Quinn's POV
Seems Adrian Kael survived my crafted attack. I knew he would come to seek me out, so I was ready.
Habits hardly die; besides, it's a key trait of the Kael family, they love to head into battle regardless of all.
In this case, it works perfectly for my purpose, his weakened state, though it would be better if he had not survived.
I am alone when I feel the backlash ripple through the matrix I set in his mind.
It is subtle, no alarms, no rupture. Just a tremor of psychic pressure folding inward, where Adrian tore himself loose from me. The kind of wound only two minds bound by history can feel.
I lean back in the chair, fingers steepled, eyes half-lidded as I listen to the data stream scroll across the inner perimeter of my awareness. Neural degradation: moderate. Psychic coherence: compromised but stabilizing. Emotional anchor: external, female, persistent.
Elena.
I exhale slowly.
