The weekend started like everything else in this new life.
Planned.
Structured.
Decided before I even had time to think about it.
“You’re coming with me,” Max said that morning, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Where?” I asked, still half asleep, coffee barely doing its job.
“Out of the city.”
That got my attention.
I frowned slightly. “That sounds vague.”
“It’s meant to.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
A faint hint of amusement crossed his face. “You’ll survive.”
“I always seem to.”
But something about it felt different.
Not an event.
Not a public appearance.
Something else.
The drive was longer than I expected.
The city faded quickly, replaced by open roads, quieter surroundings, a kind of stillness I hadn’t realised I’d missed.
I sat in the passenger seat, w
