The Blood Legacy (The Lost Heir Book III)

Jack and Beatrice

The Velvet Ballroom had several chambers, or what Isabella and Seth knew to be VIP rooms in their time, adjacent to a rear corridor for lounging, private dealings or simply listening to music. Isabella and Seth followed the upset starlets down that very same hallway at a relatively safe distance. Tension pumped through the air. Something horrible was about to happen. She could feel it as sharply as a knife to the skin. They ended behind a pillar just before rounding the corner to where the starlets had fled.

"We're here," they heard Dena say to Beatrice, who stood in the frame of a wide door to one of the chambers wearing a fiery glare. "Please don't ruin our careers, I beg of you!"

"Get inside and don't say another word unless spoken to," Beatrice barked at the woman, gesturing toward the open double doors behind her.

Dena and Fran hurried into the back room while the teens peeked from behind the column. As soon as the coast was clear both dashed for the door which was left open a crack and peeked inside. The coincidence of Beatrice being there put them right back on mission.

"So, you little jezebels thought it was a smart thing to do to play a little hanky-panky with my Leonard, did you? He may have come back from Korea a little less like himself, but that doesn't give you the right to... " She narrowed her piercing emerald eyes. "Where is Elaine? I know for certain she's one of the little harlot's he's been sleeping with."

"I never slept with him, I swear," Fