“What about friendship, Castiel? Whether the love was real or not, youweremy friend.”
His answer came too easily. “Friendship is a luxury I can no longer afford. As the fourth son, I have no power of my own. You know that.”
Her vision blurred, but she blinked hard against the burn. “I didn’t care you were a fourth son. You were always my confidant. We shared laughter and tears, hope and fears. Our past was real.”
She lifted her head, chin trembling, voice breaking. “Itrustedyou.”
Contempt sharpened his features. “If you’d been born a Beta, we’d be married by now. The one who failed isn’t me—it’s you, Reiya. You did this to yourself.”
His words plunged deep, cold and merciless. As if she’d chosen this—chosen to be born an Omega, chosen the cage that came with it.
Darkness twisted inside her, the urge to make him rise to anger, to see him break as she felt broken.
Her lips trembled, and the words slipped free, “You’re a disgusting, despicable man.”
Castiel didn’t react, his cold silence biting deeper than any retort. She couldn’t read him anymore—his face, once familiar, now a stranger’s. It frightened her. The man she thought she knew was slipping further out of reach, leaving her alone with her own fury.
He folded his arms across his chest, staring down at her. His expression shifted, like the flicker of a shadow under unsteady light. It was pity, condescension, and resignation all tangled together, as though he was gazing not at her, but at some inevitable outcome he’d already long accepted.
“Dove, don’t you think I knew that already?”
The words struck her—a blow straight to the chest. Heknew, and still he chose this path. Her ribcage slowly tightened, crushing her insides. Was this the real Castiel? Was there a part of him still worth saving? Somewhere beneath the cavalier cruelty, did that boy still exist? If she could find him—reach him—could she pull him back from the edge?
Her throat ached, but she forced the words out, “You weren’t always like this . . . You used to care . . . about me, about us, about something.”
When he said nothing, Reiya pressed, staring up at him, beseeching. “Youstillcare. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here . . . talking to me.”
His gaze dropped to her chest where the wing-shaped necklace rested against her chest—his gift when freedom was both their dream.
Kneeling by the mattress’s edge, he took it between his thumb and forefinger, stretching the silver chain taut between them.
Reiya’s heart squeezed as Castiel’s knuckles whitened, his hand tightening around the pendant, eyes narrowing like a man standing at the edge of a precipice. The silver chain dug into her nape, and for a moment that seemed to stretch forever, she thought he might rip off the clasp.
Then, he flicked his wrist, and the chain slipped free. The crystal pendant dropped against her chest with a soft thud.
“You’re still wearing it?” he said, lips curled lopsidedly.
A scream clawed at her throat, but it lodged there, trapped. Every fibre of her wanted to rip the necklace from her skin, cast it away, and sever whatever remained of their shared past.
Yet she couldn’t.
Her pulse hammered, drowning out everything but the voice in her head.
Don’t let him win. Not like this.
“Why are you still here, Castiel?” The tremor in her voice betrayed her, but she forced herself to meet his gaze. “If I meant nothing—if I was just a means to an end—why stay? I’m already bound. Trapped on a moving ship. Why not leave me to your crew and be done with it?”
His jaw ticked.
“You don’t want this. I know you don’t.” Her words came faster now, desperate, tumbling out before she lost the courage to speak them. “Tell me the truth. Whatever plan this is—whoever put you up to it—we can figure it out. Let me help you.Please.”
For a breath, something flickered in his eyes—raw, fragile, peeking through the cracks in his carefully crafted mask.
There. She seized onto it, hope expanding like blown glass.
But, just as quickly, whatever she’d seen was now buried beneath the same cold indifference. Whatever part of him she’d touched had slipped beyond reach. Her hope shattered.
He leaned closer, close enough that she could see the amber flecks in his eyes. “That’s enough, dove.”
