STEP BROTHER DEAREST
And me—I felt Elias clawing inside my rhythm, pulling, twisting, trying to turn me into another conduit.
“Do you see?” Elias’s voice coiled around us, thick with triumph. “Trust is a weakness. Rhythm is a chain. And chains can be broken.”
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“No,” I whispered.
I anchored harder. Not to myself, but to them. Madison’s fury. Ian’s recklessness. Stepbrother’s clarity. Together, we weren’t chains. We were a circle. An unbroken beat.
“Together,” I said, louder this time. “With me.”