The First Age

He was too much of a coward and too selfish to end things with Natalie. Yet every time she crossed his line of sight, a pang of duty washed over him like bleach poured onto raw skin. Scouring. Burning. Necessary only to keep things from rotting entirely.

He doubted she noticed his withdrawal. Especially when distance was his middle name. At first, he’d hovered around Belizna, offering to help wherever he could, though his right hand remained locked in the ER's cast. When physical labor was out of the question, he leaned into the wizardry of his power. Tearing down scaffolding with his mind went much swifter than a team of laborers with power tools, and it gave him an excuse to sweat, strain, and stay miles away from Natalie’s hip.

He had no head for corporate architecture or the politics. A few stray moments of nostalgia flickered to life when she walked through financials with her lawyers, but they died quickly under the weight of his own uselessness. He had nothing to offer those conversations except a quiet, vacant nod and an inkling to give more.

The more physical tasks he volunteered to do, the wider the chasms grew. It worked decently until Adrian Kane showed up.

Jay had no idea he and Natalie shared a history, nor how deep the roots of it went. But once their business partnership was spelled out, the alignment of it all became blindingly obvious. Adrian didn't just fit into Natalie’s world; he elevated it. He seemed to draw her out in a way Jay couldn't. Even if he recognized Natalie's sarcasm and dry humor for what it was, at least it was better than the depressing pity he saw when she looked his way

Looking at them together, Jay was slow to accept. that Adrian was a better match for her in every conceivable way.

He hadn't come to Belizna for Natalie. He was here to inspect the site, to ensure his capital was yielding results, and to watch the scales of balance tip ever more into his favor. A lot of progress had been made since his first visit. The building was nearly fully renovated. The grounds substantially improved. As his inspection carried him across the historical floors, shoes tapping rhythmically on the marble, he drank in every inch as if he owned half of it - because, in his mind, he did.

He thought about Natalie's description of Belizna’s purpose as he listened to the foreman explain various projects. She described it as a place that the rich and powerful would do anything to save their daughters, and now that Adrian spent so many months wrestling his own power under control, he appreciated the significance of that angle more than ever.

In fact, since Natalie arrived with Jay Carpenter, he thought about it quite frequently. The more he watched Jay channel effortlessly, the more Adrian pondered the implications. He’d not been tempted into controlling any aspect of the channeler community, but perhaps he should diversify his influence there. If the Ascendancy recruited the best for the military and government, where did that leave those who were overlooked? Those who slipped under the radar or whose power was not yet fully realized? There had to be diamonds in the roughs, and where a vacuum existed, someone would fill it. Why not Adrian?

He approached Jay as he was dismantling the scaffolding. Adrian’s mind immediately slid into diagnostic gear, executing a cold, retrospective calculation of the timeline. Were Jay and Natalie together when she... A razor-thin smile touched the corner of his mouth, the thought stored neatly away for a future moment when leverage might be required. But he didn't twitch, didn't let his expression drop. Impatience was a tax he refused to pay, and social friction was inefficient. He simply unbuttoned the cuffs at the end of his sleeves and filed the variable away.

Adrian stopped a few paces away, watching with a clinical, predatory appreciation. Jay wasn't even sweating. He stood amid the skeletal remains of the scaffolding structure, his expression flat, as a massive steel bar peeled away from the structure under the invisible pressure of his will.

He said nothing as he stepped into place alongside, reached out into that void of nothingness to wrench the power into his grasp and join the effort.