Tess was usually the first to rise among her team, and her morning ritual had become something of a refuge. She'd make her way to the kitchen before the others stirred, often losing herself around Primus— making coffee, then watching the sun rise. It was the one part of her day that still felt normal. But that day, the second she stepped through the archway leading to the kitchen, her instincts screamed.
Her enhanced senses — heightened by whatever darkness lingered in her blood — registered a flash of danger. Too late.
A blinding surge of blue Metasyne energy screamed toward her chest. Reflex failed her. It missed her heart by inches, but the force was devastating. The impact hurled her backward, her body slamming into the stone wall with enough velocity to crack it, a jagged line forming behind her like a violent signature.
