Page 127 of An Inheritance of Monsters

Your Inheritance, it read in Elizabeth Marsh’s hand. It was heavy, but not from any letter folded within.

Carson tossed the dome aside. It hit the floor with a metallic clunk as I slit the envelope and tilted it over my hand.

The dull iron skeleton key she always wore around her neck fell into my palm, trailing its black ribbon. It was icy cold, burning into my skin, and yet no mark was made.

“Your inheritance,” Carson mused, his eyes on the key. “Is that so?”

I met his eyes, wrapping my fingers around the key and trying to swallow my panic. What the hell did I do now?

“It’s mine.” The edges of the key bit into my palm as I squeezed it, then spoke the truth I’d put together days ago. “I am a Marsh by blood.”

The floor shuddered beneath our feet, and Carson’s eyes widened, a momentary lapse in his cool demeanor. Long, groaning creaks filled the air as the manor shifted around us.

It couldn’t be that simple. The manor might acknowledge my blood claim, but this wasn’t over yet.

I had the gut-deep sensation that although I needed to forge a new Covenant between myself and the Void, this was not the time or the place… I just had no idea where it was.

“Give me the key, Juno.” All of Carson’s insouciance had fallen away, and he stared at me hard.

“You have a hard time with the word no, don’t you?” I clutched the key tighter, wondering if I could kick off my heels and run before he rounded the table…

I stepped on something soft and jerked back a step, looking down.

There was a pale hand sticking out from beneath the table. A pale hand with thin gold rings on every finger, twitching slightly.

I sucked in a breath, and Carson grabbed a candelabra and vaulted over the table, swinging hard.

The last thing I saw before it cracked across my head was a burst of crimson light.

Chapter37

Juno

Pain shot through my skull as I regained consciousness. My left eye felt gluey, and something itched on the side of my face.

My body was one big ache, trails of fire cutting into my arms and legs.

The air smelled like copper and wine. I tried to raise a hand to touch the throbbing spot on my head, but my arms were like weights, holding me down. They didn’t move an inch.

And neither did my legs as I tried to stretch.

I managed to crack my eyelids open, blinking at the muzzy blur of the room around me. Everything swayed and tilted, the world spinning as it slowly came into focus.

I was still in the dining room… and sitting in a chair. But nylon ropes had been tied around me, cutting into my skin. That was the burning sensation, the reason I couldn’t move.

“Good, you’re awake.” The relief in Carson’s voice was palpable. “Fuck. I thought I’d hit you too hard.”

“Hit me?” I tried to ask, and it took a few tries before it came out as comprehensible English.

Then the memory flashed back into my head, Carson swinging the tentacle candelabra…

I saw it discarded on the floor, dried brown droplets scattered across the metal. As though to forcibly remind me, another bolt of pain shot through my head.

Carson loomed in front of me, face pale, eyes frantic. “Juno?” He shined a small flashlight in my eyes, and I groaned and looked away, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

“Get that fucking light out of my eyes,” I growled, straining against the ropes again, but they were too tight for me to do much more than take a deep breath.

“I’m just making sure you don’t have a concussion.” He clicked the flashlight off and shoved it in his pocket, visibly relaxing. “I need you alive.”

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