The villa is a ruin. A bullet has shattered an ancient vase, spreading shards like bone fragments. "Stay down!" Cassian hisses. He’s crouched by the window, his silhouette jagged.

"Whatever you hear, Lyra, do not move. If I fall, you keep moving. That is the vow."

The front door is kicked off its hinges. Shadows move against shadows. I see Cassian move with a terrifying, liquid grace, but there are too many of them. I hear a muffled grunt-pure pain.

Cassian spins, taking the last man down, but then he stumbles. A dark, visceral stain blooms against the stark white wall. "Stay... back," he wheezes, blood leaking between his fingers.

"You’re bleeding out on a villa floor because of me."

He reaches up with a blood-stained hand, cupping my cheek. "I didn't take this job for the money... I took it because I wanted to see if someone who has spent his whole life breaking things... could finally save something beautiful."

"I broke my vow on that beach," he murmurs. "I touched the asset. I wanted the woman. And now... the universe is collecting its debt."

"Do not look at the blood, Lyra," he says, his voice fading. "Look at me. Only at me."

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