Free Hidden by Sophie Jordan Page A

around inside myself, hunting for him, some proof that he’s still there. With me. But nothing.
    No Cassian.
    I lurch up with a gasp and scream his name. “Cassian!”
    We pull over hours later.
    I’ve stopped screaming, aware that I was freaking out the others. I can’t imagine what Will must have thought stuck behind the wheel, driving to the sound of me in the back. Now I’m just hugging myself again, rocking and swaying as if I were a child in need of comfort. And I am. In so many ways. From the beginning, Cassian has always been there. Even in Chaparral when he wasn’t there, he was there, a constant specter. And then he did appear—never going away even when I wanted him to. Always looking out for me. And now he’s gone.
    Tamra tries to comfort me, but I can hardly speak to the others. Especially Miram. How can I look at her and tell her what I know for a certainty? That Cassian is gone. Dead.
    At one point, Tamra whispers to her, explaining how Cassian and I were forced into bonding back in the pride—and that I still chose Will.
    I see Miram pull back, the fury flashing in the dull brown of her eyes. She turns to me with a look I know well. She loathes me now more than ever. In her eyes, I’ve rejected everything I should have embraced—our pride, the draki way. Her brother. She can’t understand this, and I don’t expect her to.
    How could I choose Will over the precious draki prince of our pride? It’s the question I see in her face, and there’s no simple reason I can give.
    Then again, there’s nothing simple about Will. I think back to what he can do—bend earth, resist shading, his immense strength—and it’s glaringly inaccurate to consider him a human. But then I can’t think of him as a draki either. And this strikes me as sad. Will doesn’t belong anywhere. Not among humans. Not among draki.
    But he belongs with me . The conviction is still there, as senseless and dangerous as always, seeping into my bones, my heart. A fact I wouldn’t change even if I could.
    The back door of the van swings open, and Will stands there in the quiet twilight. Dark woods crouch at his back and I know he’s made certain we’re far from the stronghold. Wherever we are, we’re safe for now.
    His gaze sweeps all of us before settling on me. The concern is there, shimmering in the hazel depths of his eyes. He undoubtedly heard my screams, but couldn’t stop until now.
    “Are you okay?” Will asks.
    I hold his gaze. “He’s gone. Cassian’s dead.” My voice chokes on the words, hating to say them. Especially in front of Tamra and Miram, but I can’t hide my knowledge from them forever.
    Will is silent. His face reveals nothing. I catch a glimmer of something more in his eyes, but I’m not sure what it means.
    Miram lets out a wail and falls into Tamra’s arms.
    “I’m sorry,” he finally says.
    I feel my face threaten to crumple and draw a deep breath, fighting back the burn of fresh tears. I don’t need another meltdown. But it’s horrible. Feeling this grief over Cassian, but unable to show it because I don’t want to be insensitive to Will—don’t want him to think I was in love with Cassian.
    A moment of awkward silence passes, and he looks around us. “We need to drive a little more. I’m not comfortable stopping yet, but I wanted to check in on you all. A few more hours and we can eat and get some rest.”
    He waits for a moment as if I’m going to respond to this. None of us speaks. The only sounds are Miram’s sobs. I don’t look at him again. I can’t. Not with these horrible feelings churning inside me. Instead, I give a sharp nod.
    The doors slam shut. I listen to the crunch of his footsteps and the thud of the driver’s door. In moments, the van is rumbling all around us again and we’re moving on into the night.
    “You did this, Jacinda,” Miram whispers heatedly, ignoring my sister shushing her. “You did this. Cassian is dead because of you.”
    “And you had no