Chloe’s pov
The stairwell swallowed the last of the hallway light the second I stepped onto it, and I kept one hand against the rough stone wall, my bare feet silent on the cold steps as I descended.
I hadn't told anyone I was coming down here. Ray had gone to bed an hour ago, the guards at the front gate too far from this wing of the house to notice a door they didn't know existed.
Everybody was determined to keep things from me. It was a cover story after what I saw the other night. I couldn't shake no matter how many times I'd tried to talk myself out of it over the last two days.
A thing was down here. Someone the family had been protecting me from seeing.
The air grew colder with every step, damp enough that it clung to my skin, and by the time I reached the bottom of the stairs
