The rooftop doors didn’t open like normal doors. They unlocked. One after another. Mechanical clicks echoed through the stairwell, each clack landing in Bella’s spine like another second shaved off the timer.
She stepped back instinctively. Leo didn’t move.
That alone irritated her again. “You’re doing that thing again,” she said.
“What thing?”
“Acting like this is normal.”
Leo finally looked at her. Rain ran down his face but he didn’t blink. “It isn’t normal.” A pause. Then quieter: “But it’s predictable.”
That answer didn’t help. Predictable didn’t stop her heart from hammering. The air above them still vibrated with that deep, bone-shaking hum. Whatever was in the sky was closer now. Close enough that her body reacted before her brain could shoulders tight, breath shallow, stoma
