Kimberly POV:
I was heading for the exit when the world exploded.
CRASH.
The massive crystal chandelier plummeted into the center of the ballroom. Dust and glass shards sprayed everywhere.
"Alex!" Graves roared.
He tore the metal frame aside. Alex lay there, untouched by the heavy iron, but clutching her side, screaming. There was blood, but it smelled wrong—stale, theatrical.
"My side!" she wailed.
"It's a rupture!" Dr. Evans, clearly bribed, shouted over the chaos. "Her core is destabilizing! The silver poisoning... she needs an immediate Essence Graft! We need a donor with White Wolf ancestry!"
It was absurd. Essence Grafts were forbidden blood magic. But Graves wasn't thinking. He was panicking.
His eyes locked on me.
"You," he snarled. "You did this."
"I was by the door, Graves! Check the magic residue!"
"Save her!" Graves commanded the doctor.
"We need the Luna," Evans said, sweating. "She's the only match."
"No," I whispered, backing away. "Graves, this is insanity. She has Rogue Rot, not silver poisoning! She's stealing my life force!"
"I Command you!"
The Alpha's Command hit me like a sledgehammer. My motor functions cut out. I was a prisoner in my own flesh.
"Take her," Graves ordered the Enforcers.
I couldn't scream as they dragged me out. I couldn't fight as they strapped me to the gurney. I could only watch Graves holding Alex's hand, whispering comforts to the parasite while he sentenced me to mutilation.
"Proceed," he said cold-heartedly.
The darkness took me.
