Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
‘Knowing Millicent, she left everything to her cat,’ muttered Emberlyn. ‘Although . . . she wasn’t quite as evil to Mari, so maybe she left the manor to her.’
‘Maybe,’ said Paisley. ‘But there’s something smug about Dez’s idiot son. Like he knows something we don’t. Ames made it his mission to serve her over the past six months. Do you think maybe she was so grateful that she decided to leave him everything?’
Emberlyn frowned. ‘She hated that asshole. She called him “that asshole”.’ Ames hadn’t whatsoever ‘grown up’.
‘She hated everyone,’ said Paisley. ‘You most of all.’
Emberlyn’s frown deepened. ‘Nah, she hated him way more.’
‘All your birthday cards were addressed to, “My biggest disappointment”.’
‘Not over the last few years.’
‘No, they said, “To whom it may concern”. Face it, she hated you most.’
Emberlyn sighed, Millicent’s voice drifting into her head . . .
‘Why do you have to be so damn awkward, Emberlyn? You have so much potential; could access so much more power. The price isn’t that high. Would it really be so awful to sell slivers of your soul?’
Uh, yeah.
But her grandmother hadn’t seen it that way. She hadn’t understood why Emberlyn didn’t harbor the same hunger for power that had taunted her, or why Emberlyn wouldn’t join her in devoting herself so fully to the craft that she had no real life.
After Emberlyn left home at eighteen, Millicent had contacted her very rarely over the years. It had been even rarer for her to return Emberlyn’s calls or answer the door when she visited. But Emberlyn hadn’t taken it too personally – Millicent was like that with everyone.
A particularly loud sob burst out of Gill, who all but stuffed her face into a tissue.
Unreal.
‘If your grandmother’s here watching this performance, she’ll be wanting to dish out a few bitch slaps,’ said Paisley.
Most likely. ‘Millicent claimed she’d never go to her own funeral. Said it’s tacky.’
A soft motorized hum sounded as the casket was slowly lowered to the ground. The backs of Emberlyn’s eyes stung with unshed tears. Dammit, she’d thought that she was all cried out at this point.
Some wouldn’t understand how she could have loved a woman such as Millicent. It was true that she hadn’t been kind or affectionate or loving. But she’d fed, clothed, sheltered and mentored Emberlyn. More, Millicent had made her strong; had ensured that Emberlyn never let others convince her that she was anything else.
It helped to know that her grandmother’s soul wasn’t totally gone, it was merely somewhere else now. A realm where only those who’d passed on could go.
A sniffle popped out of Emberlyn before she could stop it.
Paisley put a hand on her back. ‘You okay?’
‘It’s just allergies,’ Emberlyn lied.
Finally, the motorized hum switched off. The fake weeping coming from her relatives kicked up a notch. No one tossed any soil or flowers on the casket, as if wary of doing anything that might disturb and ‘wake’ the corpse.
‘Come on, let’s go,’ she urged the twins.
The three of them joined the other mourners in making their way down the hill, Emberlyn’s high heels giving her no issues – she’d mastered the art of walking in them long ago.
As they reached her car, Emberlyn tugged her keys out of her black leather purse and—
‘Quick warning,’ Kage whispered, ‘the Reeds are on their way over.’
Emberlyn tensed at the mention of her old in-laws. Shit. Hearing their footfalls behind her, she turned a little woodenly to face them.
Claris flashed her a weak smile, clutching the bottom of her dark braid. ‘We just wanted to say that we’re sorry for your loss.’
His arm curled around his mate’s shoulders, his burly figure all but swallowing hers, Colton said, ‘Michael would be here for you if he could be. And maybe one day he will.’
He looked so much like Michael – the same wide-set brown eyes, same strong nose, same chin dimple, same tawny hair – that it had once hurt to look at him. Not so much nowadays, though.
Emberlyn gave them a wan smile. ‘Thank you.’
They each dipped their chin and then walked away.
A breath easing out of her, she turned to the twins. ‘I never know what to say to them.’ She just felt so awkward around them now.
‘They’re only so nice to you because they think it’ll make you feel guilty about moving on from Michael,’ said Kage. ‘Don’t forget how they initially reacted.’
There had been yelling. Crying. A lot of howcouldyous.
Shoving that scene out of her mind, Emberlyn opened the driver’s door. ‘Let’s go get this will reading over with.’ She slid into the car.
Kage went to hop into the front passenger seat, but Paisley beat him to it, so he slid onto the back row.
Clicking on her seatbelt, Paisley said, ‘I’m still surprised that your grandmother left me and Kage something. We weren’t related to her.’