Thunder rolled across the sky, deep and ominous.
Dark clouds pressed down on the manor like physical weight, turning afternoon into premature twilight.
Lightning crackled in the distance, bright flashes that illuminated the study's windows in stark white before plunging everything back into gloom.
Rain hammered against the glass. Relentless. Angry. The kind of storm that felt personal, that matched the atmosphere inside with uncomfortable precision.
Drip!
A single droplet fell onto the mahogany desk.
Drip!
Another followed. Then another. A steady rhythm that had nothing to do with the storm outside.
These drops were warm. Salt-tinged. Falling from a source that couldn't be stopped no matter how much Selene tried to control herself.
She sat at her desk, perfectly still except for the trembling in her shoulders. Her black hair fell forward, obscuring her face.
Her hands were clenched in her lap, white-knuckled, nails digging into palms hard enough to leave marks.
