Chapter 51: A Warning in the Ashes
Lena couldn’t sleep.
She lay awake, tangled in Jay’s sheets, listening to the thunder roll in the distance. The fire in the hearth had long since died, but she still felt its echo against her skin—or maybe it was the echo of his touch. The night they'd shared had been more than passion. It had cracked something open inside her. Something raw. Dangerous.
Jay was in the study. He hadn't said why. But she had seen the storm in his eyes when he left the bed, as though he knew what they'd done had consequences. Not just between them but beyond them.
The house creaked. A shadow passed beneath the c***k of the door. She sat up quickly, heart hammering. When she opened the door, no one was there.
Until she turned.
A small envelope lay at the foot of the sta
