“How the f**k are we going to fix him?” My voice cracks, sharp, splintered. “Do you realise just how evil he is without the good? Even if we get the good back, it won’t erase what he’s seen. It’s… stained him.” I snap at Caron,
Caden pulls me into his arms before the tears even fall. His hands run slowly up and down my back, his touch calm but not casual—deliberate, grounding, like he’s building a wall around me so nothing else can get through.
“He will never get that part back, Baylee.” her voice is soft but final, the truth heavy between us. “He went too far. Further than I could’ve imagined. And even if we could get it back—it’s been sitting in hell with a killer. That kind of purity doesn’t come back untouched. If it survived at all, it was sent on to heaven, or… twisted.”
She exha
