Cassian's POV
Something was wrong.
Something was awfully wrong.
The moment I stepped out of the Arcanum archives, the air in Valeries City felt… off. Too sharp. Too bright. Like the neon lights were buzzing directly beneath my skin.
Magic.
Her magic.
It pulsed faintly through the ley-lines, frantic and uncontrolled—like a distressed heartbeat thudding against the city's ribs. My chest tightened.
Sarafina.
I quickened my pace, weaving through the midnight crowds. Humans brushed past me laughing, drunk, oblivious. If they could feel even a fraction of what I felt right now, they'd be running.
A tremor of starlight flickered above the rooftop skyline—barely there, but enough to make my pulse stutter.
"Not again," I whispered.
She'd flared. Hard.
Which meant…
Her seal was cracking faster than expected.
I reached the edge of the Starlit Bridge, gripping the railing as a wave of magic vibrated through the metal. Cold. Ancient. Familiar in the worst way.
Mother's magic.
No—Celestine's magic.
The same signature that once blanketed the Celestial Throne.
My hands trembled before I forced them still.
She must have dreamed again.
Another vision.
Another piece of the seal breaking.
Another step closer to the truth she wasn't ready for.
"Damn it, Sarafina," I muttered under my breath. "You're supposed to be safe."
But safety had never been an option for her—especially not now.
I pulled out my phone and tried Alistair again.
No answer.
For the third time.
The hybrid never ignored calls when Sarafina's magic spiked. He appeared like a curse summoned from the shadows.
But now?
Silence.
The city felt emptier without him—like a predator gone from the ecosystem. The balance shifted, uneasy. My skin prickled.
Something had happened.
And I was suddenly, sharply alone in protecting her.
I inhaled deeply, trying to center myself.
It didn't work.
Images flashed—Sarafina's face when she got overwhelmed, the way her breath hitched right before her power burst, the panic in her eyes when she didn't understand what was happening to her.
She could accidentally expose everything tonight.
Her power.
Her bloodline.
Her destiny.
And hunters were still crawling through Old Town, hungry for any supernatural anomaly. If they sensed this flare—
I started moving again, faster this time.
The neon lights blurred past me—blue, red, violet—streaking across glass towers and rain-slick pavement. My heartbeat synced with the rhythm of the city, pounding harder with each step.
I found myself whispering into the night, a confession to no one:
"Please be okay, Sera…"
A surge of magic slammed into me.
Not from her this time.
From the north.
From the forests.
Moonveil territory.
My breath hitched.
Alistair.
That was his signature—thin, strained, suppressed under layers of hostile magic.
He wasn't answering because he couldn't.
My stomach dropped.
"Shit."
Which meant Sarafina was without him. Without anyone who could stand between her and—
My thoughts broke.
A second flare crackled through the air.
This one raw. Chaotic. Terrified.
Sarafina.
I didn't think—I just ran.
"Hold on," I breathed, sprinting through the neon-soaked night. "I'm coming."
I didn't know if I was saying it to her—
or praying to myself.