THE NOISE HIT ME FIRST, dozens of people speaking over each other. A glance in their direction revealed a sea of confusion as they realized not everyone—namely, not the Anna—was in the same place as they’d been what felt like a few seconds ago. Some of them blinked at me, or the Remus, or Tony. Some tried to figure out why the phone conversations they’d been in the middle of had suddenly gone dead.
But little by little, they turned their attention towards where the Anna stood now, with arguments for how he shouldn’t be there. How he didn’t have permission, how they would call the police. Whatever little details they’d noticed that didn’t add up, whatever confusion they felt, it didn’t override the momentum of what they’d already been doing. Marco made his way towards the front, addressing
