Alice POV
The world around me was imploding. The ground cracked and splintered beneath my feet, the floor trembling as if it were about to collapse entirely. Thick, black smoke began to seep from the widening fissures in the earth, spreading across the room like an insidious fog, choking the air and obscuring everything in its path.
In my hand, the jade stone pulsed with a strange energy, and I felt it resonate with the earth itself, connecting me to the raw power coursing beneath the surface. Desperately, I reached for the clasp of the necklace that had been sapping my strength, the stone that Jacob had forced upon me to suppress my powers. My fingers fumbled, but as the jade stone in my hand glowed brighter, I felt a surge of determination. With a fierce tug, I tore the necklace away,
