Chapter 108. Seeds of Doubt

Xerina’s POV

Darkness.

It was all-consuming, suffocating. Time seemed to stretch and twist, warping into something unrecognizable as I floated in the void, lost and alone. I couldn’t tell if it was minutes or hours, days or weeks. But somewhere, in that endless blackness, a memory surfaced—flashes of light, a warm smile, a gentle hand on my cheek. Rasmus’s voice soft and reassuring, echoing through the darkness.

I wouldn’t let Zane win. I wouldn’t let him take everything from me.

With a jolt, I gasped, the breath burning my lungs as I snapped back into the waking world. The first thing I felt was pain—sharp, searing, and relentless. It coursed through my veins, radiating from the back of my neck where Zane’s fingers had been like a brand. The second thing I noticed was the cold, the unforgiving chill of the concrete floor beneath me.

Slowly, painfully, I forced my eyes open, the dim light of the room burning into my retinas. I was in a different