Sera's POV
The bar was thick with smoke and low, pulsing music, bodies pressed close in the dim amber light. I sat alone at the end of the counter, swirling the last of my whiskey, letting the burn settle deep in my chest. Everything still hurt. Every breath reminded me of him—of the way he’d looked at me the night he ended it, like I was something he had to cut out before it destroyed him. I hated that I still wanted him. Hated that my body remembered his touch even when my heart screamed at me to forget.
I didn’t see him until it was too late.
I stood too quickly, the alcohol rushing to my head, and slammed straight into a wall of hard muscle. Hands caught my elbows—firm, familiar, electric. My breath snagged. I looked up, and there he was.
Cassian.
His eyes were darker than I remem
