The Villain I Became

COLE

The second Hazel falls, my whole world plunges into bleak darkness. My fist stays frozen in the air, my chest heaving, but all I see is her.

"No," I whisper. The word barely makes it out.

I wasn't aiming for her. I would never—

"Hazel!" Cade's roar rips through the silence like that of a wounded beast.

I've never heard him sound like that before. This isn't rage. It's raw, bone-deep ter