Chapter 146

**Sloane**

I’m learning that mornings here feel different. It's so quiet and peaceful, like the world is holding its breath before it starts moving. I pad down the hall toward Mateo’s room, my hair still damp from the shower, the smell of coffee and toast drifting up from downstairs. I push his door open with a smile already forming, but it freezes there. He’s not in his bed. He’s crouched in the