“Don’t you see?”

Cassian’s voice echoed in my mind, louder now, like a storm crashing through my thoughts.

“This is what happens when you defy me.”

I could hear Mira behind me, her voice trembling as she tried to reach for me, but I couldn’t face her.

I couldn’t let her see me like this.

I felt the cool air on my skin as Mira gently pulled my shirt off, exposing the full extent of the scratches.

She gasped, her breath shaky as she examined them.

“They’re not—this can’t be…”

Her words faltered as she leaned in closer, tracing the marks with trembling fingers.

“Lena, these… they’re too deep. This isn’t just... it isn’t just a delusion. This is real.”

The weight of her words hit me like a tidal wave, and I closed my eyes, the darkness pressing in from every side.

It was too much.

Too much to bear.

Cassian’s presence was everywhere, seeping into my skin, into my blood, into my very soul.

“He’s mine,” Cassian’s voice whispered, a dark promise in my ear. “You belong to me, Lena.”

10

MIRA

I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

I stood there, my hands shaking, staring at the horrific marks on Lena’s back.

The deep gouges were so fresh, so real.

I could still see the blood dripping from her skin, pooling on the floor.

My stomach churned, and for a moment, I thought I might pass out.

This isn’t possible.

I reached out to touch her again, but something in me pulled back.

My fingers hovered just above her skin, as if I might burn myself by making contact.

The air felt heavy now, thick with a tension I couldn’t explain.

But there was no denying what I saw.

These weren’t scratches from a fall.

They weren’t the result of anything that could have happened naturally.

Cassian.

The name echoed in my mind, a chill running down my spine as I remembered what Lena had told me.

Could it be possible?

Could this man—this thing—really be real?

I took a deep breath, steadying myself as I crouched down in front of her.

“Lena,” I whispered, my voice breaking, “You have to believe me. We’re going to figure this out. I’m not going to leave you. But we need to get help. We need to—”

But Lena’s eyes had gone blank.

She wasn’t listening to me anymore.

She wasn’t even here.

She was lost.

And I was losing her too.

11

LENA

I hadn’t meant to look.

Really, I hadn’t.

But when I stumbled across the old journal hidden in the back of my closet, I couldn’t resist.

It was thick, the leather cover worn and cracked with age.

My fingers trembled as I opened it, the smell of old paper and dust filling the air around me.

I hadn’t seen this journal in years.

My childhood journal.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d even thought about it.

The pages flipped open, each one filled with strange, childish drawings.

I smiled a little, the memories of my younger self tugging at the edges of my mind.

But then I froze.

One page caught my eye.

My heart skipped a beat.

There he was.

The man.

Cassian.

I blinked hard, rubbing my eyes, trying to shake the image from my mind.

But no matter how many times I looked away and looked back, it was still there.

The same exact face I had seen in my apartment.

The same dark eyes, the same sharp jawline.

He was drawn in charcoal, his outline smudged, like he was moving even on the page.

His face was twisted into that cruel smile I knew all too well.

I swallowed hard, the pages of the journal flicking under my fingers.

Why was he in here?

Why had I drawn him?

I couldn’t remember doing this, couldn’t remember even knowing him as a child.

And yet, here he was—his eyes staring back at me, dark, like they could see straight into my soul.

The sound of the pages turning was deafening in the silence of my apartment, each one revealing more of his face, drawn over and over again.

It was as if he had always been there, lurking just out of sight, waiting for me to find him.