Chapter 26: The Woman in the Attic
The house was silent again.
The gunshot had stopped echoing but the smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the air. It mixed with the copper tang of blood from the dead Cleaner in the study and the sour stench of my own fear.
I stood at the bottom of the attic stairs.
They were narrow and steep. Dust motes danced in the sliver of light coming from the c***k under the door at the top. This was the forbidden zone. The one place Kaelen had forbidden me to enter.
He keeps his demons up there, the staff used to whisper.
I gripped the gun tighter. My arm was throbbing where the bullet had grazed me. The pain was sharp and grounding. It was the only thing keeping the potion at bay.
I took the first step.
The wood creaked. It sounded like a scream in the quiet
