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The flames roared higher, swallowing the Crimson Howlers‘ homes one by one. Smoke stung my eyes, but I couldn’t look away. People were screaming, scrambling to drag their children to safety, and Cassian just stood there, watching it all like it was nothing more than a battlefield map. There was no hesitation in him, no flicker of pity, only that hard, cold satisfaction I’d come to recognize.
Before I could take another step back, his hand closed around my arm and yanked me toward him. “We’re leaving.”
“Where?” My voice caught as he pulled me to the horses. I knew we were heading to my previous pack, but I wondered how are we going to get there without alerting people. After all, the fire already attracted everyone’s attention.
“I know a shortcut,” he said, lifting me onto the saddle like I weighed nothing.
“A shortcut to what?”
He swung up behind me, gripping the reins. “Nightfall Pack.”
The wind tore past us as he pushed the horse hard, veering off the main trail. My stomach dropped when I saw where we were headed, the cliff. The same one hiding the entrance to the cave where my father had kept the children.
I twisted to look at him. “What are we doing here? Why this place?”
“This,” he said, dismounting. “Is the perfect way into your pack. They’ll never think the ones who set the fire would come back.”
Before I could answer, he scooped me into his arms and ran straight into the cave. The darkness swallowed us, but he didn’t slow.
Just as he’d predicted, there were no guards. No sounds. No one at all,
“You memorized the entire map’s?” I asked.
“Yes,”
He stopped at a narrow stone stairwell and started climbing, his steps sure. At the top, pressed his hand against a section of the wall, and a door slid open.
he
I froze in the doorway. My heart slammed in my chest. I knew this place, I’d been here before.
11:16 Wed, Sep 10
Chapter 52
The library.
“Surprise?” he said.
“How did you know?” I asked.
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55 vouchers
“There are multiple entrances to that place,” he replied. “One of them is in the supply warehouse.”
“That’s where you started the fire?” I asked, the realization settling inside me.
Instead of answering my question, he smirked. “Are you ready?”
I froze, my gaze sweeping over the shelves. I didn’t need him to explain. Cassian wanted to burn this place too.
Memories I hadn’t thought about in years came back one after another, running my fingers along these books as a child, hiding in the corner during storms, pretending the library was mine. But those moments didn’t matter anymore. Not after the failed awakening. Not after the way Celeste had looked at me like I was something special when in fact, I am but a pawn that she wanted to manipulate and use.
It hit me then that I didn’t know my family at all. Not my father, who had taken those children. Not my mother. And definitely not Celeste. Whatever image I’d built of them was
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