“Don’t let the demon take you alive. If it does, you’ll wish for death instead.”
My heart starts to pound. “What are you talking about?”
He takes a shaky breath, his grip on my wrist unbelievably strong for how weak he appears. “I was trapped with that monster for nearly two thousand years. I have more insight into its nature and what it wants than any other living being in either world. My mind is fractured after all that time. It’s healing, but sometimes memories return to me in bits and pieces. One just returned to me.”
Panic hangs in the air around Cassian, a frantic edge that wasn’t there moments before. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but my pulse spikes, my own nerves tightening in response.
“What was the memory?” I ask, unsure if I truly want the answer.
“It was one from when I was imprisoned in that cursed dagger. There were times I felt indistinguishable from the demon in my prison with me. Its thoughts were my thoughts, and my thoughts it devoured, like a starving beast whose hunger is never satiated.”
Chills run down my spine, goose bumps forming on my arms.
I haven’t dwelled on what it was like for Cassian all those years, and for good reason. It had to be hell.
“It passed the time by plotting your demise. Reveling in what would happen to you when it won its ultimate victory.”
My heart thuds against my chest, fear prickling the back of my neck.
With effort, Cassian shifts closer, his hand tightening around my wrist almost painfully.
“You can’t let the demon take you,” he says again. “Because if it does, that monster won’t just drain your lifeforce alone. It will consume the whole of you—magic, mind, and what some would call a soul—and trap you within it for eternity.”
My hands go numb as fear threatens to drown me.
“Take it from someone who knows, if it comes down to it, death is preferable to that end.”
Cassian’s gaze flicks over my shoulder, and I twist around to find Becks standing in the doorway, horror etched into his features.
Thirty-Five
BECKS
I smile reassuringly at Haven when we get out of the SUV in front of Talon’s cabin, hoping it doesn’t reveal any of the turmoil that’s been churning in my gut since Cassian’s confession to her late last night. I know Cassian well enough to say that some of his prattling is nonsense—the incoherent ramblings of a fractured mind—but his warning to Haven wasn’t that.
It felt lucid, a warning he was desperate for her to heed.
The thought of Haven being trapped in the same hell Cassian went through, but not just for hundreds of years, for eternity, makes my blood run cold. She hasn’t said anything about it, but I can tell it’s been on her mind as well. I’ve caught her staring into nothing more than once, her brow pinched with worry, her unseeing gaze filled with anxiety, which is why I need to be her rock right now.
The demon won’t get her. I won’t allow it.
This plan we have is going to work. I need her to believe that . . . even if I have my doubts.
Ensley beats me to Haven, linking her arm in hers as she stares at the cabin.
“So, this is the love nest?” she asks with a cheeky smile.
Haven blushes, and fumbles for the right words.
I roll my eyes, knowing I’m going to take a ribbing from my sister over the next couple of days. Clearly Locklyn told her about Haven and me. I’m going to have to tell her to take it easy on Haven. Ensley can be overwhelming.
Titus slides up next to me. “She can handle it.”
I lift a questioning brow and Titus smiles. “It’s written all over your face. You’re worried about her. But she’s tough. That much is clear. Ens is just trying to take her mind off of everything. Better to be a little embarrassed than riddled with stress and anxiety.”
Titus has a point, but still, my sister can be a lot. And she’s not the only one I have to worry about.
As if on cue, Imogen joins the two girls. “Love nest, huh? One question: are the rooms soundproof? Because if not, that might be an issue.”
