**Gavin’s POV**
*“She is going to destroy you completely.”*
The words echoed through the hollow chambers of my skull, heavy, ominous, and dark. I sat back on the plush leather sofa, staring at Max as the terrifying weight of his warning hung in the air like a cloud of suffocating smoke.
Then, deep in my chest, something snapped.
A low, quiet chuckle bubbled up from my throat. Before I could stop it, the chuckle twisted into a loud, frantic laugh that bounced off the high, marble walls of the living room. It was a sound stripped completely of joy—hollow, manic, and laced with an edge of dangerous hysteria.
Max’s brow furrowed tightly, his face twisting into a scowl of intense frustration and concern. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, his voice sharp and demanding.
I leaned back, resti
