CHAPTER 1 — THE MOMENT EVERYTHING STILLED
The moment Logan noticed Noah had gone rigid, the world around them didn’t just feel quieter—it felt distant, like the ballroom had slipped behind glass.
“Noah?” Logan lowered his voice, tightening his grip slightly, not enough to scare him, just enough to anchor him. “Hey… look at me.”
But Noah wasn’t looking at him.
The boy’s eyes were locked on something past Logan’s shoulder.
Vanessa noticed first.
“Oh,” she said softly, almost amused. “Here we go again.”
Logan turned slightly. “What?”
“He does this,” Vanessa replied. “Shuts down over nothing. Music, noise, people—”
“It’s not nothing,” Logan cut in.
Noah flinched at the tone. Instantly. Subtly. But Logan saw it.
And something in him shifted.
Because Noah wasn’t just scared.
He was bracing.
Like he was waiting for something to happen.
Logan followed his gaze across the ballroom.
The grand piano at the far end was being adjusted by a musician, preparing for a performance.
And Noah—quiet, rigid Noah—was trembling now.
Not violently.
May you like
But unmistakably.
Like a memory trying to surface without permission.
