An exclusive short story set in the world of the YA scifi novel, The Cage by Megan Shephard. All the books in THE CAGE series are told from a variety of perspectives: Cora, our main protagonist, but also from Lucky, Leon, Mali, Nok, and Rolf. Through all of this, I always felt as though one perspective was missing: Cassian’s. Because he belongs to a non-human, super-intelligent race, his motives are often mysterious and difficult to interpret. We are left wondering if he is their abductor, their savior, or something else entirely. While I love this sense of mystery regarding Cassian, I also wanted to dive deeper into his character and include some “behind the scenes” sections showing what he was up to while Cora and her friends were trying to navigate the Cage’s dangerous puzzles. In THE CAGE, we learn what it is about Cassian that enchants Cora, and now we get to see what it is about Cora–from the first moment he saw her on Earth–that draws Cassian to her, too. Enjoy!