His Essentia tasted like guilt now. Like fear. Like watching himself lose for the first time and not knowing how to handle it.
I almost felt bad.
Almost.
Then Aurora's voice cut through the chaos. "Get away from him!"
I looked up. She stood on the building edge, both hands raised, her palms glowing so bright it hurt to look at directly. Not just light. Power. Real power, the kind that could punch a hole through concrete.
"Aurora, don't!" Nolan tried to stand. Failed. "You'll hit me!"
"I have ninety-four percent accuracy," she said, her voice shaking. "I won't miss."
Our eyes met across the distance.
Something passed between us. The memory of her mouth on mine. The way she'd tasted when I kissed her after the movie. The electrical buzz of her Essentia cycling through my body when I'd held her hand.
She fired.
The photon blast was massive. Bigger than anything I'd seen her use before. It screamed through the air like a comet, trailing light, aimed directly at my center mass.
