er wrist. The stinging pain was a dull throb, a minor inconve
ter opener, his fingers avoiding the blade, his movements swift but controlled to
ps. That man. Always saying
uraging the blood to flow, to begin the healing process. The pain subsided almost immediately. Beneath the bandage, she felt the skin knitt
ien's black sedan swept down the long drive
keep you alive. I will make yo
d leave him pale and exhausted. In the end, he'd become reliant on a cocktail of painkillers, a depe
h her. Kinsley, Julian, Evelyn, Leland. She would destroy them all
priority w
She ran through a mental list of remedies. She needed specific herbs, things she couldn't
d lawns to the rolling, wooded hil
re. Among them, wild ginger for his stomach and va
by making him medicinal broths, usin
ble for a clandestine trip into the woods. She opened her bedroom door,
s Thorne," she said, her voice overly respectful. "Mr.
head housekeeper. The woman who had planted the d
stand," she said with a soft smile. "Could you please get me a g
est. The Asha she was used to was sullen a
a's smile vanished, her ey
leaning beg
fered a direct, unmonitored path to the grounds. She waited until Brenda re
balcony railing and droppe
tamed, overgrown, the part of the Knight proper
the creek bed. Valerian root clustered near the old stone wall. She spotted a patch of angelica
ification-when a commotion shattered the forest quiet. Shouts. The squeal
e
ed as Harris, the head groundskeeper who had worked for the Knight family for thirty years-was slumped aga
his radio. "He's having a heart atta
icking. No doctor on site
rough the chaos. "M
upposedly delinquent ward, striding toward them i
shouldn't b
aid
ty that didn't belong to an eighteen-
ulse was thready, irregular, fading. His breathing was shallow, each
puncture needles. She h
ad someth
roft had taught her hummed beneath her skin, stronger now than it had been that firs
she said. "A
ne of the older workers grabbed his a
it into Harris's chest, seeking the blocked vessel, the misfiring electrical signals. It w
shed h
hand. Harris's back arched. A g
y to grey-pink to something approaching human. His eyes fluttered open. He took a
ing her palm steady. "Don't
taper off naturally. When she finally withdrew her hand, Ha
ou feel?" the fo
ed. "Better. I feel...
had a cardiac event. The ambulance is on its way. You
pen. The workers whispered among themselve
n demanded. "That wasn't CPR. Tha
e things." She tilted her head. "Tell Mr. Knight's security that I never left the estate grounds.
ck into the treeline bef
dio. "Patch me through to Mr. Knight's
harvest: wild ginger root, valerian, skullcap, angelica, milk thistle, and a rare moss
her desk to dry, then
ed. She accessed the Knight Manor security core through the backdoor she had established on
gan de
to avoid detection. A camera feed patched into Brenda's service tablet, showing only what Asha w
ration took fo
ve feeds. Kitchen-clear. Brenda's quarters-empty
zoom
e plate wa
ns
The trap was set. Now all she neede
cross her desk. Tomorrow, she would make Darien's firs
pieces were already moving across the boa
/1/118521/coverbig.jpg?v=adda44865c738a4eaa442ce0e5dd1a6d&imageMogr2/format/webp)