The Inheritances Game (Jameson Hawthorne)

The Black Woods And Thea

Catalina's Pov

In honor of Thea's visit, Mrs. Laughlin made a melt-in-your mouth roast beef. Orgasmic garlic mashed potatoes. Roasted asparagus, broccoli florets, and three different kinds of crème brûlée. Everyone was seated at the table in the banquet hall.

"Thea," Zara said, her voice almost too pleasant, "how is field hockey?"

"We're undefeated this season." Thea turned toward Avert. "Have you decided which sport you'll be playing, Avery?"

"I don't do sports."

"Everyone at Country Day does a sport," Xander said before stuffing his mouth with roast beef. His eyes rolled upward with pleasure as he chewed. "It is an actual, real requirement and not a figment of Thea's delightfully vindictive imagination."

"Xander," Nash said in warning.

"I said she was delightfully vindictive," Xander replied innocently.

"If I were a boy," Thea told him with a Southern belle smile, "people would just call me driven."

"Thea." Constantine frowned at her.

"Right." Thea dabbed at her lips with her napkin. "No feminism at the dinner table." I smiled trying to hold back a laugh.

"A toast," Skye declared out of nowhere, holding up her wine glass and slurring the words enough that it was clear she'd already been imbibing.

"Skye, dear," Nan said firmly, "have you considered sleeping it off?"

"A toast," Skye reiterated, glass still held high. "To Avery." For once, she'd gotten her name right. Zara raised her glass. One by one, every other glass went up.

"To Emily," Thea added suddenly, her glass still raised. "May she rest in peace." Jameson's glass came down. I froze, only for a second before grabbing Jameson's hand under the table to keep him from leaving or doing anything irrational.

"Theadora," Constantine hissed. Thea took a drink and adopted the world's most innocent expression. "What?" I glared at her, the rest of the dinner went by with a lot of tension but once it was over, I followed Jameson to the forest where he started punching a tree.

"Don't break your fingers." I said sitting down.

"My fingers are too strong for that." He stopped punching the tree and sat down next to me.

"You skipped school today," I pointed out.

"I skip school a lot, I thought you were used to it." He shrugged.

"You always have a reason though."

Jameson smiled. "Four middle names. Four locations. Four clues—carvings, most likely. Symbols, if the clue on the bridge was infinity; numbers, if it was an eight."

"Do you know how many trees four acres can hold?" Jameson asked jauntily.

"Two hundred, in a healthy forest. But in the Black Wood at least twice that." I said looking around at the thousands of trees surrounding us.

"Here." Jameson placed a roll of glow-in-the-dark duct tape in my hand, letting his fingers brush mine as he did. "I've been marking off trees as I check them." I concentrated on his words.

"There has got to be a better way," I said, turning the duct tape over in my hands.

Jameson's lips twisted into a lazy, devil-may-care smirk. "Got any suggestions?"

"I wish" I mumbled.

We spent a couple hours working before it got too late and dark to work, then the next day we worked all day after Avery was done with classes, she joined us too. I skipped with Jameson, I didn't trust him alone. We worked for two days and still hadn't found anything.