Chapter 237

• I wasn’t sure what to expect when Emiliano finally opened the door. A knot of tension in my stomach unraveled at the sight of his familiar face, a face I’d
• worried might no longer reside here. That thought had gnawed at me the entire way over, each step echoing with the fear that he was gone. Now, standing in his foyer, with his unsettling gaze fixed unwaveringly on me, I felt a strange, creeping sense of anticlimax.
• The cabin itself was far more ordinary than I had imagined. There were no immediate hints of magic, at least none I could detect on sight. Cloaked in warm shades of gold, wine, and dark brown, the interior radiated a quiet comfort. The furniture, though worn, looked soft and welcoming, molded by years of use.