Chapter 163. The Witch’s Wrath

Alison’s POV

“I don’t have a goddamn choice, do I?”

The words slipped from my lips like a broken prayer, hanging in the cold, cursed air around me. I stood at the ragged edge of that dark, twisted forest a place that reeked of death and old magic, where even the moonlight was too afraid to fall.

Behind me, the world I knew was unraveling.

I turned, my throat burning, and let my eyes fall on them. Xander, lying there, so pale it hurt to look at him. His chest barely rose, his lips bluish. And beside him, Simone… barely alive, a wisp of breath between her lips, her skin almost translucent in the fading light. My heart shattered, a million jagged pieces tearing at my insides.

“I’m sorry Xander! Simone!,” I whispered, the words trembling as they left me. “I swear to you both… I’ll fix this. I’ll make it right… or I’ll die trying.”

My chest heaved, but I forced my feet forward, into the cursed forest.

Every step I took felt like walking de