The words gutted Bridget. She went still inside herself, a breath held in a body that wasn’t hers to breathe. She had always believed, maybe naively, that somewhere beneath all of Vega’s bitterness and madness, there was still some thread of love. Some tether between them that might keep her sister from destroying her completely.
But now… she wasn’t so sure.
Vega didn’t seem interested in preserving her. Not like before. Not like when Bridget had been a valuable pawn to get what she wanted.
Now she was just a shell. A tool. And completely expendable.
And the terrifying truth was that Bridget wasn’t sure how much more her body or mind could endure.
From the shadows, Cassia stirred in her sleep. A soft sigh, then nothing more. With a satisfied smile, Vega left the small room. After she’d slipped through the small crack in the door, she turned to close it quietly.
And then Bridget felt it. A pulse, not in her chest, but deep in the core of herself.
Cade.
He was behind them. Standing at the top of the stairs.
Bridget didn’t have to see him. She could feel his presence the way she’d always felt it. Before magic, before the bond, before everything between them had turned to ash and grief. It was the ache of knowing someone down to the marrow. It was something she knew Vega never understood, no matter how deeply she clawed into Bridget’s skin.
But at that moment, Vega smiled.
Well, well,she purred inside Bridget’s mind.Let’s see if he can tell the difference.
A surge of panic bloomed in Bridget’s chest.
He’s mad at me,Bridget said, half-hoping Cade wasn’t there to talk to her. Even though she knew he was.
Vega let out an unbelieving hum.Yes, he looks positively enraged.
Bridget fought to pull herself forward, to take back one limb or a breath. But her body didn’t move. All she could do was watch through her own eyes as Vega tilted her head and turned to face him.
Cade stood at the end of the hall, one hand still gripping the bannister. The firelight from below flickered across his face, shadowing the line of his jaw and the storm building in his golden eyes.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t speak.
He was watching her.
Watchingthem.
Bridget didn’t dare try to speak again. Didn’t want to tip Vega off to how close she was to breaking. But Vega must have felt the spike of fear, because she smiled wider.
“You know,” she said aloud, Bridget’s voice soft and sweet, “you really should stop sneaking up on people. It’s unnerving.”
Cade’s eyes narrowed slightly, flicking down her body, then back up again. Suspicion bloomed at the edges of his expression. He didn’t move, not at first. But Bridget could see the moment he shifted into something quieter, more dangerous. His shoulders relaxed, but it was the wrong kind of relaxed. It was tense beneath the calm.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked. “Although it seems like you didn’t try for more than a minute.”
“Too much on my mind,” Vega replied easily, tilting Bridget’s head to the side with a faux-casual shrug. She took a slow step toward him. “And I thought I heard something strange upstairs. I went to check it out.”
Cade nodded once. His gaze moved to the closed door. “Really? That’s strange. I didn’t hear anything.”
He didn’t say it accusingly, but it was still a little too casual for Bridget’s liking. And then she wanted to scream as she watched her own body inch closer to him.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
He said it so quietly, Bridget almost missed it.
Vega tilted her head, feigning a frown. “Only because you’ve been impossible to talk to.”
