Eve
The manor loomed before me, its modern but vintage walls breathing with the kind of silence that devoured sound. Dread saturated every cell in my body, coiling tight as I adjusted Elliot on my hip. His weight was familiar, always a comfort, but it did little to steady the storm that beat inside my chest.
Montegue led us forward with that careful, deliberate stride of his, like he was not the same man I had watched crumple. Like his wife was not being dosed to keep her under control. As if his daughter had not escaped and brought so much misfortune.
I could see the wariness flicker in his eyes once in a while when he thought I wasn't watching. The way his brow would crease from the stress that should have weighed him into an early grave. Yet, here he was, with a cane I had insisted he take with him as we investigated the odd report from the surveillance team.
