Amara's POV

I had been staring at him for too long, weighing every word he had said, every promise he had given me. Cassian stood in front of me, his eyes searching mine, steady and determined. A part of me wanted so badly to believe him, to let myself fall into the security he promised. But another part of me—the part that had been burned too many times, who had learned to survive by never depending on anyone—was screaming that it was a mistake.

Yet when I thought of Eli, of my ...