lett

lar. The cool, damp air and the earthy smell of oak and aging wine usually soothed me, but today it did nothing to quiet the storm in m

t was to oversee the estate's maintenance and my safety here, was nowhere in sight. Later, I'd remember seeing hi

tradition my father and I shared, when I heard it. A low

it hap

l, dark and monstrous, broke free from its cradle and began to roll, thundering down towar

r, away from the path of destruction. The barrel crashed into the ground where I had been standing a second before,

I looked up into the furious, c

ors, but Carter had always been a quiet, steady presence at the edge of my life. He helpe

" I stammered, my body

anning the empty cellar. His gaze then fell on the broken rack. He kne

gerously quiet. "This beam was cut. Almost all th

doctor, I was nursing a dislocated shoulder and a collection of painful bruises. I

y, and she

scare her a little, make her rely on you boys more.

our fault, Lily. Don't cry. It was my mistake. I s

after Lily had ordered the beam cut. This wasn't just a betrayal of love. This w

n my heart. They had t