“WHAT IS going on in this house?” Lily’s voice cut through the main hall sharper than she intended.
Conversation died instantly.
Chairs stopped scraping. A glass paused halfway to someone’s mouth. Even the old grandfather clock near the stairs seemed louder in the sudden silence.
No one answered her.
The compound felt wrong today. It had since she woke up. Not loud wrong. Not violent wrong. It was the kind of wrong that crept into corners and stayed there, watching. People avoided her eyes. Men who usually nodded at her barely glanced her way. Someone closed a door quietly as she passed, like she was a problem they did not want to touch.
She stepped further into the room, heart pounding.
“Ronan?” she asked.
Her brother stood near the long table, arms crossed, jaw set so tight it loo
