POV: Alex
It starts with a headache.
Sharp. Sudden. Enough to steal the breath from my lungs as I’m standing in the upper watchtower, overlooking the eastern forest line. One moment the world is calm—fog lifting, guards changing shift—the next, pain splits behind my eyes like lightning through bone.
I grip the stone railing.
Something moved in the dark.
Not an attack. Not a spell.
An awakening.
My heartbeat stutters, then races.
Behind me, the tower door creaks open. “Alex?” Riley’s voice is tight with concern. “I felt it too.”
That confirms it—whatever this is, it touched both of us.
I turn to her slowly. She’s pale, one hand pressed to her chest like she’s trying to still something inside herself.
“Did it feel like—” I begin.
“Like something just noticed us?” she finishes.
W
