*Kael*

“Lian!”

I heard the sound of my fake name but was too stunned to respond to it. I was pushed and shoved by the crowd, some snapping at me to get out of the way. But I couldn’t move until that female disappeared into an alley.

She struck a chord in the center of my soul. I felt it tug toward her before I even saw her like a flame in the dark—sandy blonde hair, eyes as blue as the faraway Eastern sea, I imagined. She looked like she’d ...