Epilogue
Alex watched his mum hide the bracelet in the drawer of the desk and leave the study.
He wasn’t supposed to go in there, and he had been warned many times not to touch items that might have belonged to someone who’d died, but he couldn’t resist the lure of that bangle.
Looking into the past was like watching a scary movie.
He sometimes covered his face with his hands, then peeked between his fingers to see what was happening on the screen.
Alex had seen that girl in the well. And she had been just a girl, only five years older than Emma.
It had horrified him to see her suffering, but it had also frightened him when he’d felt her pain.
That had never happened before. But strange as it might seem, he felt connected to her and wanted to know how her story ended.
He’d heard his mum say that she had been murdered by her cousin.
That was like him murdering Max. It was unthinkable.
After making sure the coast was clear, Alex slipped into the study and shut the door.
Then he pulled the bag out of the drawer and studied the bracelet through the plastic.
It was so pretty. Like something out of Lara Croft.
A shimmering golden snake with an emerald eye, swallowing its own tail.
Wicked. Alex opened the bag and stared at the bracelet, terrified and mesmerized in equal measure.
Mum would be angry if she found out, but he had to see.
He’d drop it if he got too scared. He reached into the bag and wrapped his fingers around the cool metal. And then he was there. He was her…
* * *
Honor slowly came to. Her thoughts were sluggish, as if she were half-asleep, and she tasted blood.
Her tongue felt weirdly thick, and she couldn’t do much more than moan.
She tried to lift her arm, but her limbs felt leaden, and she couldn’t seem to open her eyes.
She tried again to call out, but nothing came out, not even a whimper.
It was like her body had shut down but her mind was awake, if only just. She felt like she was wading through treacle as she tried to make sense of what had happened.
Dr. Miller was downstairs. Rose must have gone to get him.
He’d help her. Hot tears slid down her temples and into her hair.
She wanted Geneva, and Father. She wanted her mum.
The door opened and someone walked in. She heard the door click shut, and then two sets of footsteps approached.
“You stupid girl. What have you done?” Clarissa hissed.
“It wasn’t my fault. She went for me.”
“Tell that to the police. Just look at her,” her aunt exclaimed.
“She’s still alive,” Rose wailed. “I’m sure she is. We must get her to the hospital.”
Aunt Clarissa pressed her cool fingers to Honor’s neck, then lifted her limp wrist. “I can’t feel a pulse.”
There was momentary silence, and Honor wanted to scream that she was alive and she needed help, but her aunt seemed to have written her off.
“No one must find out about this,” Clarissa said.
“How are they not going to find out?” Rose asked. She sounded shocked and confused.
“Because they will never find the body.”
“Mother, what are you saying?”
“Do you want to hang, you nitwit?” Clarissa screeched. “Because that’s what’s going to happen if you are charged with murder.”
“But it was an accident,” Rose tried again.
“And who is going to believe that? You rowed, you pushed her, she hit her head and died. Even if the charge is manslaughter, you will still go to prison. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Rose whimpered.
“Good. Now help me. Let’s get her out of that dress.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to make it look like she ran away with that damn Irishman. And if anyone finds the body, they’ll think he killed her.”
“He gave Geneva a ring. An Irish one,” Rose offered. “I saw it in Geneva’s jewelry box.”
“Go get it. We’ll put it on her finger. If anyone finds her, that’ll put him in the frame. But don’t touch it with your bare hands. Put on those white gloves.”
Honor tried to scream as her aunt and cousin pulled off her dress, but she couldn’t make a sound. She was trapped inside her body, unable to call for help. Her brain seemed to be pushing against her skull, throbbing and aching dully as her thoughts became even more muddled.
“Everyone is downstairs, drinking and dancing. And the servants are having their own celebration in the servants’ hall. No one will be on the servants’ staircase at this time of night. Let’s get her outside.”
“What are you going to do?” Rose whispered hoarsely.
“Dump her down the old well. No one will think to look for her there. Then, tomorrow, we will leave as planned.” A pause. “Can you copy her handwriting?”
“I suppose.”
“You’ll write a note saying she went off with Sullivan. We’ll leave it on her dressing table.”
“Mother, are you sure about this?”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Clarissa snarled. “You’re going to be mistress of Bellamy Hall.”
“What? How?” Rose exclaimed.
“Do you still have the photographs and the newspaper?”
“Yes.”
“Once we dispose of Honor, I’m going to have a word with Jesse.”
“Are you going to report him to the police for murdering William Heller?”
“No, you idiot. The last thing we need is to involve the police.”
