Jameson led me to the third floor, to a hobby room filled with model trains. There were dozens of them and twice as many tracks set up on glass tables. Jameson pressed a button on the side of one of the trains. At his touch, the wall behind us split in two, revealing a hidden room the size and shape of an old-fashioned phone booth. Its walls were made entirely out of gemstone slabsโa shining, metallic black for half the room and iridescent white for the other.
โObsidian,โ Jameson told me. โAnd agate crystal.โ
โWhat are we doing here, Jameson?โ I asked. โWhat do you need to tell me?โ
It felt like we were on the verge of something.ย A secret? A confession?ย Jameson nodded toward the gemstone room. I stepped inside. The ceiling overhead glimmered in a rainbow of colorsโmore gems.
I realized too late that Jameson hadnโt followed me into the room.
The wall behind me closed. It took me a second to process what had just happened.ย Jameson trapped me in here.ย โWhat are you doing?โ I banged on the wall. โJameson!โ My phone rang. โLet me out of here,โ I demanded the second I hit Answer.
โI will,โ Jameson promised on the other end of the line. โWhen we get back.โ
We.ย Suddenly, I understood why Grayson had waived his right to fight, postโOn Spake. โYou promised him youโd go after Eve together.โ
Jameson didnโt tell me I was wrong.
โWhat if sheโs dangerous?โ I asked. โEven if all she wants is to get Toby back, can you honestly say that she wouldnโt trade you or Grayson to get him? We barely know her, and your grandfatherโs message saidโโ
โHeiress, have you ever known me to shy away from danger?โ
My fingers curled into a fist. Jameson Winchester Hawthorne lived for danger. โIf you donโt let me out of here, Hawthorne, I willโโ
โDo you want to know how I got my scar?โ Jamesonโs voice was softer than Iโd ever heard it. I knew immediately what scar he was talking about.
โI want you to open the door,โ I said.
โI went back.โ He let those words linger. โTo the place where Emily diedโI went back.โ
Emilyโs heart had given out after cliff jumping. โJamesonโฆโ
โI jumped from dangerously high up, the way she did. Nothing happened the first time. Or the second. But the thirdโฆโ
I could picture the scar in my mind, running the full length of Jamesonโs torso. How many times had I dragged my fingers along its edges, feeling the smooth skin of his stomach on either side?
โThere was a fallen tree, submerged in the water. I could only see one branch. I had no idea what was underneath. I thought Iโd cleared the whole thing, but I was wrong.โ
I pictured Jameson barreling down from the top of a cliff, hitting the water. I pictured a jagged branch catching his flesh, barely slowing him down.
โI didnโt feel pain, not at first. I saw blood in the waterโ andย thenย I felt it. Like my skin was on fire. I made my way to the shore, my body screaming. Somehow, I managed to pull myself to my feet. The old man was standing there. He didnโt bat an eye at the blood, didnโt ask me if I was okay,
didnโt yell. All he said, looking my bleeding body up and down, wasย Got that out of your system, did you?โ
I leaned against the wall of my gemstone cage. โWhy are you telling me this now?โ
I could hear the sound of his footstep on the end of the line. โBecause Gray is going to keep jumping until it hurts. Heโs always been the solid one, Heiress. The one who never trembles, never backs down, never doubts. And now, heโs lost his mooring, and I have to be the strong one.โ
โTake me with you,โ I told Jameson.
โJust this once,โ he said, an aching tone in his voice, โlet
meย be the one who protects you, Avery.โ
Heโd used my actual name. โI donโt need you to protect me. You canโt just leave me here, Jameson!โ
โCanโt. Shouldnโt. Have to. This is my familyโs mess, Heiress.โ For once, there was nothing wicked in Jamesonโs tone, no innuendo. โItโs up to us to clean it up.โ
โAnd what about Eve?โ I asked. โYou know what your grandfather said.ย Donโt trust anyone.ย Grayson isnโt thinking straight, but youโโ
โIโm thinking more clearly than I ever have. I donโt trust Eve.โ His voice was low and aching. โThe only person I trust with all that I am and all that could be, Heiress, is you.โ
And just like that, Jameson Winchester Hawthorne hung up the phone.
