Lena Volkov stood alone on the rooftop of Nova Tech's high-rise headquarters.
The wind picked up around her, brushing against her cheeks and tugging lightly at her ponytail. She didn't move. Her eyes stayed fixed on the horizon, where the city of Novan stretched endlessly beneath the fading glow of the evening sun.
Down below, traffic pulsed like veins of light. People moved about, unaware of the shifting forces above their heads. But Lena wasn't looking at them. She was thinking.
Her mind was still caught in the quiet intensity of the conversation she had just had with Ethan Cole.
There was something about him that unsettled her in ways she didn't expect.
Not fear. Not even caution.
It was... curiosity.
"What is it, actually?" Lena muttered. "This feeling... It bothers me so much."
Ethan's aura hadn't just suggested potential. It had glowed with the unmistakable trace of a recent awakening. It was raw, untamed, and growing at a rate that should have been impossible.
