ade Lena feel s

nished thoughts. Hotels erased context, stripping life down to key cards and room numbers and temporary versions of

iked

eeded to last. That she didn't have to car

stone floors, the sound of waves threading faintly through the open-air lobby. Salt hung in the a

key, thanked the desk clerk w

tu

stop

o

stop

oil

herself. Her skin prickled, nerves flaring as if she'd brushed against static or passed too close to

at

ing its rhythm again. Heat bloomed beneath her palm, then faded, lea

caught the light at the wrong angle,

m. People flowed past-rolling luggage, checking phones, laughing into conversations

was sure of that-but something a

ing just outside

dn't li

ully formed, startli

way, she usually found a reason for it-a bad day, a misunderstanding, her own p

as dif

as vis

ble things she trusted-wer

se, the

atte

herself not to step backward, not to draw attention to

, turning as if he'd

met for hal

e air

ening along her spine that had nothing to do with fear. The lobby seemed to dim

pa

th

on-twiste

r had been rotated just

mages threatened at the edge of thought-height, distan

ked awa

, adjusting the strap of her ba

wa

very breath, every inch of space between them. The air felt thicker near him,

he elevators, her

ever h

cting to see something different staring back. Her color was good

tion for t

ce

as the doors slid shut. The hum of the elevator fi

idn't move until the eleva

d been worse tha

curi

conf

ect

her body had decided befo

tight, expression neutral to anyone passing by. He'd k

was..

rest

. Hadn't reached. Hadn't tested the faint thread hummi

ll she

she pul

numb. It meant her instincts worked. That whatever set h

wasn't going to save ei

opposite elevators, deliberately giving her sp

t

city b

place

that as clearly as the tide pressing agai

was moving

done introd