She looks up, surprise flashing across her face. “Hey, you… I thought you’d still be working?”
“I should be,” I admit.
Her expression shifts instantly. She stands and crosses the room, grabbing my hands. “Are you okay? Don’t you feel well?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m fine, but I got a weird message from Gran, and reading between the lines… I think something’s wrong.”
Her brows knit together as she studies me. “What do you mean?”
“Gran seemsveryeager for me to come home.”
Effa purses her lips thoughtfully. “Have you spoken to her?”
I slump slightly. “No. I only just saw the message, and it’s too late to call now.” I show her the screen.
She reads it carefully, slower than I did.
“Well… I’m not sure what that means,” she says softly. “But I think it’s best not to panic. Wait until the morning. Call Gran when you can actually talk properly.”
“You think?”
She nods. “If something serious were going on, Gran would have told you. And if she couldn’t get you, she would’ve texted me too.”
She’s right.
Gran would.
“How about we skip the after-party tonight and go back to the hotel?” Effa suggests gently. “Try to get some decent sleep. We’ll wake up early and call Gran first thing.”
“Thank you,” I murmur. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Probably fall in a heap.”
I huff out a faint laugh. “Not probably, yes.”
We find Raoul easily, and he drives us back without question. The others head off to the after-party, accepting our excuse of exhaustion without pushing.
Now we’re in the hotel room, and Effa is curled against my chest, already asleep, her breathing slow and even. Her warmth seeps into me, grounding me, but it doesn’t quiet the noise inmy head while I stare at the ceiling. The shadows cast by the city lights move faintly across it, shifting in soft patterns.
I don’t know why, but something feels off.
Like the air before a storm.
Like the ground is about to shift beneath my feet.
My jaw tightens, and my teeth grind slightly. My muscles are wound so tight I feel like I could snap because I’m seriously worried about Kiera and Gran. Half of me wants to grab the cell and call anyway, consequences be damned. But if everything’s fine, I’ll wake Gran and scare her senseless for no reason.
So I lie here.
Waiting.
Listening to Effa breathe.
Trying to convince myself I’m overreacting.
The unease crawling through me refuses to settle. And then—
The room suddenly lights up.
