Kael's POV
Elara flinches in shock, stepping back until her back hits the cold glass wall of my enclosure. Her eyes are wide with pure terror, and her mouth hangs open as she stares at my free hand. In that exact moment, looking at the genuine confusion and fear painted across her pale face, I realize that Elara was clueless about the liquid in the injection. She honestly had no idea she was holding a deadly weapon. She wasn't trying to murder me. She was just a pawn in a much larger, dirtier game, used by people who knew exactly how to weaponize her empathy against me.
"Kael, what are you doing?" she whispers, her voice trembling violently as she looks from my bare wrist to the crushed plastic in my grip. Tears spill over her eyelashes, wetting her cheeks. "I am trying to save you."
