between Tristan and me live trying to figure out what he’s thinking.
Derek’s papers make soft rustling sounds that seem too loud in the silence. Sarah’s spoon anything. Orion shifts his weight from one foot to the other.
Everyone’s waiting. Everyone’s holding their breath to see what Tristan’s going to say.
Then Tristan leans forward and says something that makes my heart skip.
“What if Athena actually tries to heal someone?*
The words hang in the air. Nobody moves, it felt like we all stopped breathing.
clinks against her mug even though she’s not stirring
My first thought is that I heard him wrong. That he couldn’t possibly have suggested what I think he just suggested.
My second thought is that he’s lost his mind.
My third thought is that maybe, just maybe, he’s onto something.
Tristan continues his voice getting stronger as he goes. “Derek said the power isn’t evil. That it only hurts people when it feels cornered or threatened. That it could transfer life too right?” He turned to Derek who nods his head in agreement.
Derek’s nod is slow but sure. “The texts describe it as life magic. It can take life, but theoretically, it can be able to give life too.”
“If that’s true, then maybe it doesn’t have to destroy things. Maybe it can do the opposite. What if instead of being scared of it, Athena learns to direct it? To make it help instead of harm?”
The idea is so foreign, so impossible, that I can barely wrap my head around it. it’s ever touched, could actually save people instead?
This
thing inside
me,
this horrible cursed power that’s killed everyone
I watch as heads start nodding around the room. Slow at first, then faster. Orion’s that way they do when he thinks something might actually work.
Even Sarah, gives a small nod.
mouth tightens like he’s trying not to smile, but his eyes get soft in
They believe it. They think it could work.
And that should make me feel better. It should make the hope in my chest burn brighter. But instead, my stomach knots up tight.
Because believing it could work and actually making it work are two completely different things.
How?
빨리
The question screams in my head. How am I supposed to do that? How can I try to heal someone when I can’t even touch another person without worrying I’ll kill them?
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11:04 MON
Chapter 208
ltum rak i open msall up to me teething I dont underent? How can I took this pracer dubinan
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Wesak of 1 try to give file and end up taking it lateed! Whit
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SAVE 1 SAMONA Ánd detry the completely!
What if the power doesn’t want to heal? What if it only knows how to kill, aru! I’m just feeding myself into fucking it diffe
My throat closes up. My voice comes out cracked and small. But how? What if i hurt them? What if i take instead of giver ()
The fear in my voice is obvious. 1 can hear it, and I know everyone else can hear it too.
Nobody answers right away, the silence presses down on all of us like a weight. The air feels thick and hard to breathe.
My eyes start to burn with tears I don’t want to cry.
I’m so tired of crying. I’m so tired of being scared. But I can’t seem to stop either one.
I want to believe what they’re saying. I want to have faith in Tristan’s idea. But all I can think about are Seraphine’s and Daxon’s cold, empty bodies.
They’d died because I couldn’t control what was inside me. How can I ask someone else to risk that? How can I?
The thought of putting another person in danger because of what I am makes me feel sick.
The thought of watching another person die because I couldn’t control this thing makes me want to run away and never come back.
Sarah breaks the quiet first. Her voice is soft but steady. “I think it’ll work, but who are we going to find for her to try and heal?”
The question hits me like a slap. My chest gets tight. I hate how it sounds, like I’m some kind of weapon that needs testing.
Like someone has to put their life on the line just so I can prove I’m not a monster.
I look down at my hands again. They’re still shaking.
The shaking is getting worse. The humming under my skin is getting louder. I can feel the power stirring inside me, responding to my emotions.
What if it gets out again? What if it decides it doesn’t like being discussed like this and reaches out for the closest person?
What if it thooses Tristan this time? Or Orion? Or Sarah?
The thought makes me want to run. To get as far away from all of them as possible before this thing inside me decides to hurt someone else.
But then Tristan speaks, and his voice is quiet and sure.
“Me.” I shot my eyes up immediately.
