The gray jacket sat on the black velvet sheets like a dead thing.
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't move. My eyes darted from the open window to the jacket, then down to Goliath. The giant dog was still wedged under the desk, shivering, refusing to look at the bed.
Someone had been in here. Someone had climbed up the stone wall of the fortress, bypassed the guards, and left this on my bed.
The man from the alleyway.
I backed up until my heels hit the heavy wooden doors. I reached behind me, my fingers frantically searching for the brass handle, but my eyes never left the blowing curtains. The room felt freezing cold now, the wind carrying the sharp smell of wet dirt and car exhaust.
"Cassian!" I tried to scream, but my voice came out as a weak, pathetic wheeze.
I swallowed ha
