Brute 275

Posted by ADMINMMADMIN, ? Views, Released on February 2, 2026

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Chapter 275

Chapter 275

Atasha’s POV

My world was still shaking when I opened my eyes.

At first I thought the cave had started collapsing again, because the movement felt the same, that ugly rolling sensation in my skull, like the ground was shifting inside me instead of under me. Then I realized the shaking was coming from my own body. My hands were trembling and my breath kept catching, shallow and uneven, as if my lungs had forgotten how to draw air properly.

I tried to sit up and hit something solid.

Arms.

Cassian’s arms were wrapped around me, tight enough that I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my back. His coat was pressed to my cheek, rough fabric and the lingering scent of steel and sweat, and something else that made my stomach twist because it reminded me of blood even when there was none in sight.

I blinked hard, trying to force my vision to focus.

I remembered running. I remembered cracks opening under our feet. I remembered Grace falling and my voice tearing apart as I screamed her name. After that, there was only the sensation of falling, a sick drop in my stomach, and then nothing.

I moved again, instinctively trying to pull away, but Cassian loosened his hold immediately, not releasing me fully but giving me just enough room to turn my head.

His face was close, his eyes fixed on mine.

He did not speak.

He simply lifted his chin slightly and then shook his head, the kind of motion that carried an order without a word attached to it.

Do not make a sound.

It took me a heartbeat to understand why.

Then I heard it.

It was not one sound but many layered together, a low roar that Elled the stone around us, mixed with scraping and pounding and something that almost sounded like wet breathing. It came from beyond the walls, from deeper within the cave system, and it rose and fell in waves like a tide that kept slamming against the earth.

The surge.

My pulse jumped so violently it hurt.

I swallowed hard, forcing my breathing to steady, and nodded to show I understood. Cassian’s posture eased slightly, as if he had been holding tension in his shoulders purely to keep me still. He shifted his weight carefully and let me breathe deeper, his hand still braced near my side in case I panicked and tried to stand.

Only then did I really see where we were.

We were not in the mai

tunnel

anymore.

We were in a pocket, a narrow break in the stone that looked like it had been created by collapse and bad luck rather than

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09:11 Mon, Feb 2 ADD

Chapter 273

design. The space was barely large enough for two people to sit Cassian tried to stand fully, he would crack his head against roc blocked by rubble that had fallen into place like a barricade.

It was hiding us.

It was also trapping us.

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boulder to shoulder. The ceiling was low enough that if The opening to the outside was small, jagged, partially

I turned my head again, staring at the thin gap where dim light filtered in from the glowing insects outside. Their faint glow painted the stone with sickly color, just enough to outline the shape of the opening without giving away our position.

The roar outside surged again, closer this time, and something heavy scraped across the ground. Dust drifted down from above, fine and dry, coating my tongue when I swallowed.

My hand moved on instinct, reaching for Cassian’s arm.

I needed to check him. I needed to heal him. I needed to do something useful because sitting still while danger moved outside was the kind of helplessness that made me want to claw my own skin off.

My palm pressed to his forearm and my power rose immediately. But Cassian caught my wrist before it could fully spread.

He shook his head again, the same quiet command, his eyes narrowed slightly as if he was reminding me that even healing had a cost right now.

I frowned at him, anger and fear mixing until I could not separate them.

Then I looked closer.

He was bruised. There were scratches along his jaw and one along his neck where stone or claws had caught him. His coat was torn at the shoulder. His knuckles were raw, and there was dried blood on the edge of one finger, but nothing about him suggested a deep wound. Nothing that demanded I waste strength while we were hiding in a space that could become our grave if I drew too much attention.

I forced myself to nod.

Cassian released my wrist slowly, then reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a small metal flask with a fitted cap, the kind soldiers carried because it did not crack easily and it could be sealed tight. He pressed it into my hand without looking away from the opening.

Water.

My throat felt like sandpaper the moment I held it. I twisted the cap as quietly as I could, lifted it to my lips, and took a careful mouthful. The water was cold enough to sting, and it tasted faintly of metal, but it settled the shaking in my hands better than any breath had.

I handed it back.

Cassian took a mouthful as well, then sealed it again and tucked it away as if even the sound of the cap mattered.

Outside, the noise went on.

It felt endless.

The beasts moved in waves, sometimes close enough that I could hear their claws scraping stone, sometimes far enough that the sounds blurred into the background. Several times, something slammed into a wall hard enough to send a tremor through our cramped pocket, and each time my muscles tensed, ready to spring even though there was nowhere to go.

Cassian remained still beside me, one hand braced on the ground, the other near his sword. His breathing stayed controlled, but his eyes never softened. He watched the gap like he could predict the next second just by listening to the rhythm of the

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Chapter 273

Cave

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Eventually, the roar started to thin.

The pounding became less frequent. The scraping moved farther away. The air stopped vibrating with constant moiement. The cave did not feel safe, but it felt less crowded with death.

Then, after what felt like forever, the shaking finally stopped.

Silence settled slowly.

Cassian’s gaze remained on the opening for several long moments, as if he did not trust the quiet. Only when nothing else moved did he turn his head toward me.

I stared back at him, my chest tight, my thoughts scattered, and realized I had no idea how long I had been unconscious.

I swallowed and whispered anyway. “How long was I out?”

Cassian’s voice came out low. “About eight hours.”

My brows drew together sharply. Eight hours made no sense. My healing should have pulled me back sooner if I had been injured. Even if I had hit my head, even if my body had been pushed past its limit, it should not have left me empty for that long without leaving evidence behind.

I tried to replay the memory again, slower this time, searching for the missing piece.

No clear impact.

No pain before I blacked out.

I looked down at myself, fingers moving over my ribs and arms as carefully as I could in the cramped space. There were bruises and soreness, but nothing that matched eight hours of my body refusing to wake.

My stomach tightened.

I lifted my eyes to Cassian again. “Grace?”

Cassian did not answer with words.

He shook his head.

The motion hit me like a blow. My throat closed so fast it felt like I could not breathe, and for a moment I forgot every rule about staying calm because the image of Grace slipping and vanishing kept replaying behind my eyes.

I forced myself to take one breath.

Then another.

My voice came out rough. “What about the others? The King and Rio.”

Cassian’s expression hardened. I could see the frustration under it, like the answer angered him as much as it hurt.

“I could not find them,” he said. “The shaking threw everything apart. One moment we were moving together, and the next moment the tunnel broke and the dust blinded me. I pulled you into that pocket because you were not waking, and then the cave started shaking again.”