My heels strike the stone floor, each dry echo swallowed by the shadows.
Candles flicker with every breath of air, throwing dancing shadows over walls covered in ancient portraits.
Nordic paintings: angels and demons sharing the same space.
✧
Naked cherubs with golden bows right beside deformed creatures, painted in grotesque strokes and thick, dripping paint.
One canvas stays unfinished. The colors bleed together, smeared, like the artist gave up mid-torment.
✧
“Let’s go,” Nina whispers behind me.
I nod and quicken my pace to the end of the hall, where double marble doors wait.
✧
I push. My palms slip on the cold surface.
A low, drawn-out creak follows.
✧
Beyond, a sea of light blinds me for an instant.
Hundreds of candles burn in iron holders, scattered across a dining tabl
