Page 27 of House of Pawns
The door opens once more, letting in my latest guest. But when I turn to look at who has arrived, everything goes cold and dark in my chest.
Elle stands there in a pale pink, simple dress, staring with a white face and doe eyes at her very alive brother.
“Elle,” Ian breathes.
She doesn’t say anything. She just stares at him with those wide eyes, but eerily calm demeanor of hers. I see her swallow once.
Before she turns around and walks back out the door.
“Elle,” Ian calls. He lets go of me and takes off after her into the dark. He closes the front door after himself.
I stare at the door, feeling a little hollow hole form in my chest.
I close my eyes.
Count to ten.
Take a deep breath.
And turn around to the deadly silent crowd behind me.
“Thank you all for coming,” I say loudly. I hadn’t planned to make a speech. But here we are. “I really appreciate you all being here to celebrate my twenty-third birthday with me. Being new to Silent Bend isn’t an easy thing when so many have such deep roots.”
So many eyes are glued to me. They blink back, scrutinize me. Look unsure. Others are so very curious.
“I never knew my father,” I say, holding my chin high. “I didn’t even know he existed until I got a copy of his will. I’m just a simple girl from Colorado who discovered this other life that existed on the other side of the country.”
I wipe my palms on my dress. This is a paradigm. This could change so much. I have to do it right. Lillian walks to my side and hands me a glass.
“You know, my mother died when I was nineteen,” I continue. My voice grows softer, and half the crowd leans toward me, gripping my every word. “I thought I was alone. So when I learned about the Conrath Estate, about this town, I felt like slightly less of an orphan. Thank you forbeing my family, Silent Bend.” I raise my glass to them in a toast.
Those with their own glasses raise them. Low murmurs echo throughout the crowd.
But I can feel a shift.
No longer am I the devil offspring of a man they feared. I’m the girl who never knew that man. A girl with no parents. A girl just looking for her new family in a new town.
As if sensing my speech is over, the crowd shifts, heading to other places, resuming conversations.
Lillian leans in. “Well done.”
But I feel slightly sick inside. Like I’ve just manipulated everyone into thinking I’m a better person than perhaps I really am.
“That was some speech.”
The crowd parts, and up walks Anna Burke of the false House of Royals.
She wears the same black tulle and leather dress she wore to what would have been my bloodletting. Her hair is in soft waves around her face. She looks absolutely stunning and intimidating.
“Thank you for coming,” I say. Everything in me tightens just slightly. Every single move I make, every tiny breath I take is all in play now. I can never slip up, even for a second. “I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to come.”
“You sure have stirred the shit pot with Jasmine,” she says with a small smile. “And I told you it wouldn’t be long that you’d keep yourself away from our kind.”
I loop my arm through Anna’s, Lillian on my other side, and we begin making our way to the ballroom. “Circumstances change old resolutions.”
“I have to wonder if Jasmine knew you were in love with Ian Ward when she collected him for you to drain,” Anna says. She looks around the room, but it isn’t with the wonder of most. “It sounds like a game she’d play just because she can.”
“Anna,” Samuel coos from behind us. We turn to find him with his usual coy smile. “You’re looking stunning this evening.”
