Mara woke with the memory of Cassian’s voice in the elevator echoing through her mind. Every word sat heavy on her chest. Every look he had given her replayed in the way her breath stuttered. She moved through her morning routine slowly, almost carefully, as if one wrong motion would bring him back into her thoughts too sharply.
But he was already there.
She felt him before she even stepped into the building. The top floor hallway felt charged, like the air had been altered by something only she and Cassian could sense. When Mara opened the door to his office, he stood waiting for her. Not behind his desk. Not at the window. He stood near the center of the room as if he had been watching the door for a long time.
His eyes met hers immediately.
“You are late,” he said.
She froze. “Only
