The room became impossibly still.
No one reached for the envelope.
No one even seemed willing to breathe.
The red wax seal resting at the center of the table seemed almost alive beneath the soft light filtering through the stained-glass ceiling.
Outside, the storm had finally arrived.
Rain struck the lake in relentless waves.
Thunder rolled across the hills, shaking the old Sanctuary hidden beneath the earth.
Lily stared at the handwriting.
She recognized it now.
Not because she had seen it often.
Because she had spent the last several days reading every letter her mother had ever left behind.
The same gentle curves.
The same elegant strokes.
The same warmth hidden inside every word.
Her mother had written this.
For her.
Twenty years ago.
Jonathan stepped back.
"I've wait
