LOGINCassian’s POVThe record kept spinning.The same song. The same scratch at the same place, like time itself had been caught in a loop it didn’t know how to escape. Denzel stood near the turntable now, one hand resting on the cabinet like this was his living room and not the house Nolan and I had bled to build.Lilith was between us.That alone was enough to keep me breathing evenly, to keep my hands steady at my sides instead of doing what every instinct screamed at me to do.Denzel’s smile was gone.“You really thought I wouldn’t come for answers,” he said, voice sharp with fury now, stripped of its performative warmth. “After everything I did for you both? The sacrifices? And what did you both do to me?!”Nolan didn’t respond. He never did when Denzel was like this. Silence had always been Nolan’s way of drawing lines.I spoke instead. “You didn’t do what you think you did.”Denzel’s eyes snapped to me. “I fucking took you off the streets.”And just like that….I wasn’t in the house
Cassian’s POVThe moment Nolan ended the call, I just felt something wrong is going to happen.Not because of what he said….tightening security, increasing patrols, locking every possible entry point. That was expected. Necessary. But the air shifted immediately afterward, like the house itself inhaled sharply and forgot how to breathe.Then we heard it.The soft crackle of a vinyl record spinning to life.At first, my mind refused to register it. My body, however, reacted instantly….every muscle locking, every instinct screaming.The melody floated up the staircase, slow and familiar. Too familiar.Nolan and I turned to each other at the exact same time.That song.The one we used to play endlessly as kids, lying on the floor of a rundown apartment, dreaming about a future that didn’t include blood or guns or men like him. A song Denzel, Nolan and I loved. A song he claimed made him feel “nostalgic.”Fear crawled up my spine, cold and deliberate.“No,” I breathed under my breath.Lil
Lilith’s POVThree days.That was how long it had been since the warehouse. Since the concrete floor, the gunshot, Theo’s eyes going empty. Since Cassian’s arms around me while everything else fell apart.Three days, and time still refused to move properly.Morning bled into afternoon without meaning. Night came too fast, dragging the memories with it. I had not slept….not really. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back there. The smell of rust. The echo of screams. The sound that ended a life and split mine clean down the middle.My room was quiet.Too quiet.The curtains were half-drawn, sunlight leaking in thin strips across the floor. I sat on the edge of the bed, knees pulled to my chest, Cassian’s jacket still wrapped tightly around me even though it was warm. I hadn’t taken it off since he put it on me.It smelled like him….clean, familiar, grounding. It was the only thing that made the room feel real.A soft knock came at the door.“Lilith?” Nolan’s voice. Careful. Gentle. Lik
Lilith’s POVThe sound of the gunshot didn’t echo. It ended everything.One second, Theo was breathing…..ragged, desperate, clinging to life with whatever strength he had left. The next, he wasn’t. His body jerked once, violently, and then went slack. His eyes stared past me, unfocused, empty.Gone.I didn’t scream.I think something inside me broke so completely that my body forgot how.The gun lowered slowly in Denzel’s hand. Smoke curled faintly from the barrel, disappearing into the stale air of the warehouse. He stared at Theo for a moment, almost curious, as if waiting to see whether death would reconsider.It didn’t.“Well,” Denzel said eventually, his voice calm, almost bored. “That answers that.”My ears rang. My chest burned like my lungs had been set on fire, yet I couldn’t draw in a full breath. Theo’s blood pooled beneath him, creeping outward across the concrete in thin, dark lines. I stared at his face.Theo….who had once loved me the wrong way, hurt me the wrong way,
Lilith’s POVTime stopped making sense after a while.It stretched and folded in on itself until every second felt like an hour, and every breath I took in felt borrowed. I didn’t know how long Theo had been sitting there, blood soaking into the concrete floor, his breathing shallow and uneven. The warehouse smelled like rust, oil, and fear….thick enough that it sat on my tongue.Theo hadn’t moved in a long time.At some point, his eyes had rolled back, his body going frighteningly still. Panic had clawed at my chest then, sharp and relentless, because no matter what had happened between us, I didn’t want him dead. Not like this. Not because of me.I was still staring at him when the metal door creaked open again.Denzel walked back in like this was just another stop in his day. Calm. Unhurried. He carried a small black case in his hand, humming under his breath as if the scene in front of him didn’t exist.I stiffened.He crouched beside Theo, nudging him with the toe of his boot. “S
Cassian’s POVThe hum of Nolan’s office had always felt somewhat comforting….controlled chaos, glass walls, muted voices, the low whir of machines that existed to obey. Today, it felt too quiet. Like the building itself knew something was wrong and was holding its breath.I stood by the window, arms folded, watching the city stretch endlessly below us. Cars crawled through traffic, people lived their lives, unaware that Lilith had been ripped out of ours like a vital organ. Every second she was gone felt like an insult the world was daring me to swallow.Behind me, Nolan adjusted his cufflinks for the third time in two minutes. A nervous habit. He hadn’t slept. Neither had I.“He is here,” Nolan said finally, breaking the silence.I turned as the door opened and a young man stepped in, clutching a laptop bag like it was armor. Mid-twenties, maybe younger. Sharp eyes behind rectangular glasses. The kind of guy who looked like he belonged behind a screen, not in the middle of whatever
Lilith’s POV The underground warehouse always felt like it existed outside the world.No sunlight reached it. No noise from the city filtered through. Down here, time slowed, stretching and bending around the steady hum of electricity and the occasional metallic clink of tools. The air smelled of
Lilith’s POVThe morning arrived way too quickly.Sleep barely touched me the night before, and when it did, it came in like restless fragments, half-dreams filled with flashing lights, roaring engines, and Cassian’s voice repeating a single word over and over until it lost
Lilith’s POV The word ‘mistake’ he said to me shook me in ways I couldn't comprehend.It echoed with every breath I took, with every attempt my mind made to rationalize what had just happened. Cassian’s voice, calm, controlled, devastating kept replaying itself no matter how hard I tried to push i
Chapter 79Lilith’s POVBefore we could walk down the hallway completely, they caught up to us. Stopping us, still trying to make sense of it all.For a split second when Cassian’s lips met mine, my mind went completely blank. Then my instinct instantly took over. I kissed him back.The realization







