Chapter 196
Dane
Hours had passed.
Long, bone-breaking, breath-choking hours.
The kind of hours that make warriors forget they were ever strong.
Cassian had been pacing the entire time—like a wolf trapped in too small a cage, clawing at the walls of helplessness. Sylus stood at the window, arms folded tight against his chest, eyes locked on the horizon like he could tear the night apart with sheer will and demand the dawn rise faster.
And I—I just sat on the cold stone bench, my back pressed to the wall, my head in my hands.
I’d fought wars. Lost friends.
But I had never felt this kind of fear.
This constant, spiraling what if.
What if she doesn’t wake up?
What if this is the price for what we did to her?
What if we’re too late to make it right?
The door creaked.
We all strai
