Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Whispers in the Hall

The rain had stopped by morning, leaving the air thick with the scent of damp earth and something else—something heavy, like the house had been holding its breath all night. I hardly slept, the weight of Callum’s words pressing into my chest like an iron hand.

Don’t trust him.

But trust had never been easy for me, and now, it seemed impossible.

I pulled myself from bed and stepped into the hallway. The air was still, the kind of eerie silence that came after a storm. My footsteps barely made a sound against the old wooden floors, but I still felt like I was disturbing something, like the house itself was watching.

Everdawn was full of secrets, and I was standing in the middle of them.

The library was my refuge that morning. The estate had been built with wealth, ……