Despite her promise to herself to wait, Nadine was filled with so many questions as she sat beneath that awful chandelier that she felt as if she might burst.Howdid it work—the hunting? Did they have to kill people every year to inherit? Or was one enough? Or did it not kick in until the heirs had picked a sparrow and forced them to choose on pain of death?
Was Corrine a sparrow? WasOdessa? Or would she marry a male sparrow?Werethere boy sparrows? Did the female Cullravens also have their pick of the choicest human stags?
“Nadine,” Nathaniel said. “It’s so good of you to join us. I heard you weren’t feeling well.”
“I’m feeling better now.” She took a deep drink of blood-red wine. It was syrupy and clung to her tongue. She could feel the tannic burn of it all the way down when she swallowed.
Maybe if I drink enough of it, everything else will burn away, too.
“It’s remarkable,” Corrine said, picking up her silverware with an elegant gesture. “The difference a simple dress can make. You look nearly as pretty as—”
She broke off, eyes widening, as she realized the cruel thing she had almost said.
As pretty as your sister.
Noelle’s inferior copy. How often had she heardthatgrowing up? Too often. Noelle’s sister, but never Nadine.
Cal swirled his wineglass with an inscrutable expression but Ben’s jaw was tight.
“It’s unpleasant,” he said. “Being viewed through the same lens as one’s siblings. Isn’t it?”
Nadine felt a flicker of hostility that almost overtook the dread. She didn’t like that he was using her own sister against her while also trying to side with her. And every time he had attempted to relate to her, she realized, it had always been at Cal’s expense.
“Not if you love them,” she said quietly, gripping her fork.
“I see,” he said. “So we return to this tired subject, do we? That explains the cut of your dress then, doesn’t it? It’s so much easier to admire that tender heart when it’s so fully on display.”
“Don’t be vulgar, Benjamin,” Corrine said, looking up. But her son ignored her.
“And that’smydress you’re insulting, dick,” Odessa cut in.
“Would you begrudge a pretty girl for her devotion?” Cal said. “Or me, for having it?”
Ben’s eyes flashed with anger. “You are a vulture who picks the bones of whatever body he pleases. You have one type, Caledon. Female and alive, and any girl who worships at your church is at the mercy of a fickle and wavering god. You’re rather like your namesake in that way.”
“Yes, let’s talk about namesakes,” Cal said, and there was suddenly venom in his voice. “Because I could say a thing or two about yours—”
“Don’t youfuckingdare,” Ben hissed.
“What’s the matter, brother?” Cal said. “Do you doubt the legacy?”
“Boys,” Corrine said nervously. “Don’t let’s fight in front of our guest.”
Neither man acknowledged their mother, although they both fell into a sullen silence.
If they act like this with each other, she thought.What will they do tome?This family was built on blood and hatred, but they had clearly been keeping each other’s secrets for years. Maybe love didn’t have anything to do with it, but whatever it was that bound them like mortar was stronger and darker than that, and clearly intended to seal others out.
Nathaniel seemed to be taking a quiet amusement in the scene. At the very least, he did nothing to put a stop to it, as he cut into his meat. Too late, Nadine remembered what he had said about her gaze feeling like a challenge when he glanced at her and saw the disgust burning there.
“You’re going to have your hands full with this one, Cal,” he remarked. “She might be sitting here quietly like your mother, but there’s nothing tame about her eyes.”
She could tell Cal didn’t like that comparison any more than she did; his jaw hardened as his eyes flicked briefly in his mother’s direction, who was sitting in her expensive tie-wrap dress, looking quietly down at her plate with a glazed expression that hinted at one drink too many.
“How did you meetyourwife?” she heard herself asking; it came out sounding like the accusation it almost was.
“Let’s not talk about the past,” said Corrine. “It’ll just get the boys fighting again.”
“What harm is there in recounting the tale of our great love?” Nathaniel said, though there was something ironic in his words that made Corrine grip her silverware tighter.
