Chapter 54
FIFTY-FOUR
GRIM
The Crowne family graveyard was designed to reflect status even in death.
Moss carpeted stone mausoleums and leaves dripped from overgrown trees, blanketing the cemetery in shadow.
The ground was a mix of sand and flora—creeping thyme, mossy clover.
The weathered stone and trees made it appear from another time.
It was easy to fade into the background.
Yards away, a black casket suspended over an open grave. More than family were in attendance for Gemma Crowne’s funeral. All the world’s rich and privileged had come to mourn, dressed for tabloids that would print their solemn faces.
A body slipped next to me. I knew who it was before he spoke.
“Tragic,” Vander said.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, his hands tucked into a wool peacoat, looking at the funeral.
“Tragic,” he repeated, “and convenient.”
“Not so convenient for her, or her family,” I said, focusing back on the funeral. Grayson threw dirt on the casket. Solemn silence shifted as attendees started to whisper about things like valet and brunch.
“Seems so to me. Right after you tried to kill me—I know that was the plan, and it failed, and right after it failed, she’s dead.”
I rubbed my jaw, working out the muscle.
“You’re also remarkably well composed,” he continued. “The girl you threw your life away for is dead, and yet…you seem fine.”
“Gemma Crowne is dead,” I said, not giving in to the bait. “That was the deal. You can’t weasel your way out of it with conspiracy.”
He laughed. “If you think you’ll get to walk away so easily, you’re forgetting you have other family—”
I spun, cutting him off. “Yeah, I know. You’ve kept me hostage for a decade with that threat. So let me give you one. If you ever go through with it, know your life is over.”
His lips twisted in amusement. “You tried killing me once. You failed.”
I shook my head, taking another step closer, until he could feel the truth of what I said.
“I don’t want you dead,” I said. “I want you alive and watching as I dismantle everything you’ve ever built, brick by brick.
If I have to live in the world you forced on me, know I will rip your existence out of it.
I will follow you from town to town, from this life into the next.
As long as I live, you’ll never know peace.
I might not be able to kill you, but I won’t stop until you’re forgotten. Powerless.”
Vander’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to read the lie in mine. He wouldn’t find it. I had a feeling he wouldn’t let me go so easily, so I’d thought about it all week. I’d played out certain scenarios and consequences in my mind.
I couldn’t control Vander. I didn’t have enough power yet to kill him. But I could strap dynamite to my chest and take him down with me.
“Walk one step into my town and I’ll assume I have my answer,” I said, echoing the threat he’d given me before Valentine’s Day.
Vander responded with a tight smile that didn’t meet his eyes. Without another word, he left. I watched him disappear through curtains of weeping foliage.
I knew this wasn’t over. At some point in time Vander would come back. But for now, we were safe.
Still, my back was tight with nerves as I turned again to the funeral. The crowd had nearly cleared. The only people who remained were immediate family. I couldn’t shake the tension.
Uncharacteristically, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it, just as it was yanked out of my hand.
“Don’t smoke.” Gemma smiled at me, taking a drag from the cigarette. “You taste better.”