Page 93 of Crushed Vow
His heart was pounding—I could feel it against my back.
But mine... mine was fading. Slowing. Dimming like a flickering lightbulb in an abandoned room.
Cassian was shouting something. Maybe my name. Maybe a prayer. Maybe nothing.
I didn’t care.
The world was slipping away—blurring, softening, like the moment before sleep.
Darkness crept in like an old friend. And I let it take me.
“Charlotte! Please—wake up! I can’t—I can’t breathe without you!”
His voice cracked and somehow, it pierced the silence of the void I was sinking into.
Something inside me stirred—but it wasn’t forgiveness, nor even love.
Just a faint, involuntary ache of recognition.
My eyelids fluttered. Heavy and tired.
Then light.
The blurry ceiling above me wavered into view, too white, too sterile. The air smelled like antiseptic and despair. A steady beeping echoed faintly in the background. Machines. Monitors.
I was alive.
Against my will.
My throat burned. My body felt like stone—but I was alive.
Bandages wrapped my hand, my side, my thigh. My leg throbbed like it was still being stabbed. I tried to move, but a wave of dizziness crashed through me and I slumped back against the pillow.
Then I saw him.
Cassian.
On his knees beside my bed.
His head was bowed, shoulders trembling beneath his dark jacket. His hair was a mess. His knuckles were bloodied. His whole body looked like it had been dragged through hell.
He looked unhinged—his eyes bloodshot behind the blurry lenses of his smart glasses. His hand found mine like he was scared I’d disappear again.
He reached out, trembling, to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I flinched.
His hand froze midair, then dropped.
Silence.
“I don’t want you here,” I said softly. “You don’t get to cry over what you broke.”
Cassian’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
My eyes stung. “You don’t get to weep for a corpse you buried.”
He bowed his head again, broken and defeated. “I know. I know I don’t deserve it. But I’m here. I’ll be here... even if you hate me for the rest of your life.”
I turned my face away from him.
