Isla's POV
She did not tell him what she saw.
When Cassian had turned and found her awake, found her staring at his face with tears she could not explain, she had looked away fast and pretended sleep had simply confused her. He had not pushed. He had put the mask back on quietly and said nothing, and she had sat with that single word still ringing through her bones like a bell that would not stop.
Mate.
She could not think about it now. She could not afford to.
The ritual chamber was cold in a way that had nothing to do with temperature. Mira had drawn symbols on the stone floor in white ash, a wide circle with marks inside it that Isla could not read but somehow felt, like they were pressing against her skin from ten feet away. Four black candles burned at each corner of the circle. The windows were sealed with dark cloth.
"Step inside the circle," Mira said.
