Aiden's POV
Haylee’s war in her own mind against her father rends my heart, but Xavier’s evolution gives me chills. The bastard has been outmaneuvering us at every turn—we've been doing nothing but playing directly into his hand.
"The ritual's giving him strength," I snarl to Marcus, who is standing frozen next to me as Xavier's physicality starts to swell and twist. "He never meant to heal the rift. He needed us to fish open it wider.”
Marcus's jaw clenches. "Then we break the circle. Stop the power flow."
“And run the risk of losing control of the boys’ powers completely?” I shake my head grimly. "Look at them."
Kael and Lior are swathed in very clear supernatural light; their young faces are intense, scrunchy with concentration as they struggle to control the sort of forces that might rip holes in reality. If we interrupt the ritual prematurely without a shutdown procedure, it could destroy them.
“There’s got to be a better way,” I mutter to myself, mentally racing through every pi
