The restaurant was warm and golden, laughter humming like background music from every table except theirs.
Rafael noticed it instantly. The stillness. The way Stefan stirred his drink but didn't sip it. The way Mara stared at her phone too long, thumb hovering over the screen like she wasn't sure if she wanted to connect with the world or disappear from it.
Even Rafael's best jokes charming, and perfectly timed landed with the weight of a dropped glass. Mara smiled at him, but it was hollow, like someone lighting a match in a thunderstorm.
"I'll be back," she murmured, stepping away from the table. Her fingers fumbled for her phone, and she pressed the call.
"Vera?" she said, voice soft, almost too soft for the noise around her.
"Hey," came the reply, scratchy and distant.
Mara frowned. That voice didn't belong to Vera she knew the fierce one, full of spice and wildfire. This voice was thin, unraveling. "Are you okay?"
