POV: Thelma

The world was too bright, too loud, too much. Every sensation crashed into me with overwhelming intensity. The cold air on my skin felt like knives. The sound of Xavier's labored breathing was deafening. And underneath it all, a darker current pulled at me, whispering terrible things.

Drain him. Take his life force. He's weak. You could make him strong. Or you could consume him entirely.

Morgana's voice, coiled in my mind like a serpent.

"Thelma?" Xavier was trying to sit up, his face pale and blood-streaked. "Is it really you?"

I wanted to run to him. Every fiber of my being screamed to close the distance between...