Chapter 8 - Midnight at Blackthorn House
Seraphina agreed to Vivienne's demand at 11:17 p.m.
She did so loudly enough for the hospital room microphone to record every word.
“I will sign anything,” she told Julian.
“Bring me my daughter.”
Julian stood at the foot of her bed.
He looked older than he had two days earlier.
A bruise darkened his wrist where Vivienne had gripped him.
“I do not know where she is.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
Julian moved closer.
“My mother took Arabella because she no longer trusts me.”
“She should not.”
“I can get you into Blackthorn House.”
“And then?”
“You sign the transfer.”
“Then she kills me.”
“Not if the document is invalid.”
Seraphina studied his face.
“You want me to trust the man who helped destroy two pregnancies.”
Julian flinched.
The reaction was small but real.
“I did not know about the first.”
“You knew about the second.”
“Yes.”
The confession entered the room without defense.
Julian looked toward the monitor.
“My mother told me the child would never survive and that ending the pregnancy early would spare you another surgery.”
“You paid Mercer afterward.”
“I paid him to disappear.”
“You paid him to remain silent.”
“Yes.”
Seraphina wanted to strike him.
Her body was too weak.
Her hatred was not.
“Why should I help you?”
“Because my mother plans to frame both of us for Mercer's murder.”
Julian placed a key on the bedside table.
“The old wine tunnel beneath Blackthorn connects to the chapel crypt.”
Gabriel listened through Naomi's phone.
He trusted Julian less than ever.
But the tunnel existed.
Marcus Ashcroft had shown it to Gabriel and Seraphina when they were children.
At 11:43, a fire alarm forced the evacuation of the hospital's west wing.
Naomi moved Seraphina into a wheelchair.
Gabriel took her from the loading dock.
Mara drove.
No one spoke during the journey.
Blackthorn House rose from the hill with every window dark except the great one above the staircase.
A single beam of moonlight cut through it.
They entered through the chapel crypt.
The tunnel smelled of wet stone and old earth.
Seraphina fought dizziness with every step.
Gabriel wanted to carry her.
She refused.
“I walked into this family,” she said.
“I will walk out.”
The tunnel opened behind the library fireplace.
Vivienne waited beside the desk.
Arabella lay in a bassinet near the window.
Julian stood behind his mother with a pistol pointed at Gabriel.
Seraphina's hope collapsed.
Vivienne smiled.
“My son still understands duty.”
Julian did not look at Seraphina.
“Put the gun down,” Gabriel said.
“I cannot.”
Vivienne placed the transfer papers on the desk.
“Sign.”
Seraphina looked at her daughter.
Arabella breathed softly beneath the blue blanket.
“Let me hold her.”
“After.”
Seraphina took the pen.
The document transferred control of the Ashcroft trust to Vale Heritage Partners.
It also waived all claims related to Marcus's death, Seraphina's medical care, and the guardianship petition.
She signed the first page.
Then the second.
Vivienne's eyes brightened.
On the final page, Seraphina paused.
“What happens after thirty days?”
Vivienne's smile vanished.
“You and Julian will suffer a tragic domestic incident.”
Julian's pistol lowered by an inch.
Vivienne continued.
“Arabella will be raised by the only person capable of protecting the family legacy.”
“You,” Seraphina said.
“Of course.”
Julian raised the pistol.
He turned it away from Gabriel.
He pointed it at his mother.
“No.”
Vivienne did not move.
“You always were the weakest Vale.”
She pressed a button beneath the desk.
Steel shutters dropped over the doors and windows.
Gas hissed from the ceiling vents.
Vivienne lifted Arabella from the bassinet.
May you like
Then the floor beneath her opened.
She disappeared with the child into the darkness below.
