Turning on her heel, she bolted from the room, leaving me standing all alone wondering what secrets we shouldn’t have uncovered.
Damn Emma.
Perhaps the tales of the dead should remain dead.
Did I do the right thing?
Had I just kept a promise to a ghost and stupidly destroyed our carefully perfect world?
I won’t let that happen.
“Nila!” I charged after her, careening down the staircase and erupting onto the grass.
Her treadmill running days gave her a good sprint, and I didn’t reach her in time.
I couldn’t stop her slamming to a halt in front of her father.
I couldn’t prevent her throwing the box in his face.
And I couldn’t halt the torrent of questions spilling from her soul.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Nila
“WHO THE HELL is Jacqueline?”
I stood trembling in front of my father, fighting a vertigo wave.
Tex was almost comical as he froze, gaped, and swiped a shaking hand over his face. “How—how did you hear that name?”
Ducking, I ripped out the letter from the box at his feet and shoved it into his chest. V drifted closer, drawn by the air of animosity and questions. “Mum just told me.”
Tex gulped. “What?How?”
Jethro came jogging over the lawn, sternness on his face. “Nila...perhaps now is not the best time.”
I whirled on him. “If not now, when?” Pointing at the ready-to-blaze bonfire, I snapped, “I think now is the perfect time. Closure, Jethro. That’s what this is and that’s what my father owes me.”
Ripping my eyes from Jethro’s, I glared at Tex. “So, tell me. Who the hell is Jacqueline?”
“Threads...what’s going on?” Vaughn nudged my shoulder with his. “What’s gotten you so upset?”
My father didn’t look up as he read the same letter I’d just devoured, his pallor shifting to a sickly yellow.
My voice throbbed as I looked between my twin and father. “Mum left a note.” I pointed at it, rippling in the breeze in Tex’s fingers. “That one. She not only told me our grandmother was never claimed by the Debt Inheritance, but I wassacrificedover a girl named Jacqueline. So my question is...who is she?”
“Holy shit. What the fuck?” Rubbing his jaw, V glanced at Tex. “Well? I think we deserve to know.”
Taking a huge breath, Tex finished reading. His eyes darted to Jethro before locking on me and V. “She’s your sister.”
I’d already guessed as much, but it still hurt. “Older sister?”
The eldest who should’ve paid the debt. The sister who should’ve protected us by being the chosen one, not the saved.
Jethro came closer, barricading me against the wind. “I think you better spit it out, Tex.”
Tex nodded, fighting ghosts and things I never knew. How could he keep such a secret? How could my own father be a complete stranger?
