The storm descended with the ferocity of a reckoning, transforming the estate from sanctuary to siege. Rain hammered the glass walls like a thousand furious fists, wind shrieking through the eaves as if the forest itself rebelled against their intrusion. Lightning forked across the sky, illuminating the great room in stark flashes—shadows leaping like spectres, the stone fireplace's flames guttering against the onslaught. Power surged once, twice, then died with a final, ominous pop, plunging the space into primal dark broken only by the hearth's defiant glow and the erratic blaze outside.
Elara's heart slammed against her ribs, the sudden blackout amplifying every creak and howl. "Generator?" she asked, voice steady despite the chill snaking down her spine, her hand instinctively finding
