ISABELLA
At the Museum Alley…
I should have known better than to take the back door.
Tobias had been with me all morning, hovering like a silent shadow while Lena and I checked the new shipment of artifacts. He was good at pretending he wasn’t watching me, but I could feel him — the way his gaze flicked to every doorway, every window, every person who walked too close.
And I appreciated it.
I really did.
But after hours of cataloging, answering questions, and pretending I wasn’t still shaken from last night, the walls of the museum felt too tight. Too loud. Too bright.
“I’m just going to get some air,” I told Lena as she headed toward the washroom. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded, distracted, already digging through her bag for lip balm. “Don’t go far. Tobias will freak.”
“I won
