Natalie's POV
I stared at Xander and something inside me was splitting in two. Part of me wanted to listen to him. The part that was still just Natalie. The girl who used to hide in corners and keep her head down and try not to cause trouble. That part wanted to step back and stop the ice and prove I was better than the monsters who destroyed my family.
But the Winter Blood did not care about mercy. It cared about survival. About dominance. About making sure no one ever hurts me again. And right now it was screaming at me to finish what I started. To make Thorne pay for every drop of blood they took from my mother.
"She was going to harvest me," I said and my voice was shaking.
"She was going to bleed me dry as they did to my mother. She was going to turn me into a weapon and use me u
