Lucy didn't sleep.
The glow of her laptop bathed the living room in flickering blue, casting shadows across scattered coffee mugs, tangled charger cords, and a pile of tech magazines that hadn't been read in weeks. She sat cross-legged on her couch, her body still but her mind buzzing like a hornet's nest. Peppermint tea steamed in a chipped ceramic mug clutched between her hands—not because she wanted it, but because it gave her something to hold that wasn't rage.
Cole was on the floor beside her, leaning back against the couch cushions with his laptop on his knees. His fingers moved quickly, typing commands, then pausing to squint at the code running across his screen. Tessa sat cross-legged on the floor across from them, her usual calm replaced by a tight, pale expression. She hadn't spoken much, and even Lucy's judgmental houseplants seemed to sense the tension.
