"Elena, is that you? Please, just tell me you did not leave me alone in this nightmare," Gillian whispered, his voice trembling in the cavernous silence of the lounge.
He stood in the center of the room, his eyes scanning the dim corners where the flickering candlelight failed to reach. The manor felt colder than ever, a tomb of marble and velvet that seemed to press in on him from all sides. He had spent hours wandering the halls, driven by a restless energy that refused to settle, a byproduct of the curse that now hummed beneath his skin. Every shadow seemed to take shape, morphing into the familiar lines of a face he had memorized through years of intimacy and trust.
He stepped forward, his heart hammering against his ribs. He was certain he had seen her. A flash of silk, the faint
