Chapter 204\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aly stomach dropped What does that mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means Athena could lose the ability to touch anyone at all. Derek said. \u201cEver. The power could isolate her completely to protect itself,\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like I couldn\u2019t breathe. The thought of Athena spending the rest of her life unable to touch another human being was worse than anything I could\u00a0<\/p>\n
imagine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long do we have? Sarah asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe records aren\u2019t clear,\u201d Derek said. \u201cBut based on what I\u2019ve read, it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months before it becomes\u00a0<\/p>\n
irreversible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your power isn\u2019t evil, Athena. It\u2019s meant to protect you and everyone around\u00a0<\/p>\n
you. But if\u00a0<\/p>\n
you can\u2019t learn to control it\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ill never be able to touch anyone again,\u2018 she finished for him. \u201cI already figured that part out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The resignation in her voice broke my heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to find a way to help you,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked at me with those sad brown eyes. \u201cWhat if you can\u2019t? What if\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m\u00a0<\/p>\n
stuck like\u00a0<\/p>\n
this for\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll deal with it,\u201d Orion said firmly. \u201cWhatever happens, you\u2019re not going through thi\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I am alone, Athena said quietly. \u201cI\u2019m sitting six feet away from all of you because I\u2019m dangerous. I can\u2019t hug my brother or kiss my boyfriend or even shake hands with a friend. How is that not being alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of us had an answer for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah cleared her throat. \u201cActually, there might be something else we can try.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We all turned to look at her. She looked nervous, like she wasn\u2019t sure she should be sharing what\u00a0<\/p>\n
she\u00a0<\/p>\n
was\u00a0<\/p>\n
thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ve been researching this too,\u201d she said slowly. \u201cAnd I found something. A way to\u2026 to stop the power completely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room went dead silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean stop it?\u201d Athena asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s hands were shaking slightly. \u201cThere\u2019s a ritual. An old one. It can permanently separate the power from the\u00a0<\/p>\n
person carrying it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds too good to be true,\u201d Derek said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the catch?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s face went pale. \u201cThe ritual kills the person. The separation is so traumatic that the body can\u2019t survive it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It might be the only way, Sarah said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MON\u00a0<\/p>\n
|||\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/21\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 204\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said again, bauler this time. Were not even cimdideling that\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPissan.\u201d Athena said soli.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I said, turning to look at her. Don\u2019t you dare even think about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if it\u2019s the only way to keep everyone safe?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care about everyone else, I said, \u2018I care about you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I care about everyone else,\u2018 she said. \u2018I care about you and Orion and Sarah and the kids. What if I lose control again? What if next time it\u2019s one\u00a0<\/p>\n
you that I hurt?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat won\u2019t happen, Orion said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know that, Athena said. \u201cNone of us know that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could see her starting to shut down again. Starting to pull away from all of us because she thought that was the only way to profect us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has to be another option,\u201d I said desperately. \u201cDerek, those records you found. Was there anything else? Anything about other ways to control the\u00a0<\/p>\n
power?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek was already looking through his papers. \u201cThere are some mentions of binding rituals. Ways to limit the power without destroying it completely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of limitations?\u201d Athena asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking it so you can only use it consciously,\u201d Derek said. \u201cSo it won\u2019t activate automatically when you\u2019re scared or angry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWould I still be able to touch people?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek scanned through one of the documents. \u201cIt says here that with proper binding, physical contact becomes safe as long as the person isn\u2019t intentionally trying to drain energy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait\u201d they all paused and looked towards me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve found a solution\u201d I say with a bright smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 204 Chapter 204\u00a0 Aly stomach dropped What does that mean?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIt means […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}