The Kingdom

her throat. “That’s your family, Amelia. That’s your legacy. That’s who you are. Not that it matters now… .”

The Drudenfuss was right above us, the open end over Luna’s ledge, a closed point over mine. I don’t know what I hoped to accomplish. I suppose I was still acting purely on instinct and adrenaline, but I grabbed a loose stone and began to chip away at the closed point, trying to blunt the end.

“No!” Luna screamed.

She leaped the distance between the shelves, easily clearing the edge. But there must have already been a fissure in the rock—or perhaps I’d created one—because I heard a crack that sounded like a gunshot. Even so, she might still have saved herself if Angus hadn’t appeared in the shadowy recesses of one of the crevices. He growled viciously and lunged. Caught off guard, Luna stumbled backward with a stunned cry. For the longest moment, our eyes clashed, both of us frozen, and then her hand shot out to clamp onto me and we were free-falling.

Somehow, I grabbed onto the ledge, feet dangling, and clung for dear life. A split second later, I heard a thud as her body hit the ground, then a great roar—the flap of a thousand bird wings as a murder of crows descended into the glade.

I heard Thane call out to me as he climbed down to the ledge.

He stood over me. “Take my hand!”

Even with the rock crumbling away beneath my fingertips, I hesitated.

Something flared in his eyes, anger…hurt… .

It was gone in a flash as he grabbed my arms and pulled me up. The shelf was already giving away. Angus darted back into the cave, and with a heave, Thane propelled me up the wall. I climbed without hesitation, groping for holds.

The birds had gathered over Luna’s body, and I heard her scream. As I reached the top and turned to give Thane a hand, I caught a glimpse of Tilly standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing down into the glade.

Thirty-Seven

“Tilly, Tilly, are you all right?” I rushed toward her.

“I’m all right, girl. Are you?” she asked anxiously. She looked tiny standing up there on that cliff. Tiny but stalwart.

“I’m fine. I was just so worried about you. I went by your house and saw all that blood in the bathroom… . I thought the worst.”

“I had one of my spells and dropped a glass. I nicked my finger and didn’t take time to clean up the mess because I knew you were in trouble. I had to come looking for you.”

“But…I was looking for you. When Catrice told me what happened to Freya—”

Tilly’s eyes went cold. “Where did you see the Hawthorne woman?”

“She followed me to your house.”

“You let her into my house?”

Her tone took me aback. “I didn’t let her in. She just showed up there.”

“I should have planted more rosemary,” Tilly mumbled.

I looked at Thane. He stood off to the side, allowing us our reunion. He looked tall, dark and handsome in the moonlight. Stalwart in his own right.

“What did that woman want?” Tilly asked.

“She said she was worried about you because my being alive proved that Freya didn’t die in the fire. Oh, it’s a long story,” I said on a breath. “You know most of it, anyway. She told me you were in danger and we couldn’t get the police here fast enough, so I came to…rescue you,” I finished lamely.

Her eyes darkened as she gazed up at me. “That was a mighty foolish thing to do. You could have been killed.”

“So could you. But it doesn’t matter now. We’re both safe. And I know everything,” I said softly.

She took my hand and squeezed it, then turned her attention to Thane. “How did you know she was up here?” she demanded.

He turned, and I caught a glimpse of the scratches I’d left on the side of his face, reminding me all too vividly of the darkness that had enthralled us both at Thorngate. The same darkness that had been Luna’s downfall.

“I saw her car in the cemetery,” he said. “I went all through the laurel bald calling her name, but she never answered.” Was that a hint of accusation in his tone? I wondered.

“What would you have done if you’d found her?” Tilly demanded.

“Whatever it took to save her life.”

“Even if—”

“Yes.”

Tilly nodded. “Well, you did save her, didn’t you?”

Suddenly, there was a knot in my throat, and I couldn’t speak. I looked at Thane, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze.

Tilly grabbed my arm. “Come away from the edge of that cliff, girl. It feels like it’s about to come down.”

She was right. The rim was eroding even as we spoke. I heard a distant bark, and my heart sank. Angus was still in the cave. If the walls came down, he’d be trapped.

I whirled back to Thane. “You said there was a path somewhere. Can you show me?”

“This way.”

We went down at a breakneck speed, and when we rushed through the arch, my gaze went to Luna’s body. Then I turned quickly away. Tilly had no such compunction. She shooed away the birds and stooped to yank the silver chain from the corpse’s neck. I saw the glow of Luna’s moonstone as Tilly held it up to the light.

“You shouldn’t touch the body,” Thane warned. “We’ll need to get the authorities up here.”

Tilly said nothing. She continued to stare at the moonstone as if bewitched.

I tore my gaze away and screamed for Angus.

“I’ve been through that cave dozens of times,” Thane said. “I never knew it connected to the other caves. If Angus found a passageway, then he can surely find his way out.”

And at that precise moment, he bounded out of the cave and rushed to me, nuzzling his cold nose against my hand. I was still puzzled by his earlier behavior, and I didn’t want to believe that darkness had somehow entered him. If he’d meant me real harm, he would have followed me into the laurel bald. Instead, he’d chased me away from the killer and maybe away from himself.

Tilly’s eyes were lifted to the cliff now, to the Drudenfuss with the newly damaged point. I saw her lips move, but I couldn’t hear what she said. Then she flung the moonstone toward the star, and as it shattered against the rock wall, the earth trembled.

“Get out!” Thane grabbed Tilly and pulled her out of the clearing as the ledges gave way and crashed to the ground.

A few minutes later, we were hurrying through the woods to the cemetery. Thane had taken the lead, and it was all Tilly and I could do to keep up with him. He’d said very little, and his silence was starting to worry me. He’d heard what Luna had said about his mother and Harper, and as I watched him put distance between us, I knew he was headed for Asher House.

I left Angus with Tilly and went after him. I’d seen enough of his temper to worry about what he might do if Pell actually admitted to his crimes. So I ran after him through those dripping woods, and when we got to the cemetery, I went straight to his car and climbed in.

Thorngate was softly aglow in the tenuous moonlight. I could see the Asher angels towering above the other monuments. Proud, defiant, almost godly. I shivered as I recognized some of my own features in those faces now.

Thane slid behind the wheel and slammed his door. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going with you.”

“You don’t even know where I’m headed.”