One thing I could say about the lattice—
Was that if you were hiding from something, it didn't just sharpen your instincts.
It added new ones.
The kind that sat underneath your skin and whispered before your brain could even catch up.
Danger to the left.
Eyes on you.
Don't go there.
Move.
And now, after whatever Jennifer had done to me, those instincts felt multiplied into something unnatural.
Every sound meant something.
Every shift in a crowd.
Every reflection in glass.
Every pause in conversation.
I moved through the city carefully, mapping routes in my head while pretending not to.
Possible exits.
Possible choke points.
Possible places they'd move Lila through.
I didn't even fully realize I was doing it anymore. My brain had already turned the entire underground city into terrain.
The long overcoat hanging from my shoulders felt wrong against my skin.
Too clean.
Too heavy.
Same with the cap shadowing my face.
I looked like somebody trying to imitate normal.
