Leah Carter’s Point of View
For a heartbeat, I forgot to breathe. Caleb’s eyes, black as pitch, stared right through me. No flicker of light, no trace of the brother I knew, just darkness. Then, as quickly as it came, it vanished. His head fell back, and the glow under his skin faded to nothing.
I sat frozen, my hands trembling in the cold air. “Caleb?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer, his breathing was steady again, slow and even, like he was only sleeping, but something inside me said he wasn’t the same anymore. Something unseen had taken root.
I stayed there till dawn broke, the forest outside the tent was too quiet, even the birds refused to sing.
When Kael came to check on us, he paused at the entrance. “You didn’t sleep.”
“How could I?” I murmured. “He… he changed last night, jus
