Chapter 4
Outside, the storm battered the estate, sweeping a sheet of white over the world. Snow plastered itself against the windowpanes, building thicker with each breath of wind.
"We'll have to keep our security on guard.
But you know Pemberley should offer some protection.
" I attempted to soothe everyone's nerves.
Our ancestors quarried enchanted stones known only to the fae.
Then they threaded unbreakable magic throughout the walls, hoping to protect anyone in our home from malice. It wasn't perfect, but it helped.
"Not even earthsong magic can ward off all dangers. I doubt the house could protect anyone from a determined killer. But it’s kept these walls solid for centuries." Darcy wiped the window with his sleeve and turned to Lizzy. "I'm sorry about the timing of this storm."
She had drifted into thought watching the fireplace, but she gave him a slight nod.
Both my head and ankle ached, and I rubbed my temples. I curled up, cross-legged, in an armchair.
"We need to take some precautions." I eyed my brother.
He knew I preferred not to be treated like a child, but he still had to restrain himself from giving commands.
Sitting idly by was out of the question.
Pemberley, my beautiful home, resembling something between a fairytale castle, a fortress, and a magical labyrinth of secret tunnels, stood as a sanctuary for all. And I intended to keep it as such.
“Yes, we do. And I know you’re going to want to investigate and try to figure this out yourself.
But you’ve already been seriously injured today.
” Darcy stopped pacing and stood in front of me, his eyes pleading.
“Please let me, Oscar, and Dan look into this. We need to figure out who’s even on the property before we do anything. ”
I pressed my lips together and glanced out the window, where drifts of snow reached the windowsill and turned trees into white lumps. “How about you all search the area and get a headcount? I’m assuming the security team will scour the afternoon’s footage. But I want to help question people.”
Darcy frowned and looked between me and Henry, who stood awkwardly in front of the sofa.
While it was natural for my brother to be wary any newcomers, especially with their oddly convenient arrivals, we had no more reason to suspect Henry than Lizzy.
Fortunately, since Henry was driving and Lizzy was touring the house, neither of them could have startled Luna by shooting at someone in the woods.
“Please, just don’t do anything by yourself.
I don’t want to leave you alone with any suspects. ”
“Henry’s trustworthy if that’s your concern. We’ll wait until you and security have done a headcount and verified on the cameras.” I turned to Henry. “If that’s okay with you.”
“I’d love to help, as long as I'm not in your way.”
“All right.” I expected a bit more pushback against my hanging out with an unexpected guest in the wake of a murder. Maybe he could sense Henry’s character. Or, “Dan, please stay here with Georgiana and her guest. We’ll be back as soon as possible," said Darcy—he was leaving us with a babysitter.
Darcy and Lizzy ventured out together. His leaving Dan as a chaperone checked.
Dan wasn’t only built like a tank with eagle-like observation abilities, but he’d been a trusted family guardian for years.
Dan retreated to the farthest corner of the room and found an ottoman to settle on.
Henry took a seat on the sofa nearest me.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “Finally. Now we can speak freely. What on earth was Zac doing here at Pemberley? I’m so freaked out. He couldn’t have been up to anything good.”
Henry looked over his shoulder, like he worried Darcy was still listening. “I know, right? This day is getting stranger and stranger… first, just being in the area, finding you in the middle of the road… the blizzard… a murder… knowing the victim.”
“Yep.” I nodded and rested my chin on my hand. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
Dan’s eyes widened.
Henry’s jaw dropped. Then he snapped it shut and shook his head. “No, really. I didn’t even know he was in the area.”
“Good. I had to check, and I believe you. Honestly, if you had, I’m sure it would have been for some noble reason—protecting the innocent or whatnot—not that I condone murder by any means.
And I do feel absolutely horrible about Zac.
I just, well you never know, I suppose.” At school, Henry was a bit of a golden boy.
He was athletic and good-looking, but most of all, he was kindhearted.
When we were lab partners in chemistry, he noticed another student with a disability who didn't have a lab partner.
He invited him to join us and patiently explained our experiment several times over.
"I'm glad you believe me." Henry blinked in response to the verbal battery I'd delivered.
