Chapter 6: He was here
The man outside didn’t move. He just stood there in the dark, his palm pressed flat against the glass, his shadow stretching long and thin across the café floor.
Cassian’s blood ran cold. His pulse thundered in his ears, louder than the low chatter and clinking cups around them.
Leonel’s chair scraped sharply as he stood. His gray eyes never left the figure outside. "Stay here," he ordered, voice low, firm.
Aiden blinked, confused, glancing between them. "Wait - what’s going on? Who was that?"
Neither Cassian nor Leonel answered.
Cassian’s throat tightened. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew deep in his bones that the man outside hadn’t come for Leonel. Or Aiden. He’d come for him.
Leonel strode toward the door without hesitation, his presence slicing through the room like a blade. Cassian lurched to his feet before he could think.
"Cass?" Aiden’s voice caught him mid-step.
He didn’t turn back. Couldn’t. His legs moved on their own, dragging him after Leonel, straight into the night.
The cool air hit his skin like ice, and the moment he stepped outside, the man was gone. Just empty pavement and the lingering sense of being watched.
Leonel’s jaw tightened as his gaze swept the shadows. "He was here."
Cassian swallowed, a sick twist forming in his stomach. He knows.
The silence stretched, heavy and oppressive, until Leonel’s voice cut through it like steel.
"Cassian."
Cassian’s heart stuttered. Leonel had never said his name like that before like he was holding a secret he hadn’t meant to let slip.
And when Leonel finally looked at him, Cassian realized with a jolt of terror-
Leonel hadn’t just noticed him.
He recognized him.
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