Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Paisley leaned into her, sighing. ‘They already know they were named in the will,’ she whispered. ‘Why are they pretending to give a damn that she’s gone?’
Someone in the crowd snorted. Probably a werewolf. Their hearing was exceptional.
‘They’re all about appearances,’ Emberlyn reminded her, keeping her voice ultra-low.
On her other side, Kage hummed his agreement. ‘I’m betting they’ll break out the champagne and party poppers later.’
Quite possibly. Neither of Millicent’s living children had had much time for her. They’d detached themselves from her when young and moved in with their father, mortified by how she’d become a lone practitioner who’d trodden a sinister path.
It was only Emberlyn’s mother Avery who’d stayed with her as a child. Millicent had had little to do with the raising of Gill and Dez. Little to do with anyone but Avery and then, later, Emberlyn.
Over the years, Emberlyn had absorbed all that Millicent had taught her. She’d explored different forms of magick. She’d encountered the many deities her grandmother had conjured. And she’d taken Millicent’s advice: Emberlyn had become the biggest, baddest – yes, she did know that wasn’t a real word – witch that she’d needed to be in order to keep threats at bay.
But it meant that Emberlyn wasn’t popular among the other witchy folk. Apparently, she made people nervous. Especially when she smiled. So she smiled a lot.
Now that the casket was set to rights, Reena continued reading aloud the blessing. Emberlyn found her gaze shifting to the nearby white tablet adorned with an elegantly pointed arch and ornate tracery. Avery Vautier, loving mother of Emberlyn.
Emberlyn swallowed hard, her gut twisting as she failed to pull up an image of her mother’s face. She couldn’t do that anymore. Couldn’t remember much about Avery. The memories that Emberlyn did have of her mother were so vague they were dreamlike.
‘I know I used to whine about how I could never go to funerals, but . . . yeah, I don’t know why I whined,’ said Kage. Before becoming a werewolf – something that had suppressed his magickal abilities – the once-clairvoyant-witch had had to avoid graveyards. ‘It’s super dull.’
Emberlyn felt a frown tug at her brow. ‘What did you expect? Dancing and drum-beating?’
He shrugged, plucking at his short, russet-brown hair. ‘I don’t know. Maybe some “Safe travels” messages. A We’ll miss you banner. A few goodbye gifts.’
‘We’re mourning her death, not sending her off on a cruise.’
Paisley snorted, mirth dancing in the same moss-green eyes she shared with her twin. Her long hair was slightly darker than his, but it was just as thick. While she was a little over five feet tall, Kage had a longer, leaner build.
‘On a more interesting topic,’ Paisley began, ‘who do you think your grandmother left the manor to?’
Emberlyn puffed out a breath. ‘No idea.’
Normally, copies of wills would be posted to beneficiaries. But Millicent had always had her own way of doing things. She’d drawn up the will herself and given it to her attorney, along with a list of her beneficiaries and strict instructions that the will be read aloud after her funeral. She’d also insisted that it be read aloud by Reena – which was weird, since Millicent hadn’t been part of the coven for a very long time.
No one had been able to peek at the will because she’d spelled the envelope closed. Only a prick of blood from Emberlyn – someone Millicent had evidently felt confident wouldn’t disrespect her wishes – would open it. Reena had ‘suggested’ that Emberlyn could do this beforehand, but she’d firmly refused.
Emberlyn knew why the High Priestess was eager to see the will. Reena wanted to speed along the purchase of the manor. She had been trying to get her hands on it for years, but Millicent would never sell, insisting that it should remain with the Vautier line.
Reena disagreed.
The High Priestess had big plans – it was talk of the town. She not only meant to take over the manor, she also planned to build houses on the expansive stretch of land attached to it. Money had already exchanged hands between her and a construction company run by a werewolf clan.
Either Gill or Dez would inherit the manor, and both were willing to sell it to Reena. As such, she likely would have already started transferring her possessions to the place if she’d been able to get inside. People were having a little trouble with that right now.
‘Gill is awful sure the manor will be hers,’ said Kage.
Yes, Gill and her husband had even urged their daughter Mari to give up her apartment, promising she could have their current home when they moved into one of the soon-to-be built houses. ‘But so is Dez.’
Dez had actually been taunting his ex-wife about how she could have been a very rich woman if only she hadn’t divorced him, because Reena would pay him a ridiculous amount of money to finally be the Lady of Black Willow Manor. Or, as most would more simply term it, Black Willow Witch.