Cassian lay on the floor, curled into himself like a wounded animal. The tears had slowed to a trickle, but his body still trembled, shallow breaths catching in his throat, fingers digging into the carpet like he was trying to anchor himself to the present. The room was quiet except for the distant hum of the city outside, a world that kept spinning even though his had shattered.
He pushed himself up slowly, muscles protesting, throat burning with every swallow. His legs wobbled as he stood, but he forced them to hold. He needed to move. Needed to do something anything other than sit in this silence with the ghost of Lucian's voice whispering Elliot over and over in his skull.
He caught his reflection in the full-length mirror by the closet.
Red-rimmed eyes. Hair wild. Shirt half-unbuttoned, revealing the dark, angry bruise blooming across the side of his neck fingers imprinted in purple and red, a brand of possession he hadn't asked for, hadn't wanted.
He stared at it.
