MATILDA’S POV
I woke up expecting him.
Not in my room, of course! Not physically.
But… something.
A message. A command. A location.
That was the rhythm now, wasn’t it?
Sleep. Wake. Gideon Vale.
My hand moved before my brain did, reaching for my phone like it had already learned him. The screen lit up, too bright for the hour, too loud for the silence in my chest.
There was one message from him.
I stared at it longer than I should have.
Don’t come in today.
That was it. No explanation.My brows pulled together slowly. “What?”
The word came out quiet, more confused than annoyed. I sat up, the sheets falling to my lap, heart doing something strange. Not racing. Not calm either. Just… off. Like it had been expecting a different script and now didn’t know how to behave.
Don’t come i
