CIARA
The morning light through the high bedroom windows was gray and cold. Hayes was already gone from the bed, his side of the mattress completely cold. The scent of his cedar wood and smoke aura still lingered on the gray furs, but the reality of the house came rushing back the moment I opened my eyes.
I pulled on a simple black sweater and dark pants, my feet freezing against the floorboards as I walked out into the corridor. I needed to find Hayes, but more than that, I needed to feel like I belonged in this building.
As I walked down the eastern corridor toward the grand staircase, a door near the end of the hall opened.
Nilah stepped out into the light.
She wasn't wearing her red leather jacket or her dinner dress. She was wearing a massive, oversized white linen shirt that hun
