//CLARA//
I didn't move. I couldn't. My mind was still catching up to the reality of what he was saying. All of it closing in like a noose around our throats.
"Pack," Casimir repeated firmly. "Only what you need."
"What about me? Are you just going to leave me here? Out to the wolves?"
A voice cut through the tension. The absurd innocence of it cut through the breathless atmosphere like a hot knife through butter.
Casimir snapped his head toward the corner of the room, his eyes widening in startled shock.
He had been so consumed by the desperate need to keep me breathing, that he had completely forgotten Gary was even standing by the wardrobe.
To Casimir, the world consisted of me, our enemies, and absolute chaos in that exact order. The realization that my unaccounted-for cousin had been quietly observing our breathless panic the entire time hit him like a freight train.
