Chapter 64 · The Second Execution

"That was the bond."

"It's broken."

"It was broken."

The spark hit again.

Heat ripped through my chest like a live wire. My knees gave out, and Cassian's memory slammed into mine—not words. Not a full scene.

Fragments.

A locked command room.

Blood sliding over his hand.

His voice, rough and wrecked, saying my name like he already believed I was dead.

I tore myself away from him.

"You lied to me."

His jaw clenched. "About what?"

"You didn't reject me because you felt nothing."

Alarms screamed around us.

Cassian said nothing.

That silence cut deeper than the explosion outside.

His fingers curled at his side. "We don't have time for this."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one keeping us alive."

"No. It's the only one keeping you comfortable."

Another blast punched through the tower.

The eastern wall disappeared.

Heat and black seawater crashed into the command chamber. Steel fragments shrieked through the air. Cassian caught the back of my coat and yanked me down behind a support beam.

The floor kicked sideways.

For one awful second, the tower became a wall. My shoulder smashed into metal. Freezing seawater rushed over my boots, cold enough to burn.