Obedience

Cassandra

Growing up, I was mesmerized by a man soaring the skies.

The greatest silk aerialist in the world, Chandler Moreau.

The day before my parents died, they took me to see his circus, and it was then I knew my fate was sealed.

I would do everything in my power to perform with them one day.

To perform with him.

Little did I realize, he would be far more than I’d ever imagined him being.

Far more than just a mentor.

He was a man I didn’t want to live without.

And someone I wanted to keep safe from a past that seemed to keep following me.

Chandler

My entire career, I’d been waiting for the right student to take under my wing.

A protégé with whom I could share my lifelong journey in the circus.

Little did I know it would be Cassandra Blackstone.

A woman who'd grown up admiring me from afar.

I never intended to fall in love with the student I was supposed to protect—from myself and the demons that lurked in my shadows.

But sometimes fate has other plans.

My grandfather's taunting words still linger.

Mieux vaut plier que rompre.

Adapt and survive.

They weren’t just his adage but also unmistakably true.

A reminder that Cassandra and my shared history seemed to intertwine us more than the silks we’d spent our lives mastering ever could…