Cassian
The door closed softly behind him, but the sound echoed like thunder in his chest.
He pressed his back against the cool stone wall of the corridor, drawing in a breath he couldn’t quite release. The hum of the triad bond pulsed beneath his skin, a golden thread he had no name for, pulling him back toward the room he’d just left.
Her.
Them.
It was unbearable, this duality—guilt sharp as fangs, hope dangerous as fire. He hadn’t asked for this, hadn’t wanted his bloodline forced into her child. And yet, when those impossibly clear eyes had locked on him, when that tiny hand had reached, something ancient had snapped into place. Not compulsion. Not choice. Destiny.
Cassian dragged a hand through his hair, pacing the narrow hall. His father’s voice haunted him—Valerius’s endless w
