Chapter 90 Breaking Point
Luna's pov
I don’t leave. Even when everything in my body is screaming at me to run.
Even when the air in the room feels wrong and even when the look in Kai’s eyes doesn’t feel like his anymore.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel.
He stands a few feet away from me, with his shoulders tense, jaw tight.
“Luna,” he says again, quieter this time. “Don’t make this harder.”
I felt my chest tighten. “Harder for who?” I ask. “For you?”
“For both of us.” He says.
Something in the way he says it makes my stomach twist.
“No,” I shake my head slowly. “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to shut me out, and act like something’s wrong, and then tell me to leave like I’m the problem.”
“I’m trying to protect you.” He says again.
“You keep saying that,” I snap. “But it doesn’t feel like protection. It feels like…”
“Like what?” he cuts in sharply.
“Like you’re hiding something,” I said.
The silence that followed was thick, heavy and his eyes locked onto mine. And for a second….I swear I see it again. That flicker and that otherness.
“You should go,” he says again.
This time….It’s not a suggestion. It’s a warning.
My pulse spikes. “No,” I said.
Something in him snaps. It’s subtle. It was a shift and a tightening. Like a wire being pulled too far.
“Luna,” he says slowly, and carefully, “I’m not asking again.”
I take a step back. Not because I want to. But because my body reacts before my mind does. “You’re scaring me,” I whisper.
His expression falters, just for a second, and in that second….
I see him. Really him.
“Then leave,” he says, softer now. “Please.”
My chest aches. “Not like this.”
“Fine.” He says.
The word lands wrong, flat, and empty. And before I can react…
He moves fast. Too fast. One second he’s across the room…The next..
He’s right in front of me, with his hand wrapped around my wrist, tight enough to hurt.
“Kai…!” I screamed.
He shoves me back hard, and I slam into the wall, the impact knocking the breath out of me, as pain shoots through my back. “What are you doing?!” I gasp.
He doesn’t answer. He just…stares. And this time. There’s no mistaking it.
Those aren’t his eyes, because they’re darker, colder, and empty. My heart starts racing. “Kai… stop,” I whisper.
He tilts his head slightly. The same way the thing in the forest did, and a chill runs down my spine. “Interesting,” he murmurs.
That’s not his voice. Not fully. Not anymore. Panic floods through me. “Kai, listen to me…. ”
He lunges, and I barely react in time. I twist away as his hand slams into the wall where my head just was. The wood cracks and my breath catches.
He’s not holding back. He turns toward me again, slow, deliberate, and predatory.
My instincts scream. Run.
I bolt. I don’t think, I just move out the door and down the hallway.
My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it’s going to explode.
Behind me….I hear him. He was fast. Too fast. He’s gaining on me. Of course he is. He always does. “Luna,” he calls. That voice again, it sounded twisted and wrong. “Stop running.”
I don’t, because I can’t. I reach the front door, yanking it open and stumbling outside into the cold night air. The forest looms ahead. It was dark, silent, and watching. I run toward it anyway. Because it’s the only place I know.
The only place I’ve ever felt….Safe. But tonight. Even that feels like a lie
I hear him behind me. He was closer now. Too close.
Suddenly a hand grabs my arm and yanks me back.
I cry out as I’m spun around violently.
“Kai, please!”
He slams me against a tree and the impact rattles through my bones. As his hand wraps around my throat. Not tight enough to kill. But enough to remind me, that he could. Easily. Tears blur my vision. “Look at you,” he murmurs.
That voice again. But layered. Like something speaking through him.
“You’re the key.”
My chest tightens. “No…”
“You opened the door.” He said.
“I didn’t…” I replied instantly
“You did.” He hesitated.
His grip tightens slightly and air catches in my throat as panic surges.
“Kai!” I choke. “Fight it….please!”
And for a second…just one, his expression flickers with pain and conflict.
It was him.
“Run,” he whispers.
Hope sparks and then dies instantly. Because his grip tightens again harder.
And the thing inside him, laughs and a sudden force slams into him from the side. Hard. He’s thrown off me, crashing into the ground a few feet away.
Air rushes back into my lungs as I stumble forward, coughing.
“Stay back!” I heard a voice from behind me.
That voice….I know it. I turned, and it was Ethan.
He stands between Kai and me, shoulders squared, eyes sharp. Like he’s been waiting and like he knew this would happen. Kai slowly pushes himself up from the ground and his gaze locks onto Ethan. And something in it burns.
