The morning arrived with a heavy, muted stillness.
Leo woke not to the gentle light of the sun, but to the violent, jarring vibration of his phone against the bedside table. It wasn’t a soft, rhythmic buzz; it was a sharp, urgent insistence that dragged him out of the fog of sleep and into a state of high alert all at once.
He blinked, his heart already racing against his ribs, and reached for the device. The name glowing on the screen made him freeze.
Ivy.
He stared at it for a second too long, the silence of the room amplifying the dread pooling in his stomach. “Why is she calling?” he muttered, his voice rough and thick with sleep.
The phone continued its frantic dance on the wood. Leo exhaled a shaky breath and answered.
“Hey,” Ivy said. Her voice was soft, fragile. “I hop
