Chapter 27 · The Rebel Heir Revealed

The core ripped through my blood, and Cassian's last words slammed back into my skull.

"Mara!"

Cassian dropped beside me and caught my shoulder before my knees hit the floor.

"Get out of my head."

"You put me here."

"I didn't choose this."

"You chose them."

The core dragged harder.

Pain split across my chest. Cassian's pain poured through the bond with it. His fear. His guilt. All of it crashed into me until I couldn't tell where he ended and I began.

Then the bond ripped open another memory.

Cassian stood alone in the floodgate stairwell after the ceremony. His fist slammed into the stone wall.

Once.

Twice.

Blood ran over his knuckles. The rejection mark burned across his throat.

He'd carved it there himself.

He hadn't let the bond fade without punishing himself for it.

His voice shook through the memory.

"She'll hate me. Good. If she hates me, she'll stay away from the council."

I sucked in a breath.

Cassian grabbed both my shoulders. "Don't watch that."

"You were going to let me hate you?"

"I needed you alive."

"You needed me gone."

"I needed you breathing!"

His voice cracked across the control room.

The core flashed.