The rain was coming down in thin, icy needles, slicing through the air like the city itself wanted them gone. It wasn’t the soft kind of rain that washed things away gently, this was sharp, stinging, and relentless, soaking through clothes in seconds and turning every step into a cold reminder they were still alive. The streets around them shone like slick black glass, reflecting streaks of red and blue from distant neon signs that flickered in the storm.

Alessio didn’t even bother pulling ...