The evening air outside Malia's office was thick with anticipation, the hum of the city barely audible through the glass windows. Inside, the world felt quieter, almost suffocatingly so, as Malia sat at her desk, her hands resting on the edges, her thoughts a tangled mess of emotion and doubt. She had gotten so used to the weight of it all—the pressure of her business, the ongoing war with Selene, the fragile peace she had finally found. But now, there was another layer to it: Nixus.
Her heart, which had spent so long hardening against him, now seemed to beat to a rhythm that wasn't entirely her own. She couldn't explain it, couldn't even understand it fully. Every time she tried to make sense of what was happening between them, the past—everything they had shared, everything they had lost—held her back, like a chain that kept her anchored to a place she couldn't escape.
