AT THE SAME TIME
ADRIAN'S POINT OF VIEW:
Xavier kept staring at me like I'd sprouted wings. Or horns. Or both. His eyes flicked from my face to my hands, then to the fading shimmer of silver fur still clinging to my skin.
"You're... royal?" He asked, voice low, disbelieving.
I exhaled. The truth itched like old scar tissue.
"Yeah. I was."I said.
Xavier blinked.
"Why didn't you say anything? Why hide it? Why—"He asked.
"Because being royal almost got me killed." I snapped, then caught myself. Softened my tone. "Because they wanted me dead."
He froze, eyes narrowing.
"Who did?"Xavier asked.
"The ones who created the game. The ones who fund the experiments. They didn't want a prince walking around who could access the code beneath the layers. The original lineage from before the script was corrupted. So they used wolfsbane gas. Slipped it into a 'training scenario.' Watched me seize and collapse like a bug in fire."I explained.
He said nothing, just stared.
