The train rattled through the tunnels, its fluorescent lights flickering in uneven pulses. Ezzy sat rigid in her seat, clutching the strap of her bag, every nerve alive with the shard's restless hum. Across from her, a man scrolled through his phone, oblivious. A child leaned against her mother's arm, half-asleep. Ordinary lives, untouched by the storm Ezzy carried inside.
But she wasn't alone.
The woman from the platform had boarded too. She stood at the far end of the car, one hand lightly gripping the overhead rail, her eyes fixed on Ezzy with a predator's patience. Her aura shimmered faintly, fractured and prismatic, like broken glass catching light.
Ezzy swallowed hard. The shard inside her recoiled, whispering danger.
The woman smiled. "You wear him poorly."
Ezzy's breath caught. "What?"
"Caspian," the woman said, her voice low but carrying. "I can feel him in you. A shard of his essence, lodged where it doesn't belong. He's sloppy when he's desperate."
Ezzy's pulse hammered. She didn't answer.
The woman tilted her head, studying her like a specimen. "You don't know me. But I know him. And I know what you're carrying will eat you alive if you let it."
The shard flared, defensive, and Ezzy felt Caspian's voice slice through her mind: Don't listen. She's worse than I am.
Ezzy pressed her palms against her knees, trying to steady herself. "Who are you?"
The woman stepped closer, her aura shimmering brighter. "Selene. I take what others cannot hold. I collect what would otherwise be wasted. And you, little thief, are holding something far too dangerous for your fragile skin."
Ezzy's jaw tightened. "It's not yours to take."
Selene's smile sharpened. "Everything is mine to take. That's the difference between me and Caspian. He feeds to survive. I feed to own."
The shard inside Ezzy surged, a violent hunger rising in response to Selene's presence. Ezzy gasped, clutching her chest as the subway car seemed to tilt. She felt the shard urging her to strike, to drain Selene's fractured aura before Selene could drain her.
Selene's eyes glittered. "Yes. Feel it. That's his hunger, not yours. You can't control it."
Ezzy's vision blurred with silver and black. She forced herself upright, gripping the pole beside her. "Watch me."
The shard lashed outward, not in surrender but in defiance. A ripple of shadow and light burst from Ezzy's core, slamming into Selene like a wave. The woman staggered, her aura fracturing further, shards of light scattering like broken glass across the car.
Passengers screamed, the train screeched, lights flickered. Ezzy reeled, horrified at her own power — but Selene only laughed, low and delighted.
"Oh, you're perfect," Selene whispered, her voice trembling with hunger. "I'll be back for you."
And then, as the train screeched into the next station, she vanished into the crowd, leaving Ezzy shaking, her hands buzzing with stolen fragments of Selene's aura.
Caspian's voice coiled through her mind, cold and sharp: You've just made an enemy who doesn't stop. And now, you'll need me more than ever.
Ezzy pressed her forehead against the cool subway glass, her reflection pale and haunted. She wasn't sure which terrified her more — Selene's promise, or the truth in Caspian's words.
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