“You,” Kai says. Low and dangerous.
Ethan doesn’t move. “Yeah,” he replies calmly. “Me.”
My chest tightens. “What’s happening?” I whisper.
Ethan doesn’t look at me. “Get behind me, Luna,” he says.
I hesitate. Just for a second, because….This feels wrong. All of it.
But Kai steps forward again, and that hesitation disappears. I move behind Ethan with my heart pounding. “What did you do to him?” I ask.
“I didn’t do anything,” Ethan says.
“Then what is this?” I asked.
He exhales slowly. “It’s exactly what I warned you about.”
My stomach drops. “You said he was hiding things,” I whisper.
“I said you should be careful who you trust,” Ethan added.
Kai lets out a low, humorless laugh. “Still manipulating,” he mutters.
Ethan’s jaw tightens. “At least I’m honest.”
“Honest?” Kai steps closer. “You’ve been watching her. Following her.”
Ethan doesn’t deny it. “I was protecting her.”
“From me?” Kai asked sharply.
“Yes,” Ethan answered.
There was silence, it was heavy and tense. My chest tightens painfully. “Is that true?” I ask.
Kai’s gaze flicks to me, and for a moment…I see it again. He looked real and hurt. “I would never hurt you,” he says.
But….
I remember his hand around my throat, and the way he looked at me.
Like I wasn’t me.
My voice shakes. “You just tried to kill me.”
“I didn’t….” he says.
“You did!” I shot back. The words tear out of me raw and broken.
“I told you to run,” he says desperately.
“And then you tried to stop me!” I shot out.
“That wasn’t me!” he says.
“Then who was it?!” I scream.
Silence crashes over us. Because none of us has a clean answer.
Ethan steps slightly in front of me. Like a shield. “You see it now,” he says quietly. “He’s not in control.”
Kai’s expression darkens. “You don’t know that.”
“I know enough,” Ethan replied.
“You’re using this,” Kai snaps.
“I’m exposing it.” Ethan shot back.
My head spins, because everything feels like it’s collapsing. “What if he’s lying?” I whisper.
Ethan glances at me. “I’m not.”
“But what if you are?” I press.
His expression softens slightly. “I’m not the one who just attacked you.”
The words hit hard. Because they’re true. And I hate that they are.
I look at Kai. Really look at him. And for the first time….Doubt creeps in.
Not small, not quiet. They were big, loud, and terrifying.
“What if… it is you?” I whisper.
Kai’s face falls. “Luna….”
“What if you’ve been pretending this whole time?” I continue, my voice shaking. “What if there’s nothing inside you and this is just…who you are?”
“Don’t do that,” he says.
“Answer me!” I said.
“I would never hurt you!” he replied.
“You already did!” I shot back.
Silence followed and his shoulders tensed, his hands clenched. And for a moment….He doesn’t look like someone fighting something inside him. He looks like someone, who is breaking. Ethan steps closer to me.
Gentler now. “Luna,” he says softly.
I don’t pull away, because I can’t. “Come with me,” he continues. “Let me help you.”
I swallow hard, because right now my emotions are a mess. Fear, anger, and confusion. And something else…. Hurt, I was hurt deep and sharp.
I glance at Kai one last time. And this time….I don’t see certainty.
I see doubt.
And that scares me more than anything. Because if he doesn’t know what’s inside him… Then how can I trust him?
“I can keep you safe,” Ethan says quietly.
My chest rises and falls unevenly. I shouldn’t trust him. I know that. But right now… He’s the only one who didn’t try to kill me. And that matters more than it should. I step closer to him.
And Kai’s breath catches. “Luna… don’t.”
I hesitate. Just for a second and then….Ethan reaches up, gently touching his fingers against my cheek. Soft and careful.
Nothing like the violence from moments ago. “You’re okay,” he murmurs.
My eyes flutter slightly and my guard was slipping. Just a little too much.
His face moves closer to mine. Slowly.
Giving me time to pull away. But I don’t. Because part of me wants something….Anything, that feels safe, that feels certain. My heart pounds and my breath catches. His lips hover just inches from mine…And then, I heard a low, guttural sound rip through the air.
I freeze instantly. It was Kai. I turn, and
His eyes are glowing. But not blue and not human. It was something else. Something dark, something furious, and something breaking loose. “Kai…” I whisper.
But it’s too late. Because whatever was inside him, is done hiding.