Evening settled slowly across the city with rain-soaked clouds hanging low above the skyline like bruised silk stretched across the heavens, and Elara stood alone upon the narrow balcony outside her apartment with both hands wrapped tightly around the cold iron railing while distant traffic lights shimmered softly against wet streets below.
The wind moved carefully through her dark hair, brushing faint strands across her cheeks while the cool air pressed against overheated skin that still carried the lingering ache of the strange energy she had felt inside the café hours earlier, and although she had changed clothes and forced herself into silence since leaving Alexander behind, nothing inside her had truly calmed.
If anything—
It had worsened.
Because every time she closed her eyes—
She saw him again.
That steady gaze.
That dangerous patience.
The way he looked at her like she was worth understanding instead of surviving.
