Cassian’s POV

The cold rain lashed against the windows, a relentless rhythm that mirrored the storm raging inside me. I stood frozen in the doorway, watching Amara disappear into the tempest, her small, defiant figure swallowed by the darkness. Marcus’s presence and the quiet disapproval in his eyes was a suffocating weight in the room.

I turned to him, my jaw clenched. "What are you doing here, Marcus?" I asked, my voice a low, dangerous growl. "At this hour?"

He didn't flinch. ...