“It’s not a vacation; it’s an assignment,” Casimir said with a hint of amusement in his tone.
“An assignment that comes with a killer view,” Zane shot back, undeterred.
The estate unfolded alongside us like a sprawling canvas of green and gold. The trees, budding green and purple, stood sentinel along the drive. My gaze drifted to the apple orchard, the trees just now greening and their branches stretching toward the sky. For a moment, I thought of my mother and how she would have loved this, but I pushedthatthought back into the shadows of my mind.
“Bat’s bones!” Zane marveled. “How long does it take to mow so much grass?”
Cas was taking in the layout with the precision of a general surveying a battlefield. His profile was set, jaw clenched, the tendon in his neck taut. His eyes never stopped moving, always on the lookout for exits and entry points, weaknesses and strengths. It was a habit he couldn’t shake, and also one that seemed to ground him.
“Think Lucian’s trying to make a statement?”
I didn’t answer Zane. Answers required thinking, and I wasn’t ready to unpack thewhyof it all just yet.
“Turn here,” Cas directed, and I grunted at him.
Wasn’t like a huge pair of stone columns loomed ahead or anything.
As we approached the gargoyle-guarded gates, I caught a glimpse of a brass plaque and slowed down so we could all read it.
A place
beyond the hunt,
where shadows rest
and dawns endure.
“Who writes this shit?” Zane mused aloud, shaking his head.
“A place beyond the hunt.” Cas’ voice was thoughtful, tinged with a surprise he didn’t bother to hide, and I glanced at him, catching a flash of emotion before his usual mask slipped back into place.
“Not exactly what I expected,” I admitted as Zane finally turned off the music.
I ignored him, my eyes fixed on the road ahead. The driveway was a serpent, coiling through the grounds, each twist revealing perfectly manicured lawns, the faint glint of water in the distance and, beyond that, forests that seemed to stretch on forever.
“First thing we need to do is assess the perimeter,” Cas said in his business voice.
“Right, because nothing says ‘welcome’ like a tactical analysis of our new digs,” Z snorted.
“Looks defensible enough,” I offered.
“Too many open spaces,” Cas disagreed. “Easy targets.”
“How about maybe just a little chill?”
“Focus, Zane!”
I could almosthearthe eye-roll accompanying that, and I chuckled softly.
Joking and smart-mouthing had always been Z’s way to deal with emotions he couldn’t handle or process, and it drove Cas crazy, a happy side effect that Zane exploited ruthlessly.
As they bickered, I tried to come to terms with the fact that this—this sprawling, obscenely expensive estate—was ours.Ours. And we hadn’t even seen the manor house itself yet. For three bastard half-brothers who’d spent their adult lives moving from one place to the next, never staying long anywhere, this felt permanent.
Then the trees parted, and the main manor house came into view.
Big. Fancy.That was my first thought. It wasn’t what I’d expected. I mean, whatdidI expect? Some crumbling, gothic mansion straight out of a bad horror flick? But what I could see of the place so far looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine.
I slowed the SUV, just taking in the size of the place. It was huge. Like, ‘I could get lost in the hallways and never find my way out’huge. And pristine. Every hedge was perfectly trimmed, every window sparkled in the sunlight like polished steel.
