Alex’s POV
The morning had a tense weight to it, like the air itself was pressing down on the mansion. I stood in the corner of the living room, watching Rhys as he lounged in his chair. He was calm, dreary calm.
He’d promised to take me to Winchester today. I’d been counting on it—not just because I needed to finalize my registration, but because I needed something normal, something that wasn’t tangled up in the chaos of this family. But looking at him now, the way he held himself like he already knew something was coming, I wasn’t sure we’d even make it out of the house.
The knock at the door shattered the quiet, sharp and insistent.
My heart jumped. “Were you expecting someone?” I asked, my voice softer than I intended.
Rhys didn’t look at me immediately. He exhaled a plume of smo
