Selene's POV
Adrian wasn't there today.
Selene noticed it the moment she stepped into the small training room they had been using. The space felt the same, but without Adrian's steady presence it seemed colder, quieter in a way that made her shoulders tense and her steps slow down.
She stood in the center of the room for a moment, hands loose at her sides, listening to the silence. No footsteps outside in the corridor. No low voice telling her to breathe or slow down or try again. No quiet presence that made the restless thread inside her calm down. Just her, the room, and the restless thread inside her that had been waiting for this moment whether she was ready or not.
She let out a slow breath. "Alright," she muttered to herself, the words sounding small and a little ridicu
