Chapter 36 Unleashed

The world around Isla seemed to freeze. The figures—those dark, menacing shapes that had surrounded them—watched her with unsettling patience. There was no question now: they weren’t simply after her. They wanted what she held inside, the storm that burned within her, the power that had marked her from birth. Isla could feel their eyes on her, cold and calculating, as if they were waiting for her to make a move. The air crackled with anticipation, the tension thick enough to suffocate. Her fingers tightened around the dagger at her side, the familiar weight of it grounding her. But it wasn’t the dagger she would need. No, it was the power—the storm—that was pulsing inside her.