QUOTE : Alex placed both hands on the counter and began reading the message, until the words blurred together. Started again…and buried her face in her hands. No, priyazn.<br /><br />But she should’ve realized. If she hadn’t been so distracted by grief and worry and hope about her mother’s fate, she would’ve seen what was staring her right in the face. <br /><br />A tree branch crashed against the side of the house, and she rushed upstairs to spread her hands, palms open, upon the wide glass wall spanning the front of the house, where she gazed outside with wiser eyes. <br />Her heart broke into a thousand shards, for the second time in as many days. The storm? It was Caleb’s consciousness manifested in raw, primal form.<br /> <br />“Oh, Akeso. He’s not dying, is he? He’s killing.