The silence between us felt suffocating. It wasn’t the usual quiet of a night in the woods, the kind that felt safe, unbroken, and natural. No, this was different. This silence was thick, pregnant with the weight of the words Ezekiel had just dropped.
The Citadel’s walls felt like they were closing in, the stone pressing against my ribs, and I could almost hear the weight of the past cracking under its pressure. The truth—our truth—was too heavy for this place, too heavy for the air we were breathing.
Cassian was still beside me, but his presence had changed. I could feel the tension radiating off him, feel the storm inside him building with every passing second. His breathing was shallow, his fists clenched at his sides, and his face—his face was closed.
I knew that look. I had seen it
