Chapter 3 City Shadows

The invitation had been slipped under my door sometime during the night - thick cream cardstock, gold-embossed lettering, the Sterling Academy crest pressed into the corner.

Private Networking Event – Sterling Tower Rooftop, 8 p.m.

There was no sender listed, but I didn't have to guess. This was the kind of stage Damian Sterling liked to set - high above the city, surrounded by power, with nowhere to run.

By the time the elevator doors opened onto the rooftop, Manhattan was spread out beneath me like a glittering sea. The air was crisp, smelling faintly of rain and the sharp tang of cold metal from the railing.

Clusters of sharply dressed students and faculty moved between high tables and glowing heat lamps. The sound of champagne flutes clinking and low, calculated laughter filled the space.

Damian stood near the far edge, back to the skyline, a glass of something dark in his hand. Even at a distance, he radiated control - the kind that made everyone else in the room adjust themselves without realizing it.

I hesitated, but his gaze found me anyway. It was like being caught in a spotlight.

"You came," he said when I approached.

"You invited me," I replied, trying to keep my voice neutral.

He tilted his head slightly, as if weighing that answer. "I wanted to see how you carry yourself in a room like this."

"And?"

His eyes swept over me - not in a way that felt like desire, but assessment. "You look like you belong."

The words landed heavier than I expected. I'd spent years perfecting the art of blending in, of being unremarkable. But here, in this glass-and-steel kingdom, that disguise felt thin.

Before I could respond, another voice - warm, teasing - cut in.

"Careful, Damian. If you keep talking like that, she might think you're impressed."

Adrian Sterling was suddenly at my side, his grin as sharp as the cufflinks glinting at his wrists. Where Damian was all precision and stillness, Adrian was movement - a restless energy that made it hard to tell if he was about to start a joke or a fight.

"Maybe I am impressed," Damian said without looking at him.

Adrian turned his attention to me. "Come on, Marina. Let me show you the view from the south side. It's the only angle where you can see the river lights without the glare from the tower."

Damian's gaze sharpened. "She's fine where she is."

I glanced between them. The tension was subtle, but it was there - a silent push and pull, as if I were some rare commodity they couldn't agree on how to handle.

Finally, I stepped away from Damian and toward Adrian. "I'll take the tour."

Adrian's grin widened, but there was a flicker of something else in his eyes - victory, maybe, or something darker.

We crossed the rooftop to a quieter corner, the hum of conversation fading behind us. The city stretched out endlessly below, the East River a ribbon of reflected light.

"It's easy to forget from down there," Adrian said, leaning on the railing, "that the people making the decisions are up here, looking down."

I glanced at him. "Is that how you see yourself?"

He smirked. "It's how I see my brother. I prefer to be... unpredictable."

Something in his tone made me wonder if "unpredictable" was just his way of saying dangerous.

Before I could ask, movement caught my eye - a figure standing in the shadow near the rooftop exit. The posture, the stillness... I knew it instantly.

Victor Kane.

My breath caught.

Adrian followed my gaze, but by the time he turned, the shadow was gone.

"Something wrong?" he asked, studying my face.

I shook my head. "Just thought I saw someone I knew."

He didn't press, but his expression told me he didn't believe me either.

---

The event ended just after ten, the rooftop emptying in slow waves. I left with the last group, the elevator ride down feeling far too slow.

The streets around Sterling Tower were quieter than I expected for this part of the city, the wet pavement gleaming under the streetlamps. I started toward the subway, my heels clicking softly against the concrete.

It didn't take long to feel it - that same prickle along my spine, the awareness of being watched.

I glanced over my shoulder. Nothing.

I turned a corner. The sound of footsteps echoed behind me, just out of sync with mine.

My pace quickened.

"You walk too fast when you're scared."

I froze.

Victor stepped out from a recessed doorway, the glow from a nearby lamp catching the sharp line of his jaw. He looked perfectly composed, as if he'd been standing there for hours just to deliver that one sentence.

"You shouldn't be here," I said, my voice low.

"I go where I'm needed," he replied, taking a slow step toward me. "And right now, the board needs to know if you've remembered where you come from."

"I don't," I said. "And I don't care to."

His smile was faint, cold. "That's the thing about bloodlines, little heiress. They don't care what you want."

I took a step back, my pulse hammering. "Stay away from me."

He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he'd already solved. "I could. But I think I'll stay close. Just to see how long it takes before you admit you belong in this world."

With that, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows as if the city had swallowed him whole.

---

Back in my dorm, I locked the door and leaned against it, my breath coming fast.

The rooftop had been all glitter and champagne, but under it was the same game I'd been running from since I was fifteen. Power, leverage, bloodlines. And now the Sterling brothers - each with their own way of closing in - were part of it.

I looked out over the park, the city lights winking like secrets.

Victor was right about one thing: I couldn't outrun where I came from forever.

But that didn't mean I had to play their game.

Not yet.