The house was unnervingly quiet when Elowen returned. The night’s shadows clung to the corners like lingering threats, and every creak in the floorboards whispered warnings she wasn’t ready to hear. Her mind raced with the revelations from the docks—the betrayals, the secrets, the brutal cracks that had shattered her world. Yet, in the depths of that chaos, a cold fire burned inside her. She would not be broken.
She moved silently through the dimly lit halls, the soft glow of the streetlights filtering through the curtains casting ghostly patterns on the walls. The scent of jasmine from the garden seeped faintly in, a cruel contrast to the turmoil roiling beneath her skin.
In the study, Elijah was waiting, his eyes sharp and unreadable. Landon stood behind him, muscles tense, as if expec
