A squat house wedged between a collapsed loading dock and the burned-out husk of a shipping office. Its roof sags in the middle. The porch is tilting, swallowed by weeds. It looks like it shouldn’t be standing, like it slipped between the cracks when the rest of this place died.
A faded Do Not Enter sign flaps weakly in the wind, nailed crooked to the doorframe.
Grayson glances at me, then draws his weapon.
I follow without a word.
The door creaks as we push it open. Stale rot floods the air—wood, dust, and something sour beneath it.
The floor groans under our weight as we clear each room.
Then we hear it.
A faint sound. Muffled. Coming from below.
The basement.
We find the door behind a shattered shelf, the padlock already broken. Like someone wanted us to find it.
Grayson flicks on his flashlight and goes first.
The steps creak. My heartbeat is louder than my boots. Every muscle is tight, braced for what’s coming.
And then—
In the corner of the basement, under a hanging bulb wired to the ceiling, we see her.
My mother.
She’s tied to a chair. Duct tape around her wrists. A cut on her cheek, already dried. But she’s breathing.
She lifts her head.
Her eyes go wide.
“Cassian. Behind you.”
I spin.
But before I can see anything, something slams into my head, and everything goes black.
Ican’t believe I’m doing this.
This is the worst possible time and place.
But fuck it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Cassian,” I say, snapping my head toward the man beside me. He must hear the resolve in my voice, because he turns almost instantly to face me. “I need you to… uh…”
I glance quickly over my shoulder. The road behind us is still clear. The woods surrounding the abandoned hospital stretch into the distance. Somewhere beyond those trees, that kid is still fighting. He has to be. I won’t let myself believe he’s already lost.
I turn back to Cassian. My heart is pounding, adrenaline and panic and determination tangled so tightly together I can’t separate them.
“I need you to fuck me,” I say.
The words come out breathless. But not weak.
Cassian doesn’t move. He just stares.
