The Kingdom

Freya Pattershaw’s murder, so you might want to prepare yourselves.”

“If you’d just keep your mouth shut, none of this would have to come out,” Bryn snapped.

“It’ll come out once Luna’s body is recovered,” he said.

Catrice buried her face in her hands and turned away.

Hugh downed his drink.

Bryn glared at me with utter contempt. “Luna was right. You’re a threat to us all. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t come here.”

Thane crossed the room in a flash and grabbed her arm. “Don’t blame Amelia. You all brought this on yourselves. And I intend to see that every last one of you is charged as an accessory to murder.” He turned to Pell. “Including you, old man.”

Pell didn’t even bother to turn.

Thane walked over to the window and stood over him. “You had my mother and then Harper murdered because they dared interfere with your grand plan.”

Pell gave a dismissive wave. “Gutter trash, the pair of them.”

Thane’s jaw clenched. “You dare say that to me?”

Pell’s head jerked up. “How dare you take that tone with me? You’d be out on the streets if not for my kindness.”

“Kindness? You killed my mother and my fiancée and you call it a kindness?”

“Edward was better off without her. She kept him from his home and family for years. She made him hate me.”

Thane’s expression was passive now, as if the old man’s rage had somehow calmed him. “That wasn’t her doing. That was all on you.” He leaned in, twisting the knife. “You should have heard the way Edward spoke your name… I’ve never heard such loathing.”

“Shut up!” Pell screamed. “You shut your mouth, boy. What I give I can just as easily take away.”

Thane straightened. “And you never let me forget it, did you? But if I was so inconsequential, so beneath the Asher name, why take Harper from me? Why did you care who I married?”

Another indifferent wave. “That girl was nothing but trouble. She would have made your life miserable.”

“So you had her killed?”

Pell Asher paused, something sly fleeting across his face. “I never said that, did I? The girl’s still alive.”

My gaze shifted to Thane and I saw his disbelief a split second before an explosion of white-hot fury made me take a step toward him. Before I could reach him, he jerked the wheelchair around so that Pell had to face him. “What are you talking about? Answer me!”

“You heard what I said. Harper Sweeney is still alive.”

Thane reeled back as though he’d been struck. “You’re lying. Her body was identified. There was an autopsy, a funeral. She can’t be alive. Not after all this time. I would have known.”

“You know nothing,” Pell said in disgust. “You accepted everything I told you without question. A real Asher would have insisted on seeing the body for himself.”

Thane gazed down at his grandfather, breathing hard, hands balled into fists at his sides. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of this. You had her killed and now you’re trying to cover your tracks.”

“She was no use to me dead, but alive…” Pell’s gaze slid to me.

“You could use her for leverage,” I said.

His eyes glinted approvingly.

“Leverage for what?” Thane demanded.

“To make you do whatever he wanted.” I stared down at my grandfather. “Isn’t that right?”

His smile made my skin crawl.

“We’re not your possessions,” I said angrily. “You can’t control what we do or how we think or who we choose to be with.”

“I already have,” he said.

“If she’s still alive, then where is she?” Thane asked quietly. The hush in his voice worried me more than his temper.

“Someplace where you’ll never find her,” Pell said.

“Where is she?” Before I could stop him, Thane lunged and grabbed his grandfather by the neck. Catrice screamed and I heard Hugh swear. He was suddenly at my side, trying to help me pry Thane from the old man’s throat.

“Thane, stop it! Let him go!” I cried.

It took a moment for my voice to penetrate, but then Thane’s hands dropped and he staggered back. His eyes were wild, almost demented.

“Get him out of here!” Pell shouted, his hands clutching the arms of his wheelchair. “Leave now, all of you! I need a moment alone with my granddaughter.”

“Like hell you do,” Thane said. He was gradually starting to regain control. “I’m getting Amelia out of here. This whole place is about to slide down the mountain.”

“Asher House has stood on this land for over two hundred years,” Pell said imperiously. “And it’ll be here long after you and I are dead and gone. Now get out.”

“It’s okay,” I said to Thane. “Let me talk to him.”

After the others had gone, I stood in front of his chair. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of kneeling.

“Where is she? You can’t keep him from her. You have to tell him,” I pleaded.

“Are you that anxious to send him into the arms of another woman?”

“I care about him. I want him to be happy.”

He sneered. “How noble.”

“Don’t you see what you’ve done? You’ve taken everything from him. Even his peace of mind. He’ll never stop looking for her.”

“He won’t find her.”

“Then why tell him at all? Just to torment him?”

Pell reached for a book on the table beside him. It was the leather-bound volume he’d been holding the first night I met him. He traced the emblem on the cover with his fingertip. “I’ve watched the two of you together. The attraction is palpable. But you won’t let it happen, because you can’t let go of the past. You can’t forget about that Charleston cop.”

I gasped. “How do you know about him?”

“I know everything about you, my dear. I’ve kept track of your every move for years.” He handed me the book. “Take a look.”

I thumbed through the pages in horror. He hadn’t been kidding. Every stage of my life had been meticulously photographed and cataloged. I saw pictures of me in Rosehill Cemetery. Pictures of me with Papa. Pictures of me with Devlin. I looked up, trembling.

“You’re the last of the Ashers,” he said. “The bloodline depends on you.”

“What does that have to do with Harper?”

“You hold the key to her freedom.”

I clutched the book. “What do you mean?”

“On the day you produce my first grandchild, Harper Sweeney will be set free. Not a moment sooner.”

I said on a ragged breath, “You make it sound as if you’re holding her somewhere, but I don’t believe you. You’re bluffing. Even you can’t be that unspeakably cruel.”

“You said yourself that you care about Thane. You want only his happiness. Or were those words empty?” he taunted.

“You think you can play God with people’s lives, but you’re wrong.”

“We’re Ashers,” he said. “Here, we are God. We’ve always been one with this land. You know what I’m talking about. You’ve felt it. It’s already there inside you. Accept it.”

“Like you did? Like Luna did?”

“Luna.” He all but spat her name. “Good riddance, I say. The other two parasites can meet her in hell for all I care. But you…” His hand reached out to grip my arm. I tried to move away, but his