The storm that finally broke the Manhattan heatwave came at three in the morning, a violent, roaring deluge that washed the sweltering haze from the glass windows of the penthouse. By 6:00 AM, the city’s power grid had groaned back to life. The sharp, mechanical hum of the central air conditioning kicked on, sending a sudden, freezing draft through the open living pavilion.
Elena opened her eyes, her skin shivering as the temperature rapidly plummeted. She was lying on the massive Italian leather sofa, wrapped in a heavy textured throw blanket she didn't remember pulling from the closet. The dark quartzite kitchen island stood empty across the room, the moonlight replaced by the pale, slate-gray light of a rainy Manhattan dawn.
She sat up slowly, her heart instantly dropping into a famil
