The Citadel shivered as Selene’s presence rippled through its core. Every panel, every pillar, every pulse of energy acknowledged her, bending subtly in her direction. The Resonance Hall seemed alive, waiting for her decision, every thread of its power humming like a coiled spring.Adrian and Kael trailed a careful step behind her, but neither spoke. Even their silence carried tension—an acknowledgment that Selene was no longer the same woman they had guided into the Citadel hours before. She had become something else, something larger, more commanding, and terrifying.Selene lifted her hand, and the floor beneath her responded instantly. Light arcs traced invisible paths to the walls, revealing hidden mechanisms, corridors, and dormant defenses that had remained untouched for decades. Her mind flitted over them like a conductor’s baton, coaxing the Citadel to reveal its secrets.“I can feel everything now,” she murmured, her voice calm but layered with an otherworldly resonance. “Eve

The Citadel dimmed its lights as Selene stepped deeper into the eastern wing—a long, curved corridor lined with tall obsidian panels. They weren’t mere decorations; each one was a living record, humming faintly with stored resonance data from centuries before she was born.But tonight, they hummed for her.Adrian and Kael walked at her sides, both alert, both tense. The captured intruders had been transferred to a secure containment vault, but the silence in the Citadel felt… wrong.“Activity is shifting,” Kael murmured, glancing at his wrist console. “Something—or someone—is trying to access the deeper layers of Citadel’s core.”Selene’s skin prickled. The Citadel’s sensors vibrated softly through her mind, a warning pulse that had nothing to do with alarms. It felt like a heartbeat—steady, powerful, ancient.“Show me,” she said.The corridor lights rippled in response, illuminating a path forward.Adrian matched her pace. “Selene, if this is another trap—”“It isn’t a trap,” she int

Selene’s first sensation was weight.Not physical weight—her body still felt suspended in that thin veil between dimensions—but the weight of awareness. Of history. Of power.And of something else…Authority.A deep, resonant thrum echoed in her bones, vibrating through the marrow. As if the universe had shifted a fraction to make room for her.Then—A breath.Cold air.Reality collapsing back into place.Her eyes flew open.She was lying on the Resonance Lab platform, the circular pillars flickering weakly like dying stars. The room was filled with alarms, streaks of red light cutting across the walls in frantic patterns.Adrian was kneeling beside her, fingers trembling against her cheek.“Selene—Selene, look at me.”His voice cracked on the second word.Kael stood behind him, wild-eyed, frantically scanning the holo-interfaces that glitched every few seconds.When Selene inhaled, the air itself seemed to ripple.Adrian froze.Kael stiffened.Selene slowly pushed herself upright. Th

The classroom buzzed with low chatter, but the moment Jordan and Grace stepped inside, conversations dipped. People pretended to keep talking, but their eyes followed them to their seats.Jordan ignored them. Grace tried to.She sat down beside him—again, something they never did before last night—and opened her notebook, though her fingers trembled slightly. Jordan noticed. He lowered his voice.“Hey… you okay?”Grace exhaled shakily. “I don’t like attention.”“Then look at me instead.”She blinked at him, startled—but slowly, almost shyly, she lifted her gaze. Jordan held it, steady and calm, long enough for the tremble in her hands to ease.Silence wrapped around them—not awkward or heavy, but warm, steadying. The kind of silence that spoke more than words.For a moment, Grace forgot the room. She forgot the stares. She forgot the whispers.She only saw Jordan.The lecturer entered, and notebooks flipped open. Grace tried to focus, but Jordan noticed she was struggling. Her pen hov

Grace couldn’t sleep.She lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, replaying every second from earlier—Jordan waiting for her, the warmth in his voice, the near-touch that still tingled along her cheek.It wasn’t supposed to affect her like this.But it did.It still did.Over and over.She finally gave up trying to rest and slipped out of bed, padding barefoot to her desk. She opened her notebook to distract herself with assignments, but the words blurred, her mind drifting back to him.To the way he said “I’m not going anywhere.”A soft, traitorous smile touched her lips.Jordan wasn’t sleeping either.He lay on his back in the dim room, staring at the faint cracks in the ceiling, every muscle in his body still wired with the memory of Grace looking at him like she trusted him with something precious.He hadn’t expected her to let him touch her like that.He hadn’t expected her to lean into it.He sure as hell hadn’t expected his own heartbeat to go wild the moment her eyes fluttered