Cassandra’s POV~
The only thing I remembered—no, the only thing that kept playing like some cursed loop in my mind was the fire.
The way it swallowed everything in seconds. The choking heat. The thick smoke clawing at my throat.
And then Nico’s voice…his panic. Me screaming at him to go, to leave me, to get the hell out before it was too late. And then nothing. Just the roar of something tearing through the air. A blinding blast. And darkness.
God, the darkness.
The shrill beeping of machines dragged me from whatever place I had sunk into. It felt like my brain was moving underwater… so slow, fogged, and broken. I could hear the machines before I could even remember who I was.
I tried…God, I tried to open my eyes, but pain shot through my skull like I’d been split in two. A sharp whi
