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I can't fathom what the hell could make them so fucking happy about me.

Several minutes later, Con and John return to the room with wide smiles. I shrink back against the wall as Con approaches me. He drops down to his haunches so we're eye level with his phone dangling from his hand. He points it toward me and then taps it against my thigh.

"It's your lucky day, Sabina."

"H-How do you know my name?"

"Someone's been looking for you." He smirks coldly. "And lucky for you, he wants you alive."

5

CASSIAN

"Taste it." Sabina leans closer while holding the fork across the counter. "You'll love it. Trust me."

I squint at her and study the fork, then up to her gorgeous gray eyes that sparkle with a hint of mischief. "I will?"

"Would I lie to you?" She smiles, a wide smile that shows all her perfectly white teeth and the entire restaurant goes quiet behind me.

It's as if we're the only two people here, the only two people that matter, and if I had the balls then I'd make that a certainty and ask her to go away with me. Instead, I lean across the counter and accept the small bite of food balanced on the end of her fork.

"Well?" A slight hint of nervousness crossed her features with a twitch of her brows. "What do you think?"

It's good. Whatever it is melts across my tongue leaving a sweet yet almost earthy taste alongside a burst of zest that makes me purse my lips. "I like it. What is it?"

"An experiment." She leans up, visibly pleased with herself. "Chocolate. Nutmeg. A spritz of lemon and a few other things. I'm thinking of expanding the dessert menu but I want something interesting, y'know?"

"Interesting?"

"Yeah, like a cake that tore right through your artery."

My brows dart up, and a curl of confusion twists through my chest, but before I can ask Sabina what on earth she means, she carries on like it was completely normal.

"I know everyone likes the traditional flavors, and don't get me wrong, I do too. But I want people to have an experience when they come here. I just need to find the right mix."

"I'm sorry." My hand shoots out to where hers rests on the counter. "I missed what you said."

"What I said?" Sabina pulls her hand away from mine and lifts it.

My heart stops. Blood stains her fingers and knuckles, dripping down from her palm like a fountain and panic grips me. "Sabina!"

"What's wrong?"

"Your hand!" Standing, I reach for her wrist to check for an injury but when I turn her hand over, there's no open wound to explain the blood. I glance up at her and her eyes flood with tears and panic.

"Cassian," she chokes out as the restaurant behind her melts into darkness. "I'm sorry!”

My eyes snap open to the lurching beep of the heart monitor somewhere to my left. Tightness clings to my chest and sweeps down my arms and legs, while dryness throbs through my mouth and I have to unstick my tongue from the roof.

I'm not at the restaurant.

Sabina shared her dessert creations with me years ago. As the dream melts away, reality comes crashing back with the abruptness of thunder and the dull throbs and aches throughout my body relay the parts I can't remember.

Sabina was taken. I chased and crashed. I think I got shot.

I blink slowly and part my lips, dragging in more air while my heart sluggishly returns to a calmer heart rate and the tiles on the ceiling above me slowly come into focus.

How long has it been? Working my jaw from side to side, there's definitely a subtle tightness from the growing stubble on my face. My eyes fall closed and I rest for a minute.