Chapter 137 — Repeat What You Said

Chapter 137: Chapter 137 — Repeat What You Said

~ Cassian ~

Celeste stared at him, her mouth slightly open.

Behind her, Fenn had risen from the bench. One of the other women shifted toward the far end of the courtyard, then stopped when the air stirred around Cassian’s feet.

"I won’t repeat myself."

Celeste’s eyes flicked toward the archway. Her back was already against the wall, but she pressed closer to it as his aura spread.

Cassian felt the Lattice pulling outward and forced it back. Loose strands of Celeste’s hair settled against her face.

"It was a joke," she said. "We weren’t going to—"

He waited.

She swallowed, glancing toward Fenn as though expecting her to help.

"We’ll stop. We’ll leave her alone."

"What did you say about Raven writing a book?"

Celeste blinked.

"A book?"

A growl rose in his chest, and she flinched before he could speak.

"Yes. She wrote things. I found some of them at Blackthorn."

"Where?"

"In the kitchens."

Cassian’s fingers flexed at his sides.

"What did you find?"

"Pages." Her voice had become thin. "She had them hidden among the supplies."

"And you read them."

Celeste nodded quickly.

"What did they say?"

"I don’t remember all of it."

"Then tell me what you remember."

She looked at the other women again. Nobody answered for her.

Cassian stepped closer, and her attention snapped back to him.

"It was about a girl," she said. "Someone who had a miserable life and wanted to get into this academy. It was obvious what Raven was doing. Making herself important in a story because—"

"Her words, Blackthorn."

Celeste stopped.

He could hear her breathing. Behind him, someone’s shoe scraped against the paving, but his attention remained on her face.

"You remember enough to laugh about it. What did she write?"

"I read some of it to the servants. That’s all. It was a while ago."

She said it as though that should make him understand.

Cassian pictured pages spread across a kitchen table and Celeste reading them aloud while Raven stood somewhere nearby, unable to take them back.

His jaw tightened. "The words."

Celeste took an unsteady breath.

"It was about some girl named Mira. She was leaving through some gates, and she didn’t look back. Or wouldn’t. I don’t remember exactly."

Cassian stared at her. "Keep going."

"There was something about women looking back because they still believed they belonged to someone."

His breath caught, and Celeste hurried on.

"That’s all I remember. I read it once. I wasn’t trying to learn the bloody—"

The Lattice broke out of his control.

Wind struck the wall hard enough to tear a cry from Celeste. Fenn stumbled into the bench, and the woman beside her went down as cups and a loose book scattered across the courtyard.

Cassian heard something shatter, but the sound seemed far away. He blinked, and the courtyard was gone.

Cold tile pressed beneath his bare feet as he looked up at a white door.

There was no handle on his side.

He knew that. He had already searched for one, running his hands along the seam until his fingertips hurt. Still, he reached again, trying to fit his nails into the narrow gap.

It wouldn’t open.

He pressed both palms against it and pushed with everything he had. His shoulders shook with the effort, and when nothing moved, he struck it instead.

"Please."

His voice sounded small in the room.

He didn’t want to make noise. He didn’t want to give anyone another reason to leave him there. But he had been quiet, and the door had stayed shut, and now he couldn’t stop crying long enough to listen for footsteps.

He turned, searching the walls again.

They were white all the way around, without a window or an opening or anything he could reach.

He didn’t know how long he had been there.

He wanted someone to come.

"Cassian."

He turned toward the voice.

For a moment, he thought it had come from the other side of the door. He put his hand against it, his breath catching with a hope that hurt.

"Cassian!"

He blinked.

Celeste’s face was in front of him.

Her mouth was open, but the sound coming out was barely a breath. Both her hands were locked around his wrist.

His hand was around her throat.

Cassian stared at his fingers.

He had her pressed against the wall. Her shoes scraped across the paving as she tried to get her feet beneath her, and her nails dragged over his skin.

Someone was gripping his arm.

He turned.

Dante stood beside him, his eyes glowing and his hand clamped just below Cassian’s elbow.

"Back the fuck down, Blade."

For an instant, Cassian wanted to tear his throat out.

The impulse was so immediate that his body began to turn toward it before he understood what he was doing.

Dante’s eyes widened.

He released Cassian’s arm and took a measured step back, his own aura rising. A warning growl met Cassian’s, and heat pushed against the wind still tearing through the courtyard.

Neither of them moved again.

Cassian looked at him.

Dante had come close enough to stop him, and Cassian had wanted to kill him for it.

The knowledge unsettled him more than he was willing to examine.

Celeste clawed at his wrist again.

He looked back at her, forced his fingers to open and let go.

She dropped against the wall, folding forward with both hands at her throat. A harsh cough broke out of her, followed by another as she struggled to draw breath.

Cassian lowered his arm.

The wind was still moving around them. He pulled at the Lattice, gathering it inward until the pressure eased and the loose objects stopped skittering over the stones.

A strand of Celeste’s hair fell across her face.

He watched it settle.

Then he straightened his shoulders.

Nobody spoke.

Fenn stood with one hand braced against the bench. Rosalind had drawn back toward the archway, while another woman crouched beside the cup she had dropped without making any attempt to pick it up.

Cassian could hear Celeste coughing behind him.

He kept his face still.

"The First Circle is finished."

Fenn’s lips parted, but no answer followed.

"No more gatherings to decide who gets to rise and who you’ll force out." He looked from her to Rosalind. "If you arrange another one in secret, don’t assume I won’t hear about it."

Rosalind looked away first.

Cassian let the silence hold for a moment.

"You’ve had your warning."

Celeste made a small sound as she shifted against the wall. One of the women moved toward her, watching Cassian until he turned away.

Dante hadn’t lowered his guard.

He stood a few paces off with his weight balanced and his attention fixed on Cassian’s face. The glow in his eyes had faded, but Cassian could still feel the heat of his aura.

He knew what Dante was waiting for.

An explanation, perhaps. Some indication that Cassian understood what he had almost done.

Cassian had nothing he was prepared to say.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

Then he drew the Lattice close against his body.

The next step carried him through the archway, and a rush of air swept along the passage behind him.

~~~

Cassian crossed the covered walkway before the women’s voices reached him again.

He didn’t stop.

He could see the academy grounds beyond the passage, hear students talking near the next building and feel the morning air against his face.

Raven had written those words.

His mind tried to return to them, but another part of the conversation came back first.

It should have taken effect by now.

Cassian’s pace quickened.

The water. He had heard what they put in it and stood there questioning Celeste while Raven was somewhere in the academy with no idea what had been done to her.

She could already be feeling it.

He reached the end of the passage and looked across the paths dividing the grounds. Students were moving toward the main buildings, some carrying breakfast, others hurrying with books beneath their arms.

He searched their faces without slowing.

He didn’t know where she was.

That was the first problem, and he had wasted time making every other thought more important.

Cassian tightened the Lattice around himself and moved.

Raven.