"You won’t be able to do anything after this," he said calmly. "You’ll slowly lose yourself, just like you wanted. Sadly, that banana custard was your last pleasure." His words made it clear—he knew the dessert was poison for me.

Xavier stared straight at me, fully aware of the danger I was in. But how did he know that banana custard was the way I had planned to die?

"If you really wanted to die, why are you upset about giving your body to Vera? At least it would be useful to someone. ...