Chapter 48: The Hidden Tunnel
Emma’s POV
The entire house shook.
Dust rained down from the chandeliers as Everdawn’s doors swung open, the cold night air rushing inside like a breath held for too long. The fire in the main hall snapped, flickering wildly. Shadows stretched along the floor, moving even though nothing was there.
And then—
A figure stepped through the threshold.
Tall. Composed.
Silas Ashford.
He didn’t move like a ghost. He wasn’t some flickering apparition or shadow of a forgotten past. He was whole. Solid.
Real.
I gripped the banister, my breath frozen in my chest.
His dark eyes swept the room—taking in the old paintings, the flickering candlelight, the thick silence pressing in from all sides. Then, finally, he looked up.
At me.
A slow smile curved his lips. “
