Adrian's POV
Sleep had become a negotiation I no longer won.
The Kael estate was alive in the early hours. Old stone creaked, generators hummed in the distance, and guards changed shifts with quiet steps, but I barely noticed any of it. I sat in my study with the lights off, watching the city's storm-lit glow seep through the tall windows, bruising the darkness. Mondrovia never slept. Neither did I.
The visions came whether my eyes were open or closed.
I pressed my palms to the desk and leaned forward, making myself breathe slower. In. Out.
The wood beneath my hands was cool, grounding; it was carved decades before I was born. I had learned long ago that anchoring myself to physical detail was the only way to stay upright when the future tried to crawl into my skull.
It didn't always work.
I saw a flicker of Elena's silhouette at the edge of a corridor that didn't exist yet, her hair caught in a wind that smelled like ozone and blood.
