Page 43 of Salem's Fall
“Tell me everything, kiddo. What’s going on?”
I swallow hard, my pulse quickening. How do I even start a conversation like this?
“I’m on a new case at work. A new client,” I say. “It’s Damien Blackhollow.”
The name hangs between us like a loaded gun. I watch as his grip tightens on the edge of the table, his thumb stilling over the place where his wedding ring used to sit.
“I don’t understand,” he says, his voice suddenlysuspicious. “You’re brand new at the firm and Blackhollow—he’s an important man. Why you?”
“I’m not sure, but Damien sort of asked for me specifically. Threatened to pull his business if I wasn’t on the team.” I pause. When I say it out loud, it does sound more than a little strange that Damien would care so much about having someone like me involved in his case. “Listen, Dad. The point is that Damien is accused of murdering his fiancée, and there are a lot of similarities between his case and yours. His fiancée was stabbed multiple times, like Mom. The knife used is similar. And there were strange symbols carved into the walls and, um, the body… like Mom.” I clear my throat nervously. I’ve never asked many questions about Mom’s murder before, but I have to now. “Dad, I need to know what really happened. I need to know the truth about Mom’s murder.”
He’s quiet, his gaze locked on the glass between us. I can see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers flex and tighten.
“The truth…” he echoes softly, talking to himself.
“Please, Dad. You have to tell me.”
His eyes snap back to mine, and I see something raw and broken flash across his face. He blinks it away quickly, but I saw it, and he knows I saw it.
“I didn’t kill her, James,” he says, his voice low and filled with pain.
“I know,” I whisper, but the words feel fragile, like they could shatter at any moment. “But I need to understand what happened. I need to know what you got involved with.”
“You shouldn’t be anywhere near that man—that family.” He slumps back in his chair, rubbing his temples as if trying to fend off a headache. “I didn’t want you to get dragged into this. I wanted to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
His eyes meet mine again.
“The Order of the Veil.”
My pulse hammers in my ears as the world shifts and reality drops away.
“What do you know about the Veil, Dad?”
He sighs, his voice barely above a whisper. “I first came across the Veil when I was working for Blackhollow Industries. You remember, I did IT for the company, right?”
I nod.
“I found some private files hidden away in a folder on Ian Blackhollow’s email server,” he continues. “I know I shouldn’t have snooped, but what I saw… I couldn’t stop myself once I started reading.” He swallows hard, his skinny Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “It was so shocking. Documents detailing rituals, sacrifices, power… It sounded like nonsense at first, but the more I dug, the more I realized it wasn’t. It was real. All of it.”
His gaze falls to the floor, and he presses his palms flat against the table, like it’s the only thing still tethering him to this world.
“I… I went to Mr. Blackhollow—to Ian.”
My heart pounds in my chest. “Oh, Dad. What did you do?”
“I thought—God, I thought it would help,” he says. “All I wanted was to give you and Madison and your mother the life you all deserved.”
“What do you mean? We had a great life.”
“We never had enough!” he snaps. “No matter how hard I worked or how much I tried to save, it was never enough! We were always living paycheck to paycheck. I wanted more for you.”
The look on his face breaks my heart.
“Dad?”
“They called it the Blood Rite. A sacrifice to fulfill my end of the bargain.” He closes his eyes, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I was ready to die that night. I thought I was givingmy life for you girls and your mom. But something went wrong. It wasn’t working.” His voice begins to shake. “The knife wouldn’t let me. It just… wouldn’t.
