Rain straightened, his chest rising and falling with controlled breaths despite the intensity of the exchange. His dark eyes, sharp and calculating, fixed on Julian with a mixture of wariness and something else—grudging respect, perhaps, or the cold assessment of a survivor trying to determine whether the man before him was a threat he could eliminate or a storm he needed to weather.
"I am Rain," he said, his voice carrying the weight of command despite the chaos surrounding them. "Leader of this operation. You've made a significant mistake attacking us, stranger. State your name and your purpose, and I may yet be merciful enough to let you leave with your life."
Julian's expression didn't flicker. The lightning along his blade pulsed once, twice—a heartbeat made of electricity.
"I don't introduce myself to corpses."
He moved.
