Beside him, Ava gasped, and Gabriel realized the null must have used his terrible talent to take away her magic as well. Face white, she stared at Alessandro.
“Why…?” she said, voice hardly above a whisper. Gabriel reached over and took her hand, felt how cold her fingers were, even though her tank top was soaked with sweat.
“Because I want you to know,” the null replied. “I want you to understand what this feels like, to know what it is to have your magic taken away. This is the gift I command, the one that your lover seeks to use in his revenge against his brother.”
“’Sandro, stop it,” Lara commanded, hands wrapping around her brother’s arm as though her pleading touch would be enough to make him see reason. “They haven’t done anything to you.”
He stared down at her, expression hard.
