The hotel rose out of the darkness, its windows glowing warm against the night sky. Clara parked, her pulse quickening as she stepped out, the evening air sharp against her skin. The lobby doors opened with a soft rush, but she barely registered the polished marble or the faint scent of lilies drifting through the air.
Her focus was locked on the elevators, on the room number burned into her memory. When she reached the suite corridor, the silence pressed close around her. She paused outside the door, her breath caught in her throat, her hand hovering just above the wood. And then she froze.