Page 191 of King of Sin
The words hit him so suddenly his breath stalled. She wanted him gone?
For a moment, everything inside him stalled—anger, jealousy, even that suffocating heat in his chest. His gaze sharpened, searching her face.
She slipped again into distress, her body trembling harder, her lips parting as if she were caught between two worlds. The fever seemed to spike all at once—her skin turning warmer, her breathing turning shallow and uneven. Heat radiated off her skin, her expression twisting.
Then her eyes snapped open.
Glassy. Unfocused. Panicked.
Before Cassian could react, she turned sharply away from him and lurched off the bed.
“Juliet—” His voice broke as he moved at once.
She staggered into the bathroom, and he was right behind her in seconds, catching her before her knees fully gave out. His arm slid instinctively around her waist while his other hand steadied the back of her head, pulling her gently but firmly toward the sink as her body folded forward.
She broke down immediately.
Vomiting, trembling violently, her hands gripping the edge of the basin as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. Tears slipped down her flushed cheeks, mixing with sweat, her entire frame shaking under the force of the fever.
“Hey… hey, I’ve got you,” Cassian said quickly, his voice losing its edge completely, replaced by urgency and fear as he held her hair back from her face.
When the wave finally eased, he turned on the tap without hesitation, cupping water in his palm and guiding it carefully to her lips. His movements were controlled, but his hand betrayed him—slightly unsteady as he watched her struggle to stay conscious.
Juliet drank weakly, still trembling, her lashes heavy, her strength draining with every passing second.
And then, just when Cassian thought she was finally stabilizing—
Her body went slack.
“Juliet!” His arms locked around her instantly, catching her before she could collapse completely, pulling her against his chest with a force that bordered on panic.
For a heartbeat, everything went eerily silent.
He lifted her without a second thought, rushing out of the house with her held tightly against him. His heart pounded so violently it drowned out everything else, his breath uneven as he reached the car and set her carefully inside.
The drive blurred into fractured moments—speed, headlights, the constant weight of her unmoving presence beside him. Every few seconds, his eyes flicked toward her, his grip tightening on the wheel.
By the time the hospital lights cut through the night, he was already out of the car.
Doctors rushed forward with a stretcher, lifting Juliet from his arms, but Cassian barely released her. His fingers lingeredaround her hand a second too long, reluctant, as if the moment he let go, she would slip out of reach completely.
They started to wheel her away.
Then her hand moved.
Weak. Trembling.
It reached for him.
And before they could take her further, Juliet’s fingers closed around Cassian’s hand.
“Cassian… don’t leave me… please…”
Juliet’s voice broke mid-sob, the words slipping out of her in fragments as if even speaking them cost her strength she didn’t have. Her fingers tightened around his hand instinctively, clinging with a desperate grip that trembled under the weight of her fever, her nails faintly pressing into his skin without her even realizing it.
Tears kept falling without pause, sliding down her temples and into the sheet beneath her, while her entire body shook so violently on the stretcher that the wheels creaked with each hurried movement forward.
Cassian didn’t let go of her for even a second.
