You ever hear silence so loud it splits your skull?
That’s how it started.
Anais blinked into a haze of smoke and blood and something burning. The wreck was groaning—metal grinding against itself like it hadn’t realized the crash was over. Her ears were ringing. Her skin stung. But she was alive.
Barely.
The world came back in pieces. A snapped seatbelt digging into her hip. The dashboard crumpled like foil. Wind pressing through broken windows, whispering: Get out. Get out now.
Then she turned her head—and time stopped.
Cassian.
His body was slumped over the wheel, blood sliding down from his temple in a slow, terrifying line. His chest moved, but barely. His jaw looked clenched, like he was still trying to fight even unconscious.
“Cassian,” she rasped. Her voice barely sounded li
