An Uneasy Calm
The mansion woke early, unusually bright with activity. The staff rushed through the halls, carrying trays, arranging flowers, polishing silver until it gleamed like mirrors. Sierra quickly realized this wasn’t ordinary bustle. Vanessa was planning something bigger than her small midnight games.
Sierra pressed her ear to the banister and caught fragments of Vanessa’s voice, crisp and commanding: “The guests will arrive promptly… Champagne ready by seven… No mistakes tonight.”
Guests. That meant outsiders. Strangers who didn’t yet carry Vanessa’s suspicions or worse, people she planned to draw into her web.
Damien found Sierra in the library, staring blankly at the rain-smeared window. “She’s hosting tonight,” he said flatly, already anticipating her panic. “A dinner. Som
