CHAPTER 8
963 Words
THE THINGS THAT HUNT HER
Serena barely remembered the walk back to the main road. Her mind was a riot — Cassian’s voice, his eyes, his certainty. The phone he’d given her felt heavier than it should, like a loaded weapon disguised in silver.
She slipped into a taxi, ignoring the driver’s curious glance. Night bled across the sky, thick and watchful. Serena pressed the back of her head to the seat and exhaled shakily.
She wasn’t free.
But for the first time, she wasn’t running alone.
Her phone vibrated.
Her old phone.
Unknown number.
Her stomach knotted.
She opened it.
WHERE ARE YOU? — L
Her blood turned to ice.
Leonard never texted in caps. He barely texted at all. He commanded. He summoned. He appeared.
If he was texting, he was rattled.
Serena looked out the window. They were already halfway into the city. “Faster,” she said to the driver.
“Yes ma’am.”
Another vibration.
Another message.
Your things are gone.
The staff say you left with a man.
Answer me.
Serena swallowed hard, forcing air into her lungs. Cassian’s voice echoed:
“You’re not alone anymore.”
She didn’t respond. She deleted the thread.
But the shaking wouldn’t stop.
When she reached her temporary apartment — a tiny furnished unit she’d rented in secret, paid in cash — she locked the door, checked the windows, checked the bathroom, checked under the bed. Twice.
Her breaths kept breaking in her chest.
She hated this.
Hated that Leonard still lived behind her ribs like a ghost with claws.
When her knees buckled, she sat on the floor, pressing her forehead to her palms.
Then—
Her new phone lit up.
Not calling.
Just one message from a blank contact.
Cassian:
Breathe, Serena.
Her throat tightened painfully.
How did he know?
She typed back.
Serena:
Are you tracking me?
Seconds later—
Cassian:
No.
I just know what people look like after they’ve lived in cages.
Her chest cracked open. She couldn’t explain it — the mix of vulnerability and strength that came from being understood without asking.
Serena:
You shouldn’t get involved.
Cassian:
I already am.
She clenched her eyes shut. This wasn’t safe. Cassian wasn’t safe.
But she typed anyway.
Serena:
He knows I’m gone.
A pause.
Then—
Cassian:
Let him.
He’s not the only one who knows who you belong to anymore.
Her heart stopped.
Belong.
That word tasted like danger and salvation tangled together.
Serena:
I don’t belong to anyone.
Cassian’s reply came instantly.
Cassian:
Good.
Then when he comes for you, you won’t hesitate to run toward the person who won’t put chains back on you.
Her fingers trembled.
Serena:
I don’t run toward anyone.
Cassian:
You will.
Sooner than you think.
Before she could respond, a knock sounded at her door.
Soft.
Too soft.
Serena froze.
Another knock.
Quieter this time.
She turned off the lights, moved silently to the peephole—
And her blood froze solid.
A Blackwood bodyguard.
Not one of the loud ones.
One of the quiet ones Leonard used when he wanted something done quietly. When he wanted something erased.
Serena stepped back, breath shaking.
Her phone vibrated again — Cassian.
Cassian:
Don’t open it.
She texted quickly.
Serena:
They’re here.
Cassian:
I know.
Her heart hammered.
How?
The knock grew sharper.
Serena covered her mouth.
Her phone buzzed one more time.
Cassian:
Keep the lights off.
Stay away from the door.
I’m already close.
Serena didn’t dare breathe.
Outside the door, the guard tried the handle.
Locked.
Thank God.
Then he said softly, “Mrs. Blackwood? It’s time to come home.”
Her body turned to stone.
Mrs. Blackwood.
Even her name wasn’t hers anymore.
The door rattled gently. A test.
Serena backed away, pulse tearing through her chest.
Then—
A crack.
A thud.
A muffled grunt.
Silence.
Serena’s heart shot into her throat.
Footsteps.
Heavy. Controlled. Coming closer.
A shadow paused outside her door.
Then a voice — low, cold, and lethal in a way that made her knees weaken.
“Serena. Open the door.”
Cassian.
Her lungs finally worked again. Hands shaking, she unlocked it.
The door swung inward.
Cassian stood there, breathing hard, black shirt damp with mist, jaw tight, eyes still burning with the violence he hadn’t finished digesting.
Behind him, the unconscious guard lay slumped against the wall, head twisted at an unnatural angle.
Serena’s breath hitched.
Cassian stepped inside, shutting the door behind him with a slow, heavy thud.
“You okay?” he asked.
His voice wasn’t gentle. It was something better — something that told her the entire world could fall apart and he would still be here.
Serena nodded once, unable to form words.
Cassian looked her over, slow and thorough. Not with lust. With assessment. With concern he tried to hide.
“Did he touch you?” His voice dropped to something quiet and lethal.
“No,” she whispered.
Relief — real, raw relief — cut through his expression.
Then his attention shifted to her shaking hands.
He walked closer, his presence swallowing her fear whole. “Serena.”
She didn’t realize she was trembling until he gently took her wrists and lowered her hands from her face.
“You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Her voice cracked. “He’ll send more.”
Cassian’s gaze darkened into something ruthless and terrifying.
“Let him,” he murmured. “I’ve been waiting years for an excuse.”
Serena inhaled sharply.
Cassian leaned closer, his forehead almost brushing hers.
“You’re not his,” he whispered. “And I will burn every piece of his empire to prove it.”
Her pulse fluttered wildly.
She didn’t step away.
She wasn’t sure she even wanted to.
- Writer
