Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 29

The west wing seemed to breathe around them.Ava could feel it in every nerve, every shiver down her spine. The shadows weren’t just moving—they were watching, waiting, calculating. Every corner, every flicker of light, pulsed with anticipation, as though the house had known this moment was coming.Jace’s hand remained in hers, grounding her even as her pulse raced. His proximity had become both shield and temptation, the almost unbearable tension between them coiling tighter with every step.“This is it,” he murmured, voice low, almost a growl. “Whatever the west wing has been holding, this is the center. This is what it’s been protecting.”Ava swallowed hard, the fear and adrenaline tangling with the heat of his nearness. “I’m ready,” she whispered, though her chest throbbed with nerves, excitement, and something else—dangerous desire she didn’t want to name.He nodded, eyes flicking over hers, sharp and intense. “We do this together. No mistakes. No hesitation. Nothing can bre

The stairwell spiraled into darkness, each step groaning beneath their weight as Ava and Jace descended with fingers intertwined, breaths shallow, shadows licking their heels like hungry flames. The house whispered above them—scratching, murmuring, pressing against the shredded door as though furious that its chosen prizes dared to run.Ava’s pulse throbbed through her fingertips, matching the frantic pressure of Jace’s hand around hers. They moved quickly, but not recklessly; every shift of his shoulders, every tighten of his hold, was intentional. Protective. Possessive.The further they descended, the colder the air became. The light from above—the faintest sliver from the fractured door—shrank into nothing.Darkness swallowed them.Dense.Breathing.Almost… sentient.Jace stopped abruptly. Ava nearly collided with his back, her hands pressed against him instinctively. Heat radiated through his shirt, grounding her even as terror pricked at her skin.“You okay?” he murmured

The journal opened with a whisper like a blade sliding free.Ava flinched. Jace’s hand tightened around her waist, instinctively pulling her against him. He positioned himself between her and the shifting shadows as the room brightened with a low, golden glow that felt both holy and sinister.On the pedestal, the pages turned themselves—slow, deliberate, like the house was savoring the reveal.Ava’s heartbeat hammered in her throat. Each breath she drew tasted metallic, heavy, charged.Jace dipped his head slightly, his lips grazing the side of her hair as he whispered, “Stay behind me. I don’t trust what it’s showing us.”She didn’t either.But the truth had claws in her now.She stepped forward anyway, refusing to break contact with him. His hand slid from her waist to her wrist, as though he needed that anchor as badly as she did.The golden light flared.The walls rippled.And suddenly—They weren’t alone.The shadows on the walls solidified again, brightening into sce

The stone hallway felt unnervingly still after what they’d just come through—like a held breath, like the mansion itself was stunned into silence.Or savoring.Ava leaned back into the wall, breath trembling. Jace hovered in front of her, hands braced on either side of her shoulders, his body still close enough that his warmth wrapped around her like a second skin. Their kiss hung in the air between them—charged, molten, undeniable.She could still feel it on her lips.He could still taste her on his tongue.But the air had shifted.The house had shifted.Something ancient and intent now prowled the edges of the hall, unseen but undeniably aware.Jace swallowed hard, eyes closed as he tried to steady his breathing. When he finally opened them, they burned with the same dark fire she’d seen before—but now it had been stoked, freed, and there was no pretending otherwise.“Ava,” he murmured, voice scratchy with raw restraint, “we need to move.”She nodded, though her body hadn’

The white light didn’t fade so much as collapse inward—shrinking from all sides until it funneled into a single blinding point. Ava felt Jace’s arms tighten around her, felt the tremor in his muscles as he braced them both against whatever force was pulling.Then—Silence.Cold.Stillness so absolute it pressed against her eardrums.Ava blinked hard. Her surroundings bled slowly back into form—blurry shapes sharpening into stone walls, a high ceiling, and a narrow, arched corridor she’d never seen before.Jace was still holding her, chest rising and falling fast, his fingers locked around her waist like releasing her might unmake him.She swallowed, voice hoarse. “Jace… where are we?”He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes darted across the corridor—dark, blue, too bright, too alert—searching for movement, shadows, anything.“I don’t know,” he said finally. “The house moved us.”Ava steadied herself enough to step back—only slightly—but the moment she broke even an inch of c