Rain pelted the rooftops of the quiet coastal town of Windmere, a sleepy place tucked far away from the noise of the cities. A girl no older than twenty-two walked briskly down the cobbled path, her boots soaked, her jacket too thin for the chill.
Her name at least the one she'd given herself was Elana. Elana Dawn.
She had no memory before the age of fifteen.
Found unconscious near the docks by a retired widow, she'd woken with nothing but a pendant clutched to her chest a gold locket shaped like a crescent moon, with a single letter engraved inside: A.
No surname. No ID. No answers.
For seven years, she'd tried to build a life from the shadows of her unknown past. She worked at a bookstore during the day and waitressed at a seaside diner at night. Her dreams were often haunted by fragments of classical music, a woman in red heels, the sound of a gunshot, and the scent of jasmine.
But on this rainy night, her world was about to change.
She reached the diner just as a sleek black car pulled up outside. Strange. No one in Windmere drove a car like that. Her curiosity was short-lived until the door swung open and in walked a man who didn't belong here.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a tailored coat, his dark hair slick from the rain. His eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of the hood, but when he looked up, something in Elana's chest shifted.
Power. Elegance. Danger.
He slid into the farthest booth, his gaze never leaving hers. "Coffee. Black," he said, voice low, controlled.
Elana moved to get the order, her heart pounding in her ears. There was something about him something too familiar. But she couldn't place it.
When she returned with the coffee, he took it without a word. But then, just as she turned away, he said:
"Elana Dawn isn't your real name."
She froze.
Slowly, she turned back. "Excuse me?"
He placed the locket her locket on the table.
Her blood ran cold.
"I've been looking for you for a long time, Miss Astor."
Astor.
The name meant nothing to her.
But everything around her began to spin.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
He smiled faintly.
"Someone who owes your family a debt. And someone who's here to protect what's left of it."