Rain lashed Mexico City, the streets reflecting the lights and chaos of market stalls glimmering under the storm, street food and petrichor mixed filling her lungs. Alina ran through an alley, her sneakers soaked, her heart pounding. It wasn't the first time she'd felt something—a strange tingling under her skin—but tonight it was stronger. As if something inside her was desperate to break free.
"Alina, wait!" Kael's voice cut through the city's roar. He was always near her—in class, at training with her parents. Sometimes only the bathroom or her bedroom let her clear her thoughts. He was a friend too protective for reasons she couldn't fathom, though she'd grown used to it. But tonight was her limit. She turned, her hair plastered to her forehead, her hazel eyes reddened from crying, and saw him running toward her, his jacket drenched. "Why are you running? You're not ready."
"Ready for what?" she snapped, frustrated. Kael always dodged her questions about things like what happened this afternoon, as if she weren't just an ordinary girl, insisting she always stay close to him. In the distance, sirens blended with the city's clamor. News of a girl in China, Yuè, daughter of a tycoon from the powerful Tianfeng Corporation, trapped after a whirlwind tore through a market, had been echoing through the streets for hours. Rumors whispered of impossible winds in a bustling city.
The air shifted abruptly. An electric hum tore through the silence that had settled between the one she thought was her best friend and her. Then, a figure emerged from nowhere about two meters away—tall, imposing, with intense gray eyes visible even in the dim light. A sword of shadows materialized in his hand. "At last, I've found you, Your Highness," he said, a faint mocking smile on his face, his deep voice sending a chill through Alina. He looked at her as if she were the final piece of a deadly puzzle. Questions swirled in her mind, one standing out: *What did he mean by 'Your Highness'? Was he talking about her?* Kael stepped between them, tense, ready to defend her. From one of his pockets, he drew a gleaming dagger, gripping it tightly in his right hand. At that moment, something inside Alina tore—she felt pain surge through her body, and her hands trembled. A raindrop on her palm glowed, suspended, as if responding to her soul.
Alina didn't know it, but the universe was hunting her, and they had already found her. And without her realizing, the stranger's next move could destroy everything she knew.