ATASHA’S POV


    55 vouchers?


    “Don’t get up. You have a fever.” Cassian’s voice stopped me before I could push myself upright. I turned toward him, only then realizing I was lying in a bed I didn’t recognize at first. No, this wasn’t unfamiliar. I had been here before, when I was given clean clothes. This was our room.


    Wait… “A fever?” I frowned, the words pulling me back to what happened earlier in the infirmary. That heavy, suffocating sensation. “That feeling…” Then I recalled what Agape told me. I jolted upright, but the movement made the room spin. My head swam, and I had to grip the sheets to steady myself.


    “It’s impossible,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I don’t get sick. I’ve never been sick.”


    Ignoring the dizziness, I ced my hand over my chest, trying to summon the same force I used on others. But nothing happened. No warmth, no pull, no rush of energy. It was as if my ability had been cut off entirely.


    Panic red in my chest, sharper than the fever burning under my skin. My eyes darted to Cassian. “I- I can’t heal myself. What is happening to me?”


    He stood near the bed, his expression unreadable. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But you should rest.”


    Before I could argue, the sound of screeching ripped through the night. The familiar cry of beasts echoed from beyond the walls. My blood ran cold.


    “It’s night,” I whispered, my chest tightening. “They’re here.” What about the soldiers that I hadn’t healed?


    I tried to push myself up, but Cassian’s hand pressed firmly against my shoulder, forcing me back down. “Stay. They can handle this.”


    “You don’t understand,” I said, gripping his wrist. “There’s something I have to do.”


    His eyes narrowed. “Foolish,” he snapped.


    “If I don’t help, this tide might kill them.” My voice cracked under the weight of it. “It might kill us.”


    Cassian’s jaw tightened. “They can handle the beasts.”


    I shook my head, fighting through the dizziness. “No, you don’t understand. Something is luring them here. That feeling I had earlier, it wasn’t just sickness. It was pulling at me. I need to find it.”


    His <i>brows </i>drew together, but when I tried again to rise, he caught me by the arm and steadied me. Slowly, he pulled me to my feet. His grip lingered, strong enough to keep me upright.


    “You don’t know when to stop, do you?” he said, almost amused. “I didn’t know you could be this stubborn.”


    I blinked at him, startled by the faint curve at the corner of his mouth. “Why are you smiling?” I demanded. Then it hit me. He already knew.


    “You knew,” I whispered, my eyes narrowing.


    <b>8:17 </b><b>Fri</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>19 </b>


    Cassian’s smirk deepened, but his gaze was sharp. “I could sense it too. <b>It’s </b>calling to me.”


    A chill crawled down my spine. “Agape said it’s what’s luring the beasts here.”


    <b>92 </b>


    55 vouchers


    At the mention of the name, Cassian’s expression shifted. His eyebrow lifted, but there was no humor in his eyes. Only anger, faint but clear. “Agape?” he repeated, voice low.


    I swallowed. “I’ll exinter. But right now, we need to hurry. If the beasts keep pouring in…” My breath caught, and I forced the words out. “This night might be ourst.”


    Cassian steadied me with one arm and guided me back onto the bed. I sat there, still gripping his sleeve.


    “Why aren’t you afraid?” I asked, my voice sharper than I meant. “That lure will keep drawing the beasts in. You can’t fight them all. And I-” My throat closed up. “I can’t even heal.”


    The thought hit me hard. Had I lost my ability? The idea horrified me. Without it… what was left of me?


    “Calm down,” he said simply.


    The words struck harder than I expected. I froze, realizing just how panicked I sounded. My chest rose and fell too quickly, and I forced myself to steady it. In, out. Slowly, my heartbeat eased from its frantic pace.


    After what felt like a long silence, I finally asked, “Are you nning to remove that stone?”


    His gaze locked on mine. “I’m not.”


    <b>I </b>swallowed hard. Why? The question on the tip of my tongue and it stayed unspoken. If he was this confident, it meant he already had something in mind. He wasn’t ignoring the danger. He had a n. Yes, Cassian should have something… a hidden card.


    1


    I stared at him, searching for cracks in hisposure, but there were none. And that was when I caught myself. Since when did I start trusting him like this?


    “But you will,” Cassian said suddenly.


    I froze, staring at him. His crimson eyes locked onto mine as if the words were not a suggestion but a certainty. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time he had spoken to me like this, not as a tyrant, not as a threat, but as if he were speaking inly, like we were… equals.


    I swallowed hard. “You’re going out there to fight?” I asked.


    He gave a short nod.


    “But I don’t even know how to destroy it,” I admitted, my voice dropping,


    “You will,” he said again, without hesitation.


    I had no answer to that. My chest tightened, my thoughts twisting. Why was he so sure? My gaze flicked over him, searching for something I couldn’t name, but all I found was a calm, unshakable certainty that left me


    unsettled.


    8:17 Fri, Sep 19


    …


    <b>92 </b>


    Silence stretched between us until he finally spoke. “They’re here.”


    E55 vouchers


    As if the words had summoned it, a thunderous sound rolled across the walls. The ground trembled beneath us. That suffocating weight returned, heavier than before, pressing down on my chest until I gasped. My head spun, pain stabbing behind my eyes. I clutched at my temple, the dizziness surging until I almost lost my


    bnce.


    I tried again to summon my healing, forcing everything I had inward, but nothing came. The emptiness terrified me.


    Before I could get a word out, Cassian stood. “I have to go.”


    I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the way my knees threatened to give. My headache throbbed with every movement, but I couldn’t just sit still.


    He looked at me then, and for a moment, his expression shifted. It wasn’t cold calction or that mocking calm I had grown used to. It was hesitation, reluctance, almost. His crimson gaze lingered on me, and then, to my shock, he leaned in.


    His mouth pressed against mine.


    I stiffened, startled. The kiss wasn’t drawn out, but the force of it sent my thoughts scattering. By the time I registered what had happened, he had already pulled back.


    A sharp knock hit the door.


    “My Lord, it is time,” Mendez’s voice called.


    Cassian leaned back fully now. His crimson eyes glinted in the dim light. The intent radiating from him was unmistakable. Killing Intent. I had a feeling… he was going to kill them all.


    AD