Chapter 20
Outside, I took off down the steps and jogged around the house to the rear lawn. The sun was setting behind the house, casting us into shadow while the lough glistened in hues of indigo. The lights were just beginning to flicker along the lakes edge, awakening with the night, and I shot off towards the boathouse, following the path that meandered between the rocks, moor-grass and rose hedgerows. In the summer, the path would be rampant with rose blooms and honeybees, but now the plants were pale and slumbering in their winter raiment.
I could hear the slight crunching of gravel underfoot behind me, so I knew Alec still followed me. We ran in silence along the lake to the southeast, the sun’s last bit of warmth fading on my back. If I wanted to stay warm, I’d have to pick up th
