The lighthouse groaned under the storm's fury, its walls shuddering as waves clawed the cliffs below. Evelyn huddled by the hearth, the journal open to her sister's final entry:
They're coming. Don't trust Liam. Don't trust the—
The rest was scribbled out, but a phone number was hidden in the margin—Marseille area code.
Thunder boomed. The lights died.
Evelyn fumbled for her flashlight. Its beam caught a figure in the doorway, hooded and silent.
"Liam?" Her voice trembled.
The figure raised a knife, its edge glinting.
She bolted upstairs, the journal clutched to her chest. The attic door slammed behind her. Outside the window, lightning split the sky, illuminating the cliffs—and Ronan, standing motionless in the rain, watching.
He's not here to help.
The door splintered. Evelyn shoved a dresser against it and climbed out the window, clinging to the lighthouse's slick rails. Below, waves churned like teeth.
The hooded figure emerged onto the balcony, knife in hand. A flash of lightning revealed the cufflink: needle and moon.
Ronan.
"You're quicker than your sister," he said.
She let go.