But he wasn’t afraid ofme.
His face was going white with rage.
“Seph…” His voice was scraped raw. “What did he do to you?”
I froze. “…What?”
“You didn’t do that.” He shook his head, wild, horrified. “You couldn’t have. That— that was forced into you. Someone put that inside you.”
“I didn’t— I didn’t mean to, I didn’t—”
“You absorbed it.” His voice cracked. “Seph, you absorbedlightning. My lightning.”
“I know!”
The hunger inside me — the one I pretended wasn’t real — stretched and yawned like a waking beast.
Kieran took a step back.
One tiny step.
Not in fear.
In shock.
In devastation.
In the kind of anger that made the air vibrate.
But I didn’t see that.
I saw retreat.
He was scared.
“Seph… you’re not a null anymore.”
“I am,” I whispered. “I am, Kieran, I—”
“No.” His voice was fierce, trembling. “Nulls don’t steal power. They don’t take. What you did—somebodyengineeredthis. They did something to you.”
My stomach twisted.
“I didn’t want to,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to. It just—happened.”
Kieran’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle jumped.
I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.
“What did your father do to you?” he asked, voice low and uneven.
It wasn’t fear.
It was fury.
But I didn’t hear it that way.
A tremor ripped through my body.
