The rhythm of the space they knew so well had shifted. It was no longer easy or automatic, but deliberate, like walking across a floor where every board might creak and give away their position. For Cole and Elara, the change wasn’t loud or dramatic; it lived in every pause, every slight turn of the head, every word chosen carefully before it was spoken. They stood near the back of the store, where the light was softer and fewer customers wandered through, but even there they kept a respectful, guarded space between them, close enough to read each other’s smallest cues, far enough that no casual observer could tie them too closely together.
Cole leaned one shoulder against the metal shelving unit, his posture relaxed only on the surface. His gaze swept the room in a slow, practiced patter
