LOGINThe storm did not break that night, nor the next morning. Instead, it hung over Lycan Isle like a held breath – heavy, swollen, waiting. Tiana woke before dawn, heart pounding from the remnants of a dream she couldn’t fully remember, except for Ross’s voice in it – distant, strained, calling her name as if from underwater.She sat up in the enormous bed, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. The windows were pale with early light and fog, the world outside muted. Everything felt too still. Too expectant.Ross had left early, before she woke. A message waited for her on the small writing table:I need to meet with the council this morning. Stay inside the manor. I’ll come to you as soon as I can. —R.The shortness of it unsettled her. Not cold – but controlled. Tightly so.She dressed quickly, the silence weighing on her as she moved down the hallway. The manor staff were subdued, whispering to one another as she passed. They knew something. They always did.When she reached the gr
The study door creaked open, and Tiana held her breath so tightly it burned. Ross did not move. He stood like a wall between her and whoever had entered, shoulders squared, muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike.A figure slipped inside and closed the door behind them with deliberate care.Mark Burton.But this wasn’t the Mark she knew.His face was tight with worry, his clothes soaked from the mist outside, and his hands trembled – not with age, but with urgency.“Ross,” Mark said in a low, breathless voice, “they’re coming.”Ross didn’t relax. Not even a fraction. “Who?” he asked sharply.Mark stepped closer, and now Tiana could see the sheen of sweat on his brow. “Vivienne’s men. They’re sweeping the estate. She knows Tiana was in the restricted wing.” His gaze flicked past Ross’s shoulder, finding her hiding behind him. “And she knows you’ve been keeping her close.”Tiana felt her stomach lurch.Ross’s jaw clicked hard. “How?”Mark swallowed. “Clara.”Of course. Clara. The
The study felt different tonight – charged, restless, as if the walls themselves remembered the secrets Ross was about to exhume. Shadows gathered in the corners, lingering like ghosts. Tiana sat on the edge of the leather chair, her palms damp. She had never seen Ross look like this.He stood by the fireplace, his posture rigid, the flames casting a harsh glow over the sharp angles of his face. It wasn’t the controlled and collected Ross she’d grown used to. This Ross looked human. Fractured. Haunted.“Tiana,” he started quietly, “what I’m about to tell you… no one else on this island knows. Not even Mark. Not fully.”The air grew still. Tiana swallowed, her voice soft. “I’m listening.”Ross turned to her, and the look in his eyes was a storm breaking. He drew a slow, shaky breath. “You know Nathaniel disappeared eleven years ago,” he said. “But what you don’t know is what happened before he vanished. And what I did.”The words landed like a blow. Tiana didn’t speak. She held still –
Tiana woke to the weight of an arm loosely draped across her waist, the warmth of a body pressed behind her, and the soft rise and fall of Ross’s breath against the back of her neck. For a long, suspended moment, she didn’t move.She let herself exist in the unfamiliar safety of it – the feeling of belonging somewhere, even if only for a fragile dawn.The morning light filtered through the curtains in soft shafts, touching the rumpled sheets, the discarded clothes, and the quiet evidence of what had happened between them. Evidence she had never imagined would exist.Ross shifted slightly, tightening his arm around her as if sensing the world trying to intrude.“Don’t get up,” he murmured, voice still gravelled with sleep.Her chest tightened. Not with fear, but with wonder at how different his voice sounded when stripped of the armour he always wore.“I wasn’t,” she whispered.Ross exhaled softly, letting his forehead rest between her shoulder blades. For a moment, he didn’t speak, an
Ross stood at the edge of the cliff like a man carved from stone.The sea below was restless, slate-dark and churning, waves crashing against the jagged rocks as if trying to claw their way up to him. Wind snapped at his coat and tugged at his hair, but he did not move. He did not seem to feel it. His hands were clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles had gone white.He was alone.Or so he believed.Tiana slowed when she saw him from the path, her breath catching at the sight of his silhouette against the sky. Something was wrong in the way he stood – too rigid, too still, as though he were bracing himself against an invisible blow.“Ross?” she called softly.He did not respond.She stepped closer. “Ross!”Still nothing.He stared out at the water, eyes unfocused, chest rising and falling too fast. His thoughts were loud and merciless – Nathaniel’s voice, Nathaniel’s laughter, the memory of that night forcing its way back with brutal clarity. The truth pressed in on him fro
The wind on Lycan Isle had a strange bite that night – sharp, metallic, as if it carried whispers from the grave. Tiana clutched Ross’s hand as they headed toward the manor gates, with Mark leading the way. The path felt longer than usual, stretching like an omen.Ross didn’t release her once.His grip was firm, protective, almost possessive – as though letting go even for a moment might snap the delicate thread keeping her alive.“Stay close,” he murmured.Tiana swallowed hard. “I am.” Her voice sounded steadier than she felt. Inside, her heart thundered.They reached the iron gates.Mark held up a lantern, its trembling light revealing a deep carving in the stone pillar beside the path. Not words. A symbol. A circle. Split down the centre. And inside the divide, two mirrored lines – like a pair of eyes staring outward.Tiana felt the cold sink deeper.Ross’s jaw clenched so hard it strained the muscles in his neck.“I haven’t seen this since—” Mark began.Ross cut him off sharply. “







