Cassian and his team had finally reached Mandle, the seaside town where Brigid and the others had stopped the day before. According to the message she sent, he was supposed to meet her at a bar in town.

So Cassian went alone.

He’d already explained most of the situation to his team—his connection with Brigid, the cultists, and how they’d all ended up as his slaves. Still, he kept a few personal details to himself. More importantly, he made sure Brigid didn’t know he hadn’t come alone.

Now, the real problem was figuring out how to get his team involved.

He needed a way for them to tag along with Brigid and the cultists to wherever they were headed. And honestly, he wasn’t fully confident she’d agree. Sure, she had said she didn’t mind him coming along—but this wasn’t just any trip. From what Katherine told him, this was a rare opportunity. A secret mission of the cult, tied to exploring a fragment of another world connected to theirs.

That got him thinking—why hadn’t Naset or any of the higher-ups sent someone to stop the cultists from reaching it? Or at least tried to get there first?

But then it made sense.

With the war spreading so fast, even Brigid was handling things mostly on her own, with only limited help from the cult. There was no way Magisteria could spare proper forces for something like this. So instead... they sent him. Him and his team.

As Cassian stepped into the bar he was supposed to meet her in, he got a bit lucky.

One of the cultists he had enslaved was already there.

Kirja stood near the back entrance, guarding the door. Seeing her instantly made things easier for him.

Cassian smirked as he walked up."Hey, cutiepie?"

She turned toward him, clearly surprised for a second—then her face shifted into pure annoyance, like she’d just run into that one friend who only shows up to borrow money.

She didn’t reply.

Cassian sighed dramatically. "Why so cold? That hurts..." he said, placing a hand over his heart with an exaggerated pained expression.

"One of these days, I’ll make sure you feel it," she snapped, anger clear in her voice. She knew he couldn’t actually feel pain, which only made it worse. Then, more curtly, she added, "She’s inside. With some people. Wait here."

Cassian just chuckled.

He understood her anger. After all, he had taken her freedom—hers and her sisters’. Anyone normal would hate the person who enslaved them. Honestly, the fact that she wasn’t trying to kill herself just to escape him was already good enough in his book.

Well, it’s not like he’d done anything worse to them—and he wasn’t planning to either. Sure, he was a pervert, but he didn’t consider himself evil. Then again... if you really tried to draw a line between the two, the difference wasn’t all that big.

"So... how’s Fenja?" he asked with a smirk.

Kirja’s expression instantly darkened, fury flashing in her eyes at the mention of her sister.

Cassian quickly raised his hands and leaned back a little. "Hey, I was just asking... making conversation. No need to stare daggers at me," he said, then added with a grin, "Though I’ll admit... it’s kind of an erotic look. Mind giving me that same look later too?"

"Can’t you ever shut up?" she shot back, clearly annoyed.

Cassian only smirked wider. "I can... but beautiful women like you make me nervous. So I end up talking more."

"Ugh..." she groaned, clearly irritated, letting out a small grunt.

Just then, the door opened, and three men walked out. One of them was a Circle Warrior—Cassian could feel the pressure of his will as their eyes briefly met. The man looked at him for a second but didn’t say anything and kept walking.

Right behind them came Brigid.

She looked a bit surprised to see him, but then a small smile formed on her lips. "You came fast... did you miss me that much?"

Cassian gave a slight bow like a proper gentleman, catching both women off guard. "I couldn’t even sleep, my lady..."

Brigid blinked, clearly not expecting that kind of behavior from him. For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

"...Well then, come in," she said finally, stepping aside. Then she glanced at Kirja. "Don’t let anyone in."

Kirja nodded, and Cassian followed Brigid inside.

As they entered, Cassian glanced around, a bit surprised, absentmindedly rubbing the ring on his finger. Brigid noticed and smirked.

"It was pretty easy to cancel that slave spell... fucking asshole thought he could keep me under control," she said, her tone sharp. "You can’t control me anymore."

Cassian raised a brow for a moment, then smirked right back. "I wasn’t controlling you before either... so nothing really changed."

"Yeah..." Brigid nodded, her smirk matching his. Then she added, clearly amused, "So, how’s everyone back home? I heard you finally found the traitor?"

Cassian’s smile faded a little.

The traitor had been far closer than he’d ever expected. He hadn’t even figured it out until the very end—and even then, it had come down to pure coincidence. Just thinking about it was enough to shift his mood.

Brigid noticed instantly. If anything, it amused her more.

"Why so angry?" she asked lightly. "Aren’t you doing the same thing?"

"He betrayed us," Cassian said through gritted teeth. "Acted like a friend... then killed innocent people for power." His jaw tightened. "I’m not the same. I’m not betraying anyone. You can tell them right now—I don’t care."

Brigid gave a small, unimpressed shrug. "You’re right... you’re not betraying anyone. No one really trusts you enough for that."

She paused, her expression turning sharper.

"But..." she added, her eyes narrowing as a spell began to form around her, "you are forcing them, aren’t you?"

Before he could react, something grabbed him—a detached arm wrapping around his throat—and lifted him off the ground.

"...just like you did to me."

Panic flashed in Cassian’s eyes.

He hadn’t expected this. Even if Brigid had broken free from his slave magic, he figured—at worst—she’d keep things neutral. Not... this. Clearly, he’d misjudged her.

He struggled against the invisible grip around his throat, reaching for his sword, but before he could even touch the hilt, another force snapped his arms behind his back, locking them in place.

"I didn’t—" he started, breath tight. And technically, he hadn’t used the slave magic on her. Not directly. What he’d done instead... he didn’t count it as forcing.

But to her?

It clearly was.

"You really thought I liked being fucked by you?" she said, her voice low, eyes filled with something dangerous, that wide, almost mocking smile on her lips. "By a biggest asshole I know?"

Cassian glanced down, wanting to shake his head, but the pressure on his throat made even that difficult. He could feel it now—real killing intent.

It wouldn’t kill him. Not really. But dying like this... that strange, hollow feeling when he came back—it wasn’t something he enjoyed repeating.

He could get out of this if he wanted to.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he stayed still, watching her, curious to see where she was going with this. If there was a way to deal with whatever grudge she had without things turning violent... why not try that first?

Brigid’s smile slowly widened as she looked at him.

"Turns out," she said softly, "I do."