They drove in silence for several minutes, weaving through Igualada's streets until they reached an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Mateo parked the car and turned off the engine.
Daniel was still catching his breath when Mateo finally spoke.
"You felt it back there, didn't you?"
Daniel swallowed. "Felt what?"
Mateo turned to face him. "Time slowed down. You saw things before they happened. You reacted before you even had time to think."
Daniel stared at him. "How do you know that?"
Mateo exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. "Because your father had the same ability."
Silence.
Daniel's head spun. His father? The man he barely remembered?
Mateo continued, "He was part of something big. Something dangerous. He didn't just die—he was eliminated because of what he could do. And now, they're after you."
Daniel tried to process it. "So, what exactly can I do?"
Mateo looked him in the eyes.
"You can manipulate perception. Slow down time in your mind. See things before they happen. It's not magic—it's something deeper, something unnatural."
Daniel's pulse quickened. It all made sense—the strange moments growing up, the times he had reacted to things before they even happened. The way he always seemed to just know where the ball was going in a football match.
But this wasn't about football.
This was about survival.
And someone wanted him dead.