The man froze, his grip on my arm loosening in pure shock. The physician collapsed to his knees, clutching his head as everyone in the room gasped, completely paralyzed by the sudden, terrifying eruption of Xander's power.
The heart-wrenching sound of his scream still vibrated in my ears, cutting straight to my chest. The black energy that had thrashed outward began to settle into a heavy, suffocating pressure, making the air in the chamber feel thick and impossibly cold.
I wrenched my arm completely out of the man's grasp, not giving him a second look as I stumbled back toward the side of the bed. My knees hit the floorboards hard, but I barely felt it.
All I could see was Xander, his chest heaving in violent, ragged gasps as the heavy iron chains rattled against the dark wooden frames.
The deathly paleness of his skin and the sweat soaking through his white shirt made him look entirely spent, as if that final scream had taken every remaining ounce of his strength.
