Dying Flame (Ironcliff Falls)

Fifteen years of marriage have taught Emily Vaughn how to smile through the silence. She and Devin share a house, a routine, a carefully curated life, but never the truth.

Devin vanishes on “work trips,” returning with that same calm smile and spotless hands. Emily once believed the distance was just love slowly dying. Until she learned what those trips really meant.

He’s a hunter. A collector of lives. A monster who thinks she’s blind.

This July 4th weekend at Ironcliff Falls, beneath the crackling bonfire and the shelter of ancient pines, Emily has come prepared. She knows every secret he’s buried. She’s mapped every weakness. And while the flames leap higher and the other guests chase their own shadows, she’ll finally make things right. For herself, and for every woman he believed he’d silenced forever.

Some flames die quietly.