Amara's POV

The tension between us at breakfast clung to me long after we cleared the table. I had asked Cassian for the truth, but he’d only offered half-answers, words wrapped in soft reassurances that did nothing to calm the storm inside me. Each time he dodged my eyes, each time he chose silence instead of honesty, it broke something in me. I wanted to trust him, I truly did but how could I when I could feel him hiding things from me?

“Amara,” my grandmother said gently, her hand ...