Chapter 194
Annalise
(A couple of days later...)
Tonight, something shifted inside me.
Maybe it was the way Cassian had rubbed slow circles over the back of my hand during dinner.
Or the way Dane had tucked a fallen lock of hair behind my ear without making it feel like a favor.
Or maybe it was how Sylus had, for once, simply sat beside me without asking anything at all.
For the first time in what felt like lifetimes, I felt safe in their presence again—not just in body, but in soul.
And that meant everything.
The walls I’d so carefully rebuilt were cracking, and maybe for the first time in weeks, I wanted them to.
They had been patient.
They hadn’t demanded the truth, hadn’t broken down my door or punished me for my silence. They had offered care, attention, and space.
They ha
