<b>Chapter </b>84
ATASHA’S POV
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“This ce looks safe enough,” I muttered, keeping my eyes fixed on the cave walls instead of him. Ever since we stepped inside, Cassian hadn’t stopped staring at me. The weight of it sat heavy on my skin, making it hard to think straight. Maybe there was dirt on my face. Maybe blood. I almost raised a hand to check but stopped myself. Asking him would mean meeting his eyes, and I wasn’t ready for that.
“We should stay here for the night or at least until… the red moon passes.” My face felt hot. Too hot. I pressed the back of my hand against my cheek. The air inside this cave was freezing, my breath still puffing white in front of me. There was no reason for my skin to burn like this, unless I was blushing. Goddess, why?
I forced myself to look away, pretending to study our surroundings. This cave wasn’t like the first one. The entrance was narrow and low, just enough to squeeze through. But once inside, the space opened into a clearing bigger than I expected. The walls stretched high, rough stone rising straight up. And there, lodged at the very top, was something glowing.
A pearl or at least something that looked like one. Its pale light filled the cavern, bright enough to keep the shadows back.
I cleared my throat, trying to sound casual. “Hey… do you think you can get that pearl for me?”
Cassian didn’t say a word. He didn’t even nce at me. He just bent his knees, pushed off the ground, and leapt. In one clean motion, he caught the stone from the wall, ripped it free, andnded without losing bnce.
My mouth fell open. That was not what I expected. Still, when he extended his hand, I took the pearl carefully. “Uh… thanks.”
It was heavier than I thought, cool against my palm. The shape wasn’t perfect, not a smooth orb, but an uneven, fist–sized stone that glowed from within. I turned it over, the light washing across my fingers.
“The red moon couldst for days,” I said, more to fill the silence than anything else. “We don’t know when we’ll be able to leave this ce. We’ll need light if we’re stuck in here.”
The glow pulsed faintly, almost alive. My chest tightened when recognition clicked. “This isn’t a pearl… it’s a fae stone.”
I gripped it tighter, staring at its jagged surface. The warmth it gave off wasn’t natural. Whoever left this here had carved it deliberately, and now it was in my hands.
“We should probably get some food,” I said, breaking the silence.
To my surprise, he actually answered. “Stay.”
I froze, then gave a small nod. It wasn’t much, but it was still more than nothing. Since the red moon started, he’d only spoken in single words, shortmands at best. Still, it was better than him opening his eyes and immediately trying to strangle me like before. At least now, he was talking instead of treating me like an enemy every time he woke.
9:25 Fri<b>, </b><b>Sep </b>12
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While he was outside, I used the pearl to examine the cave. The clearing wasrger than the one before, big enough that at least ten people could fit inside without crowding.
I’d seen maps of the north before, but even Mendez told me this part was still nk. It’s too big and too dangerous. The beasts make real expeditions pointless. I had no idea which sector we were in now.
What bothered me more was how sure Cassian moved out there. He knew where to put his feet, where a ledge would hold, where a drift would hide rock. Had he been here before? The red moones every few years, and he always heads for the northern outpost when it starts. Maybe this route is routine for him.
I lifted the fae stone and kept checking the cave. The tunnel opened into a wide chamber that could fit ten people if they slept close. I found dry sticks jammed into crevices, older splinters along the wall, and a few thicker branches wedged behind a fallen b. I dragged everything to a t corner that looked best for a fire and sleeping.
Cassian came back sooner than I expected. He had a b of fresh meat over one shoulder and an armful of wood. He didn’t speak. He dropped the wood, stacked it, and started a me like he’d done it a thousand times.
I took the meat, pressed my hand to it, and purged the poison. Veins darkened, bled out, and cleared under my palm. I cut it into strips and skewered them. With no pots or pans, this was the only way.
While I worked, I watched him as hey the tinder, feed the me, set therger pieces and angle them for draw. No wasted movement. It was the kind of rhythm you get when you’ve done the same thing in the same kind of ce many times.
Then I noticed the hitch in his breath.
I stood. He stopped before I even reached him and looked up, eyes red and steady.
“You’re wounded,” I said. “Let me heal it.”
He wasn’t bleeding when he left. Whatever hit him did it outside.
He didn’t argue. He unsped his cloak and let it fall. Then he pulled his shirt over his head in one motion.
“Wait–you don’t have to-” I started, but his shirt was already off.
Three new marks cut across his side and shoulder. One deep rake along the ribs, a puncture under the corbone, and a long slice over his back where a fang had scraped. Fresh blood tracked down, mixing with older, dried stains. I stepped closer and raised my hand.
I reached out and ced my hand gently on his shoulder. Before I could push my ability into the wound, his fingers mped around my wrist.
My breath caught.
He pulled suddenly, and my body tipped forward. I stumbled, off bnce, stopping only when my face was just inches from his. I blinked hard, startled at the nearness, at the heat of his skin still radiating through the
cold cave air.
9:25 Fri, Sep 12
82
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Without a word, he shifted my hand and pressed it against his chest. Right over his heart.
The beat was strong, thudding against my palm. The contact froze me in ce. I had meant to heal the gashes across his ribs and shoulder, but instead my hand was trapped there, pinned by his own. His eyes didn’t leave mine, holding me still.
As I started healing him, my pulse raced so fast it almost drowned out the sound of his heart under my hand.
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