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“Right,” she nods. “I wish it felt as good as it sounds.”
I slide the empty mugs to one side, watching Cassie’s fingers twist a strand of hair, her eyes tracing patterns on the tabletop. The air between us is thick with unspoken questions and the weight of our pasts.
“How did you get over it?” Her voice breaks the silence, low and hesitant. “The losing control part?”
“Wasn’t easy,” I admit, my hands finding each other, seeking solace in the press of skin on skin. “Aisling and Gunnar—they were there. They understood the fight, the craving. They stood by me.”
“Roman…” Her voice trails off, and I know she’s thinking about the Alpha with a reputation for being more fortress than man. “Do you think he would help me through it? Like they helped you?”
“Roman?” I chuckle softly, but there’s no humor in it, just a dry recognition of the complexities of our tangled lives. “Yeah, he would. He’s got a core of loyalty that runs deep, even if it’s buried under layers of ice. And I can tell he likes you.”
She nods, absorbing my words, considering their meaning.
“Roman’s tough, but he gets it—the pull of the bond, the need for control,” I continue, trying to reassure her. “He won’t let you fall, Cassie.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, and there’s a flicker of something like hope in her eyes.
It’s fragile, likely to shatter at the slightest tremor, but it’s there all the same.
“I guess the only thing I’m wondering is if the Eclipse are still going to try and find me,” she says. “They’ve had me chained up for what feels like years…”
“But you’re here now,” I say. “And we’ve been on the run for months, without them coming after us.”
“Because they don’t know where you are or because they don’t want to catch you yet?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” I muse, tapping my fingers against the table in a rhythm only I can decipher. The uncertainty hangs heavy in the air, a shadow lurking in the corners of our makeshift sanctuary.
Cassie’s gaze meets mine, a silent plea for reassurance. “Do you think they’ll stop looking for me?”
I exhale slowly, considering the possibilities. The Eclipse, with their ruthless determination and unyielding pursuit, could be biding their time, strategizing their next move. Or perhaps, they’ve deemed her escape inconsequential amidst their grander schemes.
“We can’t know for sure,” I finally answer, my voice tinged with resignation. “But we’ll be ready for whatever comes our way.”
Cassie nods, a flicker of determination lighting up her features. “I won’t let them take me back.”
“Yeah,” I say. “We won’t either.”
Chapter sixteen
Aisling
Ilock the door behind me, my back pressing against it as if I could shut out the world with this flimsy barrier. The bedroom is just a room—four walls and a bed—but right now, it’s a cell where I can’t escape my own thoughts. My chest heaves with each breath, the air too thin, or maybe it’s just that my lungs forget how to draw it in properly.
I drowned once. Lost oxygen to my brain, annihilating the paths to my memories.
And this…this is how it felt.
“Get a grip, Aisling,” I mutter to myself, pacing the length of the bedroom.
The idea gnaws at me, relentless. Have I truly broken free? Or am I circling the same track, flesh for favors, my body a bargaining chip at every turn?
The thought sours in my mouth, and I spit it out with a curse.
“Damn it all.”
I slump onto the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, head in hands. The panic recedes like the tide going out, leaving me empty and hollow on the inside.
I’m not in the water.
