Chapter 18: NOWHERE TO RUN

Cassian’s words were a sharp, brutal warning.

“They found us.”

The moment he said it, my body went rigid.

I barely had time to process before Cassian was moving, his hands gripping my shoulders, his red eyes burning into mine.

“Sienna,” he said lowly, urgently. “You listen to me, and you listen well. You do not run unless I tell you to. Do you understand?”

My heart hammered against my ribs. “Cassian—”

“Do you understand?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Cassian exhaled sharply, then released me, his entire body shifting into something lethal.

Predatory.

His fingers flexed at his sides before he drew his weapon—a dagger that gleamed wickedly in the faint light filtering through the trees.

I turned my head, scanning the forest.

At first, I saw nothing.

Just the Deadwood, watching.

Then, the air shifted.

The shadows moved.

I barely had time to react before figures stepped out from the darkness.

My stomach plummeted.

There were four of them.

Dressed in black, their faces shadowed, their eyes gleaming with malice.

Hunters.

But not just any hunters.

The Council’s assassins.

The ones they sent when they didn’t just want you dead.

They wanted you erased.

Cassian didn’t move.

Neither did they.

It was a silent standoff, each side waiting for the other to make the first move.

Then, one of them—the tallest, the one standing in the center—smirked.

“I was wondering when we’d finally catch up to you, Cassian.”

Cassian didn’t react. His face was carved from stone. “You should’ve kept wondering.”

The man chuckled. “You’re making this difficult.”

Cassian’s lip curled. “That’s the point.”

His voice was calm, but I could feel the tension radiating off him.

He was ready to kill.

The man’s gaze flicked to me. “And the girl?”

Cassian moved instantly, stepping in front of me, his entire body shielding mine.

“Not. Your. Concern.”

The man’s smirk widened. “Oh, but she is. The Council was very specific about bringing her in.”

My breath hitched.

They weren’t just here for Cassian.

They were here for me.

Cassian’s grip on his dagger tightened. “That’s not going to happen.”

The man sighed dramatically. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”

Then.

He moved.

Everything happened at once.

Cassian lunged, his dagger slashing toward the first attacker. I barely had time to register the blur of motion, the way his body moved with deadly precision, before the others attacked too.

I stumbled back as Cassian tore through them, his blade a flash of silver and red.

But they weren’t just after him.

They wanted me.

I turned just in time to see one of them charging toward me.

My pulse spiked.

I barely had time to react before my instincts took over.

Move.

I twisted at the last second, ducking under the assassin’s swing. His blade sliced through empty air, missing me by mere inches.

Then, before he could recover.

I grabbed a fallen branch from the ground and slammed it into his ribs.

He grunted, stumbling backward.

But I wasn’t strong enough to take him down.

He recovered too quickly, his expression twisting into a snarl as he came for me again.

I braced myself.

But before he could reach me, a dagger flew past my face, embedding itself deep into his throat.

My attacker gurgled, his hands flying to his neck.

Then he collapsed.

Dead.

I whipped around.

Cassian was already moving toward me, his red eyes wild with fury.

“Sienna,” he growled, grabbing my arm. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head quickly, my pulse still racing. “I—I’m fine.”

Cassian didn’t look convinced. His fingers tightened briefly before he turned toward the remaining assassins.

There were only two left now.

Cassian took a step forward. “You should run while you can.”

The remaining men hesitated.

They were losing.

They knew it.

But then, the leader—the man who had spoken first—smiled.

And my stomach dropped.

Because it wasn’t the smile of someone who was losing.

It was the smile of someone who had already won.

Cassian must have sensed it too, because his body tensed. “What the hell are you smiling about?”

The man’s eyes gleamed.

“You really think this is all of us?”

My blood ran cold.

Before Cassian or I could move, before we could react.

Something exploded behind us.

A trap.

The force of it threw me forward, sending me crashing into Cassian.

His arms wrapped around me instinctively, shielding me as we hit the ground.

I gasped, my ears ringing, my vision blurring.

Everything was spinning.

I tried to push myself up, but Cassian held me down.

His voice was low, urgent. “Stay down.”

The smoke from the explosion clouded everything.

I could barely see the assassins anymore.

But I heard them.

More of them.

Surrounding us.

Closing in.

Cassian exhaled harshly, his jaw clenched, his arms still around me.

Then, his voice—low, dangerous.

“There’s too many.”

Panic gripped me. “What do we do?”

Cassian’s hands tightened on me.

Then, he whispered the one thing I never thought I’d hear from him.

“We run.”