There was laughter and a familiar magic that chilled Cassian to the bone. 

Pain—more than he’d ever felt before—spread through his body, like a thousand needles pricking his skin only to drain him. A name sat on his lips. One that had once been spoken with warmth and affection but was now weighed down with so much grief and betrayal he could almost choke on it. 

“We’ll meet again, Cassian.” 

The words, so softly spoken—a promise and a threat all in one—lingered in the air and carved themselves into Cassian’s mind. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing away the mask of bone and the pale hand reaching for him. All the while he drowned in his own fear until his heart felt like it would explode. Instead, he felt himself falling into a death-like void, empty save for himself. He had a moment of peace before it all crumbled away.

His eyes opened to the familiar ceiling of his room and the dim light of the early morning. For  a moment, Cassian laid there, thinking it was all a bad dream. His racing heart slowed to a steady rhythm and the lingering fear flooded out of him. 

And then, he saw him. 

Sitting in a corner of the room and looking much too relaxed, was the thief, all wild hair and sharp eyes of a vivid green—snake eyes, his mind provided. A scar ran from his jaw, up to the middle of his left cheek, marring his tanned skin. It was a simple detail Cassian had been unable to take note of during the commotion from the previous night. 

The darkness and chaos had kept him from truly examining his attacker. Now, in the dim light of the morning, Cassian found that the man didn’t seem quite so menacing. Even so, he couldn’t afford to be careless. Cassian sat up with a spell ready to slip past his lips. Instantly, the thief sat up straight, hands going up in a sign of surrender. 

“I mean you no harm!” he hurried to say. “Really! I mean you no harm.” There was a panicked look on his face. It seemed sincere enough to give Cassian pause.

Against his better judgment, Cassian stopped. He still eyed the thief warily, uncertain as to why he was there. Mostly, Cassian was confused as to why he’d not been left to die in the woods. The man certainly hadn’t seemed to have any qualms about killing him the previous night. The memory of the dagger held to his neck was proof enough.

“Why are you here, thief?” he asked, his glare still fixed upon the thief. 

“Well, I had to drag you back. Couldn’t let you die out in the woods. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Cassian could have laughed at the way the thief spoke, as if he owed him anything close to gratitude. He almost wanted to lie down once more. Perhaps if he slept he’d wake up to find it all some particularly absurd dream. 

“You mean from the woods, where I wouldn’t have been if not for you breaking into my home and stealing from me,” he said instead. The thief had the grace to look vaguely ashamed. “Though I guess I should be glad you didn’t kill me the previous times you attempted to do so.” He was starting to think that might have been for the better. At least then he wouldn’t be in such a ridiculous situation. 

The thief averted his eyes, hands lowering from where he still held them in front of himself. It was nice to see he had some semblance of shame. Not quite enough for Cassian’s liking, but it was something. 

“Listen, it wasn’t anything personal.”

Cassian actually did laugh then. It was a strangled sort of laugh, startled out of him by the pitiful excuse. He regretted it due to a sudden, sharp pain in his throat. He reached up, feeling clean bandages neatly wrapped around his neck.

“No, you were just personally going to kill me.” 

“I wasn’t actually going to kill you,” the thief argued. 

“Oh, so the knife at my throat was just for show?” 

“Well, yeah.” 

Cassian stared, utterly unimpressed. The thief shifted in his seat. With a sigh, Cassian decided arguing wasn’t worth the trouble. Not when there were more pressing matters to see to. 

“Do you know where Ethelred went?” he asked. 

“Ethelred? Is that the name of the guy with the bone mask?” 

Cassian suddenly felt like lying down and sleeping, hopefully until his actual death. At least then he’d be free of the burden of having to deal with such a frustrating man. 

“You agreed to do what he asked without knowing so much as his name?” 

“Sometimes it’s better not to know too much about a client as long as they’re willing to pay,” The thief answered easily. 

In a way, Cassian wasn’t surprised to hear that. The thief sitting before him wouldn’t be the first person he’d come across with that sort of attitude towards business dealings—however questionable said business was. It made sense, in a way. Secrecy and discretion were likely valuable enough to those who sought such dubious services.

“And what do you know about him?” Cassian asked, before a more important question popped into his mind. “What did he offer you in exchange?” he added, though he had a good idea as to what the answer would be. There was really only one thing he could think of that Ethelred would promise. Especially given how determined to get his payment the thief had seemed the previous night. 

Clearly, the man had not expected to be asked that. For a second, his eyes widened in surprise, before his expression fell back into a neutral one. It was such a quick shift that Cassian was hardly certain it had been there at all. 

“What does it matter now? The bastard left without completing his part of the deal.” There was anger in his gaze, not towards Cassian, but towards Ethelred. It was a feeling Cassian could sympathize with. Though not enough to suffer the thief’s presence any longer. 

“So you have no idea as to who Ethelred is, or why he bothered to ask for your help. You really are useless,” he said, pushing himself back to lean against the headboard of his bed. 

“Hey, I dragged you back here,” the thief pointed out, as if it hadn’t been the bare minimum required to atone for all the trouble he’d caused. 

“Do you want my eternal gratitude for the mild inconvenience?” Cassian wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. The thief had quite the gall. It was enough to make Cassian snap. “Do you even know what it is you took?” 

It had been years since Cassian had taken the staff and what little remained of his life before going into hiding. Of course, he’d always known Ethelred would show up again. The necromancer needed to finish what he started. Cassian had just hoped he would have more time. 

I would have, if it weren’t for a certain thief, he thought, staring at the man who had caused him so much grief. 

He’d likely not meant to cause so much trouble. It was a job to him, nothing more and nothing less. It was just unfortunate that it just so happened the task he’d taken on came from the worst person possible. Maybe Cassian wasn’t thinking straight—the exhaustion he felt muddling his mind—or maybe he really was so spiteful as to want the man looking back at him to know what he’d done. 

“That staff was the only thing keeping me alive,” Cassian said, his voice tired. He leaned more of his weight against the headboard as the heavy feeling in his body increased. “And now it’s gone. All because you believed Ethelred when he promised you whatever prize it is you were after.” 

For a moment, there was only silence. It bore down upon them, thick in the air and so tense it was bound to snap at any moment. Cassian could hardly care about that. Whatever discomfort the other man felt was well deserved. He felt his eyelids growing heavy and wished the thief would just leave so he could get some rest. 

“I didn’t know,” the words came out softer than Cassian could have expected. It made him look at the thief and take in the remorse carved into his face. He let out a breath—not quite a sigh—as he slid down to lie on the bed. 

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, finding that it truly didn’t. He’d not destroyed the staff, an impossible task even if he’d wanted to, but he’d bought them some time. Hopefully, that would be enough. It would certainly be longer than however much he had left. “Leave, kill me, do what you want.” 

With that, Cassian turned in bed, uncaring of what the only other person in the room would choose. He drifted off not long after and was grateful for the respite afforded to him in his sleep.