Chapter 87: The Night That Watched Back
The fire had burned down to a low, pulsing glow, the embers breathing like a heartbeat. Brent sat in the armchair closest to the window, Emery asleep on the couch beside him, her hand still curled toward him even in dreams. Jonah’s door was cracked open, the faint sound of restless shifting drifting down the hall.
The cabin was quiet.
Too quiet.
Brent leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the dark stretch of yard beyond the glass. The porch light was still dead, leaving the world outside swallowed in shadow. Only the faint silver of moonlight cut through the trees, turning the branches into long, skeletal fingers.
He listened.
He breathed.
He waited.
A soft creak sounded from the back of the cabin — the kind of sound wood makes w
