The drive back to the safe house was silent, but not in the oppressive way Claire might have expected. Instead, it felt heavy with anticipation, like something just below the surface was waiting to be acknowledged. The car’s heater hummed softly, its warmth wrapping around Claire as she gazed out the window at the snow-draped forest.
John drove with steady hands, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. But every so often, she caught him glancing at her in the reflection of the rearview mirror. Each glance felt like a quiet question, unspoken but lingering in the air between them.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a while, his voice breaking the stillness.
Claire turned to him, her lips curving into a faint smile. “I think so,” she said. “But that was… intense.”
John’s grip on the wheel tightene
