Page 195 of Inside the Sun

We all just stare at him, his speech is a whole spectacle and he evokes quite a lot of emotion, especially in his nephews, who are both pale and trembling.

"They look strange afterward, like they’ve been scorched. Who would’ve guessed the energy between True Mates can manifest like that… but apparently, it can."

He looks at his artificial arm again, then shrugs and steps back from Mauro’s cage.

"Taking out my father after that was child’s play. He was already falling apart. Tito was doing half his job anyway."

"Is there a point to this fucked-up tale, Anzo?" Eliano asks, voice raised.

Clearly, he’s had enough of this twisted family history lesson. I don’t blame him. None of us know where the hell this is going.

But we all know for sure that probably none of us will get out of this room alive.

"Patience, nephews… Some things needed to fall into place first," Anzo says with a near-patronizing smile. "When I first met Moon, and he revealed that he could see all those vibrating paths into the future, the ones that could be charged with energy if approached carefully, I asked him whether there was any chance Tito’s damage could be undone. He didn’t answer for a long time. His gift was erratic, impulsive. He couldn’t just summon it at will. So it took a while before the visions came to him. One day, he slipped into one of his trances, the kind he absolutely hated, the kind that caused him unbearable pain. Following those future threads always came close to killing him, and this time was no different. But when he finally came out of it, he looked at me and said:Yes, there is one—just one—path that leads to that outcome.Since that day, everything I’ve done has been to reach this one specific point. Today."

Then he suddenly turns and steps up to my cage.

"Moon said you could make it happen. He used these exact words:Only Sun can bring it about."

I stare at him, still not understanding a damn thing.

"What are you even talking about? I already told you, I don’t have any kind of talent!"

Anzo gives me a nasty grin.

"Then we’ll test that in a moment. Did you know powers like this don’t always manifest casually? Sometimes they’retriggered by something violent, dramatic, traumatic. Something that forces your body to switch modes, to tap into a different kind of energy. Desperation can unleash your gift, activate it."

I shiver with fear.

"You’ve lost your mind, Anzo! There’s nothing inside me to unleash! Moon and Summer both showed signs of their abilities early on. I don’t have anything! Not even a hint of a gift!"

"Gifts come in many forms. Science doesn’t fully understand them yet. Some can’t be expressed in small ways, and for some… it’s all or nothing. Binary. You either have it or you don’t."

My nerves are literally vibrating.

"Can’t you just let us go, Anzo? Just walk away? You’re in a tight spot yourself, maybe even worse than ours if the FBI decides to take an interest," I try to reason with him, but of course it does nothing.

Anzo just gives a faint, amused smile.

"I sincerely doubt they’ll show up today. They usually hit early in the morning when they do raids, and it’s already 10 am. No sign of them. I think they’re skipping today."

"You’re playing with fire," Ragnar says coldly. "I doubt the feds are ever predictable."

Anzo slowly turns toward him.

"Ah… Ragnar. My dear brother-in-law. Twice over, no less. You know it’s bad manners to fuck someone else’s fucktoy?"

Ragnar narrows his eyes.

"Where to begin… I’ll take that one on the chin if you admit it’s even worse to kidnap people, rape them, beat them, use them, and torture them. Okay?"

Anzo laughs loudly.

"Oh, I’m only just getting started, dear Ragnar. Your pretty True Mate will help me. Or he’ll die. Right now."

Ragnar’s face goes pale. Mine probably turns red. I blurt out in a voice I don’t even recognize:

"Just tell me what you want from me already! I don’t even know what the hell you expect!"

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