The vehicle we were traveling in had more than enough space, but the air inside felt stifling. Despite the wide seats, it was as if we were all sitting far too close.
Kael was driving, his eyes locked on the road, as if the slightest distraction might spell disaster. Lean sat in the passenger seat, silent, occasionally checking his phone or scanning digital maps of the territory we were about to cross. I was in the back, between Sage and Zack.
Zack seemed calm—his energy neutral, almost soothing.
But Sage…
Sage was a wall. Rigid, upright, arms crossed, her back so straight it looked carved from marble. She hadn’t spoken a single word to me since we got in the car—but she didn’t need to. Her silence was loaded. Her judgment hung in the air between us like a low cloud, dense and full of
