James POV

I walk toward the hotel with Zoe cradled in my arms, my stride steady and purposeful, refusing to look back even though I can feel Noah's presence trailing behind us like a shadow I can't shake off.

My focus is entirely on Zoe—on the pale cast to her skin, the way her head lolls against my chest, the shallow rise and fall of her breathing. She's unconscious, but there's something else, something I can sense thrumming beneath the surface of her stillness, a restless ...