At precisely 10:30, Lila entered her heels, making a gentle click sound on the smooth marble floor. Every step was a percussion note in the cathedral's eerie silence as the sound reverberated throughout the large area. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears that she was positive it would reveal her presence to any unseen observers, and her breathing was controlled but still audible in the silence.
James wasn't there.
She felt as though the absence had physically struck her and was momentarily confused. After so many years of believing her brother dead, she had braced herself for a conflict reunion and the emotional surge of seeing him alive. Rather, she saw nothing but emptiness and the accusing gazes of painted ancestors whose gilded frames seemed to be radiating their disappointment.