I nodded and leaned back in the armchair.
"Henry, I've known you long enough to understand your character.
To be honest, with the way you show empathy to people, I think killing someone would irreparably break you.
Remember when we were little, and we caught a butterfly and tried to show it how to swim in the birdbath?
You cried more than I did when we realized what we'd done. "
Henry pulled in his bottom lip, then shook his head. "You remember that? It was a summer day, and you wore a white sundress. The butterfly had white and yellow wings and reminded me of you. I think that was why I was so upset."
"You see. You're good inside." I gazed at Henry for a moment and wondered if the secret notes could've been from him.
A jolt of electric energy shot through me, and I froze, stunned at how much I hoped they were.
I pulled back, changing the subject. "Anyway, the gunshot came from deep in the forest when I fell. You were driving at that time."
“Definitely. But you’re certain what you heard was the gunshot that killed Zac?” Henry shifted on the leather sofa, looking at the floor, brows knit tightly together.
I pondered, glad to focus on the investigation instead of my romantic whims. The question held validity. “Well, no one has reported any others, and it fits with the timeline. However, you’re right. There’s no way to know for sure.”
Henry glanced at Dan, who was doing his best to appear invisible in the corner. “Not to speak ill of the dead, but Zac could be awful to people. I worry that he may have pushed someone to their limit.”
“That’s one reason I don’t think we’re in serious danger. I suspect Zac backed the killer into an impossible corner. He probably bribed or blackmailed himself into his current situation. So as long as we don't spook anyone, we should be alright.”
Henry had a familiar twinkle in his eye that appeared when he was facetious. “Clever. You know, I used to think you could see right through people with all your fae magicalness—if that’s a word. And you probably can. Just be careful who you trust. Everyone has some kind of secret.”
I shrugged. “Zac seemed like a bit of a bully, or at least a prankster. He was the kind of person who laughed if someone got hurt instead of checking to see if they were okay. But neither of us is the type of person he would target.”
“No one is immune to bullies.” Henry leaned closer to me, his elbow on the armrest. “But you described him well. Remember when we took the trip to the Louvre? He nearly ruined the outing because he thought he was so cool for stepping around the ropes to take selfies with the artwork.”
The staff at Pemberley would have thrown him out if he had tried to pull that here. “I remember. He was annoying, but I hope no one would shoot him over that. Something else must’ve happened.”
Henry leaned back in his seat, pondering. “Maybe one of his pranks went too far. He could also be… sneaky… for lack of a better word, and he had a tendency to swipe things that weren’t his. Maybe he stole something from this place?”
Henry failed to understand our security system.
To an outsider, it might appear nonexistent, but as high fae royalty, we were in one of the most secure locations on the planet.
“From Pemberley? Good luck. Our security is top of the line. He had to be here for something else, and I doubt he made it anywhere near the house until after he’d been shot.
Do you have him on any of your social media accounts? I wonder what he’s been up to lately.”
“I think so.” Henry pulled out his phone and flipped through his screens, then showed me some photos. “Found him. Looks like he came into money recently. He’s got a nice car, but he was always broke at school.”
College de Synthese was ultraexpensive, so I suspected no one there had financial difficulties. “If he struggled with money, I wonder how he was able to afford school?”
“Oh, his grandparents paid for it. Don’t ask me how I know that…
probably something someone said in the locker room.
” Henry set his phone down. “Apparently he’d gotten in trouble here in the States enough that they sent him to College de Synthese, hoping it would straighten him out.
I’m sure his death will be devastating for his family. ”
“Sad.” It really was tragic that Zac had been alive earlier this afternoon, and now all of his future plans and dreams were over. I sat still for a minute, thinking about his family. “He was so young. Even if he was obnoxious, his death is heartbreaking. I feel so bad for them.”
“I do too,” Henry agreed. “But why on earth was he on your property?”
“He hadn’t contacted me.” I shrugged, wishing the blizzard didn't trap us inside.
“No one should be out in the woods unless they live here. It’s not public land, and only the area near the house was open for tours.
Of course, there are the old cottages. If the weather allowed, we'd be able to inspect them.”