Cassian POV

The courtyard was alive with soft laughter, umbrellas shading sunlit tables laden with food, and a warm breeze that carried distant folk music down from the hills. I had been working alongside volunteers handing out baskets, sipping coconut water, and scanning the faces of the elderly we served for a glimpse of Amara. She had slipped away earlier, promising to help in another corner, but now something tugged at my nerves, a tightness I couldn’t shrug off.

Then she arrived at ...