Chapter 9: Love over Family

My heart won over my mind, my emotions took over any rational thoughts swarming within my brain. Nothing can stop me from going out into this castle now. Nothing—not until I find Zarion in the woods.

Or in this city. Even if I walk barefoot across the world, I will find him.

“Wherever you go, I will go, Zarion,” I whispered, letting the wind carry my words to wherever he is.

“One step outside the castle, Cassidy, and you’re gone from our family.” I paused, bones stiffening. It’s as if I felt someone pour a pail of icy cold water amid the harsh winter weather. “If you go out tonight, I will abandon you—leave you. I will forget that I had known a family that goes by the name of Cassidy Salem Blythe.” Bile rose in my throat. Fear, not for myself but for the promise that—for eighteen years—I just broke now. You will take care of your grandmother, Cassidy. My mother once wrote in her journal, directly addressing me. I exhaled, willing the air to enter my lungs again. Pain etched in my ches