Lyra
The clinic looked almost peaceful from where we sat. Its narrow brick facade bathed in the last wash of daylight, the warm glow of the windows spilling onto the sidewalk. But I knew better. I knew this was the calm before everything burned.
Luca sat beside me, silent, his eyes never resting in one place for long. I could feel his focus in the air, like a taut wire stretched between us.
We had been here for twenty minutes already. Twenty minutes of me trying not to gnaw my lip bloody while pretending I was fine. Twenty minutes that seemed like eternity.
“Time?” I murmured, though I already knew it was close.
“Five past eight,” Luca said without looking away from the street. “She’s still got a couple of patients inside. Let's wait.”
I glanced toward the clinic door, just in time t
