AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Antony waves the pamphlet. “Technically, this place is on the river Tauber, not the Rhine—”
“Whatever,” I snap. “The point is that it’s on the other side of the world and we’re not going—”
“Don’t hate me, but I just wanted to say that our senior class trip is to Germany,” George says.
“I don’t care.” I’m not going halfway around the world with the cretins of Stonehurst Prep to leave Malloy Manor unguarded. Not when we still have no idea what Mackenzie Malloy wants with me.
“Then you’re a fool,” Antony says. “Aren’t your boyfriends all going on that trip? I didn’t think you’d want them out of your sight.”
“If we want to find what happened to the Malloys, this is our best lead,” George says. “I mean, lead on a lead.”
Antony nods. “Your annoying friend is right. Besides, Mackenzie Malloy, Stonehurst’s number one Queen Bee, wouldn’t be caught dead missing out on an overseas trip all your classmates attend.”
I sigh. “So you’ll stay and look after the house, then?”
“It might be good for me to get out of the city, too. Tiberius and I will supervise the trip.” Antony shrugs on his jacket and smooths down the lapels. Looking at him now, it’d be impossible to believe he was a prep-school gym teacher. He’s every inch the gangster, all hard lines and beautiful violence. “If she’s returned to Germany, we’ll make sure she doesn’t get you.”
“What about Malloy Manor? We can’t leave it unprotected—”
“You just shot dead the head of a crime family. Forget the house. You’re the house, now.”
“But the cats—”
“—will be going to live with Galen for the week.”
I grit my teeth. I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to get me out of the city before I do something reckless.
Too late. I’d already made up my mind.
Antony’s right – I’m the house now. I’m House August and I have a family to protect. And I’ll make my final stand with my head held high and a dagger in my hand.
I won’t lose my legacy without a fight.
Eli
I stand on the front steps of my family’s Harrington Hills mansion, shuffling my weight from foot to foot. I try to propel myself toward the imposing front door, but it’s as if I slam into an invisible barrier that holds me back. I can’t do it.
Nero’s car is parked in the driveway. How much does he know? Is his sudden engagement to my mother a coincidence, or does he have ulterior motives for getting close to us?
Is this about my father, or does he have his eye on Claudia?
I can’t go in there.
Sort your shit out, Eli.
You watched your girlfriend shoot a man in the face, take a bullet for you, and burn a body on a pyre, and you’re afraid to walk in your front door? Grow a pair.
At least this might be the last time I have to go inside. The last time I walk the empty, echoing halls that once seemed too small for all the space my dad’s personality and my parents’ distance took up.
When I’d first moved into Malloy Manor, I arrived with Gizmo’s dish and blanket and a change of clothes. But now I’m going to be living there for the indefinite future, in a room overlooking the cracked pool where Mackenzie and I swam together as kids before her father dragged me out of the house.
It’s surreal.
Terrifying.
Wonderful.
Nothing makes sense anymore. So much scary shit has happened in the last few weeks, not least of which being Claudia taking a bullet for me. But it’s as if I’ve grown a fluffy duck-down coat over my skin. All of it rolls off me, in a way my dad’s crimes never could. All I can feel is her.
