Then I remember: There's power in my veins.
But before I can use it, something holds me back. What?
He has a heart. He has worth. The compassion in that voice, the utter value, stop me in my tracks. And then I see it—the way Aiden clung to me. The way he manipulated Derek. How he bristled every time Chase so much as looked at me.
Aiden's hurting.
He's been hurting the whole time.
And now he's turning that hurt on me.
Shaking, vision beginning to tunnel, I stop fighting, stop hitting, just stop. And Aiden blinks and comes back to me for a second.
Long enough.
I mouth, "I forgive you. And I'm sorry."
And I mean it.
His eyebrows begin to pinch together as I tense and the power electrifies my skin like I'm a conductor. With a clap, the night is lit up by glaring, knife-edged light.
The beast roars and dissolves.
