SHATTERED BONDS

The golden energy still crackled around me, coiling like a living thing, raw and untamed.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t move.

Because something inside me had just changed forever.

And I didn’t know if I could ever go back.

Cassian was still on the ground, his chest heaving, his red eyes wide with shock and something deeper—something breaking.

Not because I had hurt him.

But because he could feel what I had felt.

Through the bond.

Through the fragile connection that had been there since the moment he marked me.

And now… it was cracked.

No.

It was shattering.

Darius stood a few feet away, his golden gaze glowing with quiet satisfaction, like a hunter watching his prey finally realize the trap had already closed.

“There it is,” he murmured, tilting his head. “That power. That fire inside you. You feel it now, don’t you?”

My breathing was ragged, my fingers digging into the dirt beneath me, the heat in my veins still pulsing.

I had spent so much time fighting this power.

But now that it had unleashed itself…

It felt right.

And that scared me more than anything.

Cassian moved, his hands pressing against the ground as he pushed himself to his feet, his entire body coiled with fury and desperation.

“Sienna,” he rasped, his voice rough, urgent.

I swallowed hard.

I could still feel the bond pulling at me.

But it was weak.

So much weaker than before.

Cassian felt it too.

His red eyes burned as he stared at me, searching, pleading.

“Come back to me.”

Three words.

Three words that cut through me like a blade.

But before I could answer.

Before I could even process the weight of his voice.

Darius took a single step closer.

And the world tilted.

A sharp pain shot through my skull, and suddenly.

I wasn’t in the clearing anymore.

I was somewhere else.

Somewhere cold.

Somewhere dark.

A temple carved into the mountains, the walls pulsing with golden light, the same energy I had felt inside me.

And standing at the center of it all.

A woman.

Her hair was the same shade as mine.

Her eyes glowed gold, just like mine had.

She raised a hand, her voice a whisper against my mind.

"Come home."

I gasped, my vision snapping back into focus, the clearing around me coming back into view.

Cassian was reaching for me.

But I had already taken a step back.

His entire body went rigid, his breath catching.

“Sienna,” he said again, softer this time.

Like he already knew what was happening.

Like he already knew…

I wasn’t his anymore.

I closed my eyes, trying to fight the pressure inside my chest, the war raging inside me.

The fire wanted out.

It wanted more.

And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stop it.

Darius’s voice was gentle when he spoke.

“You don’t have to fight it anymore.”

I opened my eyes.

He was closer now, standing just a few feet away, his golden gaze locked onto mine.

There was no threat in his stance.

No force.

Just certainty.

Cassian let out a low growl, his claws flexing at his sides.

“She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Darius smirked.

“She hasn’t decided yet.”

Cassian took a step forward, but I felt it.

The way the energy around me flared in response.

The way it pushed him back, just slightly.

Like it recognized Darius’s presence more than his.

Cassian went still.

And the realization hit him.

Hit both of us.

Darius wasn’t forcing me to leave.

I was considering it.

Cassian’s breathing was ragged, his red eyes shining with something close to betrayal.

Not anger.

Not hatred.

Just… pain.

Raw and unguarded.

He knew.

He could feel it through the bond.

How weak it had become.

How much I was slipping away.

And the worst part?

I didn’t know if I could stop it.

Darius took another step, his golden eyes never leaving mine.

“You were never meant to be bound to someone weaker than you.”

Cassian snapped.

His power exploded outward, his rage a tangible force in the air.

“You don’t know anything about her,” he snarled.

Darius tilted his head, his smirk widening.

“But I do.”

He turned back to me, and for the first time, I realized.

He wasn’t wrong.

He did know me.

He knew the power inside me.

He knew the thing that had been waiting to be freed.

And Cassian.

Cassian had been trying to hold me back.

I took another shaky breath, my hands still trembling.

Darius reached out, palm up.

A silent invitation.

Cassian’s snarl turned into a plea.

“Sienna, please.”

The fire in my blood roared, hungry and insatiable.

This was it.

This was the moment.

The choice.

I could walk away from all of this.

From the fear.

From the pain.

From the war inside me.

Or I could turn back to Cassian.

Stay with him.

Stay with the bond, even if it was broken.

But something in my heart already knew the answer.

And so did Cassian.

His red eyes dimmed, his expression unreadable.

Because before I even moved.

He knew what I was about to do.

And it destroyed him.

I let out a shaky breath.

I lifted my foot.

And I took a single step toward Darius.