"Make your move, vampire," she said, her lips curving with quiet mockery, eyes gleaming with a killing intent so dense it seemed to cut the air itself. One breath from her could have sliced me open. The space around her warped; her stance lowered, her aura hardened, every motion aligning with the precision of a predator ready to strike.
She no longer felt human, but something primal, a tigress waiting for her prey to blink. A chill ran through me, my earlier confidence wavering for the first time. There was something about Hera, something raw and unrestrained that no opponent before her had ever carried.
I hesitated, then fixed my eyes on the wound beneath her shoulder. She turned her shoulder away. Am I too obvious? The thought stabbed me, but if I couldn't see precisely, I could not move precisely. I had to learn that, and now.
