Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
CASSIAN
“Where did she go?!” I asked, stepping into the street. “Jasmine! Where are you?” I yelled.
Sterling stepped up beside me. “She must have heard us.”
No matter where I looked, she still wasn’t there. But Sterling was. “Where do you think she went?” I asked.
“She couldn’t have gone far,” he said.
“Should we split up?”
“That didn’t go well for us last time,” he said.
Even in this urgent situation, he made me smile. “No more splitting up, then.” I took his hand.
“Let’s get to headquarters to assemble a search team. Maybe I can redeem myself if we catch her.” Sterling headed down the street, still holding my hand.
“Sterling, do they know we’re together? Is that why you got demoted?” I asked, hurrying to follow him.
“I got demoted for being ‘too soft.’”
“I like that you’re soft,” I said.
He smiled at me, but it fell away. “Cassian… are we together?” he asked.
“I’d like if we were,” I said, my heart pounding. Maybe I misread this.
Sterling paused before saying, “I don’t want you to push me away because you’re afraid I’ll leave. We don’t have to talk about this now, but we need to have a serious discussion about our future if you can’t handle that I live in Ladiall and you don’t.”
“I’ll sell the inn and move back,” I said, squeezing his hand tighter.
He angled his head. “I don’t think you want that.”
How did everyone know but me? “I don’t want to be without you.”
Sterling sighed. “Like I said, we don’t have to talk about this now, but… uh, you should know…” He looked away but said nothing more.
“What?” I asked. My stomach twisted. What bad news did he have for me?
He stopped walking and faced me to look into my eyes. He looked so tired, and… scared? “Cassian, I…”
“What is it, Sterling?” I asked gently. “You can tell me. Is it bad? Did you—did you find someone else?” That would serve me right, and it wouldn’t be surprising. Sterling was the kindest, smartest, and hottest man I’d ever met. Half of Ladiall was probably already in love with him.
“No!” he said, and then he laughed. “There is no one but you. I’m trying to tell you something that’s hard for me to say, because… I don’t know. It terrifies me.”
“You can tell me anything,” I said.
“I know,” he said. He took my other hand, lifting it to his face to kiss my knuckles. He closed his eyes and said, “I’m falling in love with you, Cassian.”
I broke into a smile. Sterling loved me. I felt like I could get through anything with that knowledge.
Sterling’s eyes were still closed, so he couldn’t see how happy he made me.
His face pinched in fear as he continued, “I don’t know how you see us, but that’s how I feel.
I’m sorry if it doesn’t mean that much to you, but I’ve never felt this way before, and it’s terrifying to think I could lose you.
I need a definite answer at some point. I don’t want to keep wondering.
” He finally opened his eyes. I don’t know what he expected to see, because his tense expression eased at the sight of me.
“I love you too, Sterling,” I said.
His smile cleared away most of the fear, but some of it stuck around his eyes. “You do?” he asked.
“I do. We’ll figure it out. I want to be with you more than anything,” I said.
He pulled me into his arms and squeezed me. I hugged him back, burrowing my face into his chest. We stayed like this longer than we should have until Sterling said, “Jasmine’s getting away…”
I sighed heavily, refusing to let him go.
The contrast between holding the man I loved and turning in my cousin for betraying me was too stark to easily release him, but Sterling let me go first. My eyes wouldn’t move off him while he scanned the street one last time.
I couldn’t believe he wanted to stick around for me.
When we arrived at headquarters, Sterling released my hand. The room fell silent when we entered. Apparently, his presence here was unexpected.
“What are you doing here, Thorndrop?” a tall woman near the front asked.
“I need to speak with Commander Decker,” Sterling said.
The woman exchanged a look with another officer. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked.
“Don’t be like that, Frank,” Sterling said. “Is she with someone?”
“No, but—”
“Great.” Sterling walked into the bullpen, passing everyone by without a glance until we reached a door in the back. He knocked twice and entered without waiting for an answer.
A stern middle-aged woman sat behind a desk. Her gray hair was tied back in a tight bun, and she tore her half-moon spectacles off her face to look at Sterling. She spared me a glance, but her attention was reserved for him. “Thorndrop. What are you doing in my office?”
“Commander Decker, this is Mr. Cassian Fibbersnap from the Fibbersnap Inn. You took me off his case, but he came to the city with his cousin requesting help. Unfortunately, his cousin got away. I am requesting a search party to find her.”
