THE AWAKENING
The first thing Aria Solis feels is the cold.
A sharp, metallic chill crawling up her spine, settling beneath her skin like something alive. Her eyes snap open, and she’s staring at a ceiling she doesn’t recognize—white, seamless, too clean. The air smells like disinfectant and electricity.
A soft beep echoes beside her.
A monitor.
IV tubing taped to her arm.
Restraints around her wrists.
Her heart kicks hard.
Where am I?
There are voices—muffled, urgent—behind the glass wall to her left. She tries to move. Pain blooms across her skull, hot and blinding. Her vision glitches—just for a second—like reality flickers. A flash of light. A silhouette. A scream. Her own?
She gasps and the restraints rattle.
That’s when the door opens.
A man steps in.
Tall. Controlled. Dressed in a fitted black coat over scrubs like he didn’t have time to change. His hair is dark, his jaw sharp, and his eyes—God, those eyes—they’re ice and fire at the same time. Focused entirely on her. Studying her. Claiming her.
He stops beside her bed.
“Aria,” he says quietly, like he’s said her name a thousand times. “You’re awake.”
Her breath trembles. “Wh-who are you?”
His throat works once, like the question hurts him.
“I’m Dr. Cassian Ward.” His voice is low, steady, dangerous in how calm it is. “You’ve been very sick. You’re safe now.”
Safe.
She tries to pull her hands again. The restraints refuse to budge.
“If I’m safe,” she whispers, “why am I tied down?”
A flicker crosses his expression—guilt? Anger? Fear? She can’t tell.
“You had a severe neurological event,” he says. “Your brain is… different after what happened. You were thrashing. You could’ve hurt yourself.”
Or someone else, his eyes add silently.
“Let me go,” Aria says, voice shaking.
Cassian steps closer. Too close. The air shifts, his scent—clean, clinical, warm—wrapping around her in a way that makes her stomach flip. His hand lifts like he wants to touch her but stops inches above her skin.
“Aria,” he murmurs, “I need you to stay calm. If I remove the restraints, you might—”
Her hand twitches.
Her fingers brush the back of his.
And the world slams open.
Not a memory.
A vision.
Cassian’s hands gripping her waist.
Her back arching against a cold metal table.
His breath on her neck.
Her whispering his name like it belongs to her.
His voice, raw, saying, “Again.”
Heat crashes through her. A shock so intense she cries out.
She jerks her hand away like she’s been burned.
Cassian goes still.
His jaw clenches. His pupils blow wide. His breath changes—just barely—but she feels it.
He felt something too.
“What,” Aria gasps, “was that?”
He doesn’t answer.
He’s staring at her like she’s a ghost. Or like she just cracked open a door he swore he sealed shut.
The lights flicker overhead.
A voice crackles over the speaker:
“Dr. Ward, we have a breach in the lower lab.”
Cassian doesn’t look away from her.
Not for a second.
“Secure the floor,” he says. “No one enters this room.”
Her pulse spikes. “What’s happening?”
He steps even closer. His fingers brush a strand of hair off her cheek—so gently it steals her breath. He shouldn’t be touching her. She shouldn’t want him to. And yet…
His voice is a whisper against her skin.
“Aria… whatever you think you saw—forget it.”
She meets his eyes. “I can’t.”
Something dark flashes across his face.
“You weren’t supposed to.”
The alarms blare louder.
Smoke seeps under the door.
Cassian curses under his breath.
He unclips her restraints.
Aria’s breath catches. “You said it wasn’t safe.”
“It isn’t,” he says. “But keeping you here is worse.”
“Why?”
He hesitates.
Just long enough for her fear to turn into certainty that he’s hiding everything.
Then he lifts her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“Because they’re coming,” he says, “and you’re not a patient, Aria.”
His voice breaks on the next words.
“You’re the prototype. And they want you back.”
The door SLAMS open—
