Willow woke slowly as the last traces of sleep loosened their hold on her thoughts. Awareness returned in quiet layers. First she noticed the warmth of the bed beneath her and the soft weight of the sheets tangled around her legs. Then the stillness of the room reached her senses. The villa remained wrapped in darkness, though the darkness had begun to soften. A faint gray light pressed quietly against the curtains, the first subtle signal that night was beginning to release its hold on the world.
She lay still for a moment and listened.
The house held that rare suspended silence that exists only in the moments before dawn. It was the kind of quiet when the air itself seemed to pause between night and morning. Even the birds had not yet begun their restless chatter in the trees outside. The world felt untouched, as though it had not yet decided to wake.
Then she felt it.
The mattress shifted slightly beside her.
