Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 322: Truth or Lies Astrid's POV

I tried to keep my face steady, but her words struck a chord deep inside me. She did know something. Something about the changes I had felt, the darkness I had sensed lurking within me.

The poison. It had been her weapon, and now, I realized it was more than just a means to kill me. She knows something else, something even I hadn't understood.

"You're lying," I hissed, my voice shaking with anger, but also with doubt.

Her grin widened. "Oh, am I? Why do you think the poison didn't kill you? It wasn't meant to. It was meant

to awaken something... darker. Something you won't be able to control. You're a monster, Astrid, and soon enough, everyone you love will see it too."

I shook my head, refusing to believe her. She was trying to manipulate me, to twist my mind just as she always had.

"Shut up," I whispered, but my voice wavered.

"You feel it, don't you?" she pressed, her eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction. "The power inside you, the anger. It's only a matter of time before you lose control completely. You'll never be free of it. Never."

I stepped back, shaking my head. "You're trying to manipulate me, Giselle. It won't work."

She laughed again, the sound harsh and grating. "You don't believe me? If you want proof, go to my room. There's a book there, that will explain what kind of monster you are. Read it. Then you'll see what you really are. What you'll become."

Her words slithered into my mind, planting seeds of doubt, and I hated that part of me did believe her. That part of me was afraid of what was happening inside me. I clenched my fists, refusing to let her see the fear she was feeding.

"You're a liar," I said, my voice rising in anger. "You've always been a liar."

She didn't respond, only smiled that sickening smile, as if she had already won.

gaze burned into mine, mocking me, taunting me, as if she knew her

heart pounding in my chest. "Guards!" I called out, my

creaked open, and two guards stepped inside the

fought against

never be free, Astrid!" she screamed, her voice echoing down the dark

at me, wrapping themselves around my mind like a tightening

on her, telling myself that she was lying, that she was

her voice followed me like a

to believe her. I couldn't believe

fear - the fear that she might be right - had already planted itself deep inside me, taking root. And no matter how hard I tried

behind me snapped me

stone floor and came to my side, his eyes scanning my face as if searching for something-anything- to

to reassure him, but my heart was still racing, my mind still spinning with Giselle's final

the guards dragged Giselle away, her screams

two of us behind, the air felt heavy with everything unsaid. He turned to me, his voice soft but

I froze. I couldn't tell him—not

same

cracks in my armor.

I swallowed the truth, burying it deep inside, where even I could barely

reach my eyes. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm

wasn't convinced. I could see it in the way his eyes narrowed, in

- he could feel that something was wrong. That

instead of