Chapter 113. What the Heart Knows

Cassian POV

I hadn’t pictured it like this.

Assanan’s death has been on my mind for so long. I thought I knew how I would feel when it finally happened. I imagined us fighting in battle, one on one, my fangs sinking into his neck with the final blow. I’d step back, and the end would come quickly.

I thought I’d feel triumphant, like I’d saved the world from all his horrors, that all the warriors around us, including Assanan’s, would cheer the victory.

But this doesn’t feel like a victory.

Instead of the grandeur of battle, he died on a healer’s clinic bed, emaciated and weak, humbly admitting all his wrongs.

And all I feel is... numb.

I’m holding Lyra’s hand tightly, feeling her own surge of mixed emotions through the mat