🗝️Detective Ryker Viltarin must uncover dark secrets before he loses not only his heart but also his life.🗝️
You're on your own, far from home
The wind is blowing in the top of the pines
A gloomy sky where the sun never shines
Deep...
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"Huh?" With an expression of irritation, Riona bent down to pick up the small box from the wooden floorboards.
At that moment, Eve also reached the door. She almost ran into Ri, who had stopped so suddenly. The atmosphere, which had been so tense a moment ago, seemed to shatter like glass on concrete.
"What's that?" Riona asked loudly, turning her find between her fingers.
Eve's gaze also fell on the object in her cousin's hands. The square, red box appeared to be made of sturdy cardboard. Although it was in good condition, there were a few signs of wear on the corners, indicating that it was not new. To keep it closed, a silk ribbon, also in red, had been wrapped around the box like a Christmas present. At first glance, no label or anything else would have revealed more.
"How did this get here?" Eve asked, and as if a glance could tell her the answer, he glanced across the garden behind the cottage. The greenhouse stood, as always, in the dull sunlight, and a few leaves of ivy, which were also climbing up the pillars of the canopy, rustled softly in the wind. Behind them, the forest rose like a wall and, together with the treetops' rustling and the lake's rippling, sent Goosebumps down Eve's spine.
A strange feeling spread through her stomach, almost as if someone was looking back out of the forest - which was complete nonsense. Far away from villages and towns, the term "seclusion" always took on a new meaning and quickly made people uneasy. It was all the more important to resist this and not let the emerging paranoia unsettle her.
While still shivering and rubbing her upper arms, Riona spoke the first thought that came to her mind in response: "Liam probably made something for you," Riona speculated off the top of her head and gave Eve a fond smile. "Or maybe our craftsman?" Riona then added, wiggling her eyebrows pertly. "He likes your cinnamon buns pretty well, too..."
"Oh, stop that nonsense," Eve muttered, already feeling the heat rising in her cheeks - which didn't necessarily get any better when Ryker came around the corner of the cottage with Liam and Chief. Liam laughed and giggled, jumping around Ryker like an excited puppy, and Chief ran after him, panting but turning off again and again, presumably to look for a stick in the leaves of the meadow. Either Ryker had really heard Riona's cry, or he had fantastic timing.