“But who was he if his name wasn’t Jesseph Bellamy?” Rose demanded.
Clarissa huffed with exasperation. “William Jesseph Bellamy Heller. His mother remarried after Alan died. I expect William took his stepfather’s surname. He told Mr. Lefferts he preferred to go by Jesseph. Lord knows why. You should have shown me that article,” Clarissa admonished.
“You forbade me to read the papers,” Rose snapped. “And how was I to know that this person had any connection to us? What will happen to Jesse?”
“He’s not likely to brazen it out when I tell him I know he’s not who he pretends to be and threaten to go to the police. Then, once he’s gone, you will marry Peter Conklin. That one will do anything for money.”
“I don’t like Peter,” Rose moaned.
“You should have thought of that before you caved Honor’s head in. You will do as I say, or you’re on your own.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Rose was gone for a moment, then Honor felt her slip the ring on her finger, Rose’s hand covered with Jesse’s glove. Clarissa grabbed Honor beneath the arms, and Rose took her by the ankles. The two women grunted with effort as they hefted her down the servants’ stairs.
“Should have tossed her out the window,” Clarrisa said on a huff. “She’s heavier than she looks.”
“We’re nearly there.”
Honor felt the bite of cold air on her bare skin as they got her outside, and then the sharp edge of icy metal as they dropped her into a wheelbarrow.
She tried to struggle, but she was paralyzed, unable to speak.
It took the greatest effort, but she was able to open her eyes just a little.
She saw the vast, black sky above, the stars cold and distant as they glowed above her.
There was the far-off sound of waves, and the wind that was so bitter, it made her feel a little more alert.
The wheelbarrow bumped over uneven ground, the wheels squeaking, and then it stopped.
Honor managed to let out a groan, and she was sure her eyelids had fluttered.
“Mother, she’s alive,” Rose whispered. “She’s trying to open her eyes.”
“Too late now. Smother her, and let’s get her over the lip of the well.”
Nnnnnooo, Honor tried to say, but only a faint hiss came out.
And then Rose’s gloved hand was over her mouth and nose, trying to suffocate her.
Honor gathered all her strength and tried to stick her legs out, but Clarissa, certain that she was dead, forced them into the shaft, and then she was falling, feet first, into the well.
The water was so cold, it momentarily revived her, and she flailed as she tried to scream.
Icy water rushed into her mouth, and she tried to slow down her fall by holding on to the stone walls, but they were covered in slime and she was unable to find purchase.
There was no way she could climb out of the well even if she had the strength to hold on.
Her heart hammered in her chest as her skin burned with cold.
She turned her face upward and saw one last glimpse of the starry sky before her aunt’s hand plunged into the water and pushed her down, pressing on top of her head.
Honor’s lungs felt like they were going to explode and she attempted to shake off Clarissa’s hold, but she was too weak, and her aunt wasn’t about to let go.
Unable to hold on, she began to sink. Rose tossed in a pair of white gloves just before the cover was fitted over the well.
Then the world went dark.
* * *
Alex dropped the bracelet and wiped away his tears.
It was horrible what had been done to that girl.
Scarier than anything he’d seen in a movie, because it had been done by people she had loved and trusted.
But terrifying as Honor’s end was, it was a long time ago, and she would be gone by now anyway.
That realization made him feel better, and he put the bracelet away, resolving never to touch it again.
Honor’s story was at an end. But he wasn’t sure about Logan’s.
Alex had been shocked to overhear that they had come awfully close to losing Logan and Max.
Something terrible had happened, but he didn’t know what it was and was certain his parents would not care to explain.
Adults were always hiding things, convinced that their children didn’t hear them whispering and couldn’t interpret their worried looks.
Well, they were wrong. Mia was oblivious, but he and Emma weren’t so easy to distract. They’d find out the truth in time.
As Alex left the study, he remembered that his dad had once told him that trust was the greatest gift one person could give another, and to always choose wisely.
He hadn’t really understood what his dad had meant at the time, but he did now.
And as he stood in the corridor, listening to the voices of his parents and sisters, Alex knew that something inside him had profoundly changed.
Just as he knew that he didn’t blame his mother for this strange gift he had received from her family.
It was a door to a world he had yet to understand, but he had every intention of walking through it.
*
Have you raced through Quinn’s thrilling adventures?
If you love Irina’s gripping storytelling and absorbing historical settings, you’ll be hooked on The Passage.
On a tour of a stately home, Neve Ashley steps through a mysterious doorway and emerges in 1685, and into the path of Lord Hugo Everly’s galloping horse…
Get it here, or read on for an exclusive extract.