Cassel did not answer me right away—nor did anyone else speak.
Cae remained standing, his dark eyes fixed on the space ahead, as though he were seeing something we couldn't… or perhaps something that had yet to happen.
A faint tightness gripped my chest.
That expression…
Fierce. Unhinged. Enigmatic. And yet, strangely indifferent.
This was the real Cassel—the one I had always known. The man who never bent under pressure, who feared nothing. He had always been fearless. Capable.
As I looked at that tall, unyielding figure before me, all my hesitation and anxiety melted away.
With him here…
—
Voices suddenly rose throughout the lobby.
No one could pretend to stay calm anymore.
It seemed the suffocating pressure and the looming fear of death had finally snapped everyone's nerves.
"We need to go out now and strike before they tighten the siege!" one of Victor's men shouted, his voice edged with panic.
