The sea-wind clawed through the hollow ruins, sharp and restless, carrying the brine of waves crashing against the cliffs below. The stones of St. Maren’s convent groaned under time’s weight, its walls splintered and leaning, ivy threaded through the cracks like veins refusing to let the structure die.Benita held the damp folder tight to her chest, as though it might crumble if her grip loosened. Elara’s name still pulsed in her mind like a drumbeat — proof, at last, that her sister had existed, that she’d been stolen away into this place.Cillian’s hand brushed her back lightly as they moved deeper into the courtyard. He didn’t speak, but his presence was steadying, an anchor against the storm inside her.Then came the sound again.A footstep. Deliberate, echoing. Not the stumble of falling stone, not the scratch of some bird. Human.Syl’s head snapped toward the archway, his jaw tight. “That wasn’t wind.”Lola pressed closer to him, her voice pitched too high. “So… big rats, right?
Last Updated : 2025-08-22 Read more