Nathan melted into the shadows of the narrow Roman alley just as the hooded stranger slipped right after Freja and Elin left. He paused, listening to the distant clatter of wagon wheels on cobblestones, the faint murmur of vendors closing their stalls for the evening. His heart thumped—not from exertion, but from the certainty that this cloaked figure was more than he appeared.
As a fellow Hero, Nathan recognized the aura of power rippling beneath the man's dark robes, a low hum of barely restrained energy that set his senses on edge. Yet he knew that any overt move in this crowded quarter would draw unwanted attention—from curious citizens, from Caesar's patrols, even from the very Praetorian cohorts sworn to protect the emperor. If Caesar caught him fighting one of the Heroes he had secret alliance with, he would be immediately put in Caesar's black list after all.
