Vortiger Tower – Executive Penthouse, 6:53 A.M.
Dawn had barely brushed the skyline when Selene awoke to the low hum of the city, her mind still tangled in fragments of Leona’s revelation. The covenant. Veyra. The fire that remembered. Her pulse thudded against her ribs like a warning drum. She felt as though the weight of unseen eyes pressed down on her chest, every shadow in the room suspicious, alive.
Cassien had been up for hours, methodically going over ledgers, surveillance reports, and snippets of video, the faint scent of coffee mingling with the old, paper-stained air. Even the familiar hum of the city below seemed to her now like a muted drum of war.
She found him standing at the window, fists clenched at his sides, jaw tight. The first light of morning reflected in his stormy
