“You two… you knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
The question hung in the air like a blade. Their silence didn’t just speak, it roared. Goosebumps prickled my skin. Not from fear. Not yet. It was something deeper. Colder. A raw instinct rising in me, warning me to run.
Dylan’s hand was still wrapped around mine. What once felt grounding now burned like fire. I ripped my hand away, my breath catching.
He flinched.
I took a step back. Then another. And another… until the space between us felt like a canyon.
My heartbeat thundered in my chest, frantic and uneven, as if trying to escape my body.
Dylan raised his hands, palms facing me like I was something wild, something on the verge of bolting.
Maybe I was.
“Cassandra,” he said gently, taking a slow step toward me, “you have to co
