Cassian POV

I wept, my sobs wracking my body as tears pooled on the cold floor beneath me. My prayers rose into the silence like smoke aimless, unanswered, but still I whispered them into the void.

I didn’t know if anyone was listening. I didn’t care.

My soul felt flayed open, exposed and bleeding for anyone or anything willing to witness my desperation.

In that moment, I was nothing more than a ruined man, undone by his own hands. There was no one else to blame. No excuses left to hide ...