Unexpected.
The word lingered in the space between them as the truck continued forward, tires humming over broken asphalt that should have been worse than it was. Sera watched the road unspool through the windshield, waiting for the correction that usually came with movement through neglected territory.
It didn't come.
The cracks in the pavement softened as they reached them. Gravel shifted aside instead of biting into the tires. A fallen branch that should have scraped the undercarriage rolled away with a dull bump, like it had been nudged by something unseen.
Sera noted it and moved on, not really caring about what was seen or not seen.
Zubair noticed it too, though not in the same way.
His hands stayed steady on the wheel, but his foot eased off the accelerator by a fraction when the road narrowed, then returned to speed when the land widened again. He wasn't reacting to danger. He was reacting to comfort—hers, not his.
