— CASSIAN |
I should leave.
Should stand up. Walk out. Lock the door behind me.
But I'd promised.
No locked doors.
So I stayed.
Watched her sleep.
Her breathing had finally evened out. Deep. Steady. The panic burned away, leaving only exhaustion.
She looked peaceful now.
Young.
Vulnerable.
Nothing like the defiant woman who'd stood at that fence this morning.
Everything like the broken girl who'd sobbed about being locked in closets.
My chest ached.
I'd done that to her. Triggered that trauma. Locked her in just like her mother had.
Made her relive the worst parts of her childhood because I was too selfish to let her go.
I was a monster.
I'd always known it.
But seeing it reflected in her eyes, in her panic, in her tears—that made it real in a way it had never been befor
