He sits back down, folding his hands like he’s finished delivering a sermon. But I can see it in his eyes, his favorite part is still coming.
“And the beauty of it is,” he says, “Sabine still doesn’t know. Not really. Eli’s been keeping her steady. Distracted. She confides in him. About you, about her fears. And he listens. So well. You’d be surprised.”
I try to breathe, but my ribs ache. My wrists burn. My vision pulses at the edges.
I say nothing.
I just hold his gaze.
What is there to say?
The snake was right under my nose the entire time.
And even though I suspected him at first, it didn’t matter.
I still let him in.
Let him slither through the cracks.
Fuck.
That’s when it hits me.
I thought this man’s obsession was something I could fight. Something I could outrun, outsmart, shut down if I just stayed vigilant.
I memorized every lock, every creak in the floor, every shadow cast by headlights turning the corner.
I thought if I stayed sharp, I’d be the line he couldn’t cross.
But he was never trying to cross it.
He was already inside.
And now I can see the whole picture, clear as day.
This game we played?
He had already won before it even started.
I was always supposed to lose.
“What the fuck do you mean that half-existent bitch is coming for Cassian’s mother?” Talon flails his hands as he gathers the daggers from the floor.
“Talon…” I say, my heart pounding. “I meant exactly what I said. She’s coming for her.”
I turn to look at Cassian.
His fists are clenched, sweat trailing down his forehead.
He doesn’t look good.
And I can’t fucking blame him.
This man has been teetering on the edge for years. Grieving, blaming himself, never truly free since his sister died. Even if he hasn’t been close to his mother, the care he has for her is carved into him. Guilt couldn’t erase it.
“Yeah, alright,” Talon mutters, picking up the last dagger and running a hand through his hair. He doesn’t look much better. He’s been slammed into the wall by the wraith twice in the last twenty minutes.
“But since when can a wraith hunt the living? What the fuck changed?” he asks, his tone sharpening. “She’s supposed to bestuck in limbo, between realms. She’s not supposed to touch regular humans.”