“How did you let her get away?” Commander Decker asked.
“She ran when she realized we were headed to Sterling’s house,” I said, hoping to win her favor for Sterling.
Commander Decker pursed her lips, inspecting me slowly. “You’re the owner.”
“I am,” I said with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Commander Decker.”
“You’re the boy whose opinion was so important that Officer Thorndrop took himself off the case and received a demotion?” she asked.
“I’m not a boy. I am an adult. And I don’t understand why my requesting he close the case got him demoted,” I said.
Decker eyed Sterling. “Thorndrop, be honest. Are you involved with Mr. Fibbersnap? Is that why you closed the case? Because if you are, that’s grounds for termination. And so is lying to your commander, so choose your next words carefully.”
So either way he’d be terminated? Maybe he couldn’t lie, but I could.
“Excuse me?” I demanded, marching toward her desk.
“Is this how you treat all citizens who come here requesting help? By accusing them of promiscuity? You should be ashamed of yourself. Who’s your superior?
Maybe they’ll help me instead of making accusations against me when I just need assistance,” I said.
I was proud of the shocked expression on her face. “I—I’m sorry, Mr. Fibbersnap. It was out of line for me to assume.” She stood up and rounded her desk. “You’re looking for the girl who came here with you when you enquired about the writ?”
“That’s right,” Sterling said.
“I’ll send out a search team. In the meantime, try to find her yourself, Thorndrop. Grab some equipment and get to work,” Decker said, holding the door open.
“Are you reinstating my position as an investigator?” Sterling asked.
“Consider it a trial. If you do well, I’ll allow another review,” Decker said.
“Thank you, Commander,” Sterling said with a grin. I couldn’t imagine why he loved this job if this was the person he reported to. She was so mean.
After Sterling grabbed a spare Force coat and a pair of shackles, we got to work. The shackles swinging from his belt spiked my nerves, knowing whose wrists they might soon find.
“She doesn’t know this city. I can’t imagine where she went unless she’s hiding,” I said.
“We only visited a few places when we were here. I brought her to my house and the Force headquarters, which we know she’s avoiding. We also went to Gertrude’s house and to your grandfather’s legalers. We should check there first,” Sterling said.
“Why would she go to the legalers?” I asked.
“For protection from the law.”
Sterling didn’t hold my hand as much now that he was wearing his officer uniform, but I knew this job was important to him. I didn’t want to jeopardize it.
When we stepped up to the legaler’s office, my heart lurched. The last time I had been here was right after I heard the news about my grandfather. I was struggling to believe he was gone while some expensive strangers told me I owned an inn.
“Are you ready?” Sterling asked, watching me closely.
I nodded.
We stepped inside, and I went numb at the sight of the woman arguing with the receptionist. Part of me had refused to believe it until the proof was in front of my eyes, and there she was. Jasmine was there, begging for a consultation with the legalers.
“Jasmine…” I said.
She whipped around fast, and the receptionist hurried out of sight the moment Jasmine disengaged. The uncanny way Jasmine’s expression turned from desperate to sweet made me nauseous. “Cassian! Sorry I ran off on you. I just had a quick question.”
“I have a quick question too. For you,” I said.
She lifted her eyebrows as an invitation to ask.
“Why did you curse Fibbersnap Inn?” The question was like a net that had been holding up my fear, and now that I’d asked it, the fear came crashing down. I didn’t want to know, but it was too late.
Jasmine opened her mouth to speak but paused, searching both of our expressions. “It wasn’t me, but honestly, Cassian, I don’t understand why you’re fighting so hard to uncurse it when you don’t even want to be there,” she said.
“If it wasn’t you, then how did you know I moved the rune stone? You couldn’t have learned about that from Willo, because she didn’t even know.”
Jasmine’s mouth fell open. “Wh—I didn’t—you tricked me!”
I clenched my jaw, livid at her audacity to be angry with me for catching her in a lie. “How could you do that to me? We’re family.” My voice wavered beneath the question.
“How could you take my birthright from me?” Jasmine asked.
Her desperation made her appear unkempt, with messy hair falling over her shoulders and around her pale face.
“You knew it was always supposed to go to my mother. It’s not fair that I lost my parents and the inn, and it’s not fair that I lost the inn because I lost my parents.
All to go to you, and you’re so ungrateful! ”
I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”