Noah stood outside the empty room, his mind racing through options with the cold efficiency he'd developed long before Academy Twelve. The immediate, visceral impulse to tear through the Nexus Arena searching for Kelvin was tempered by months of training—emotional reactions led to mistakes. Mistakes led to failure.
'Think. Process. Plan.'
The Rowes had orchestrated this entire encounter. The meeting, the conversation about Lila, the energy blade—all calculated to provoke a response and reveal his abilities? They'd succeeded. But why take Kelvin?
'Leverage? Information? Or simple collateral damage?'
Noah started walking, his pace measured but urgent. The corridors of the East Tower felt suddenly hostile, every shadow potentially concealing watchers, every camera potentially compromised. He needed a secure location to think. He needed resources.
He needed allies.
