Trouble In Paradise

A woman with dark, straight hair, sharp eyes, and a presence that seemed to command the room without even trying. She didn't stand when Parker entered, but her gaze locked with his instantly. For a brief moment, Parker's pulse quickened, his instincts firing in a way that didn't make sense.

Her energy—there was something in it. No, not in it. Ether. It flowed through her like a second being, a current Parker had felt before but never this… alive, this raw.

Parker's eyes narrowed, his mind racing, but he couldn't look away.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker," Cassidy said, her voice smooth, but there was an underlying tension there. Like she was waiting for something. Watching him.

Ava glanced between them, the smirk on her lips barely hiding her own curiosity.

But Parker's thoughts were elsewhere, still locked on Cassidy, feeling that pulse of Ether in the air.

Ere hissed softly, a low, unmistakable warning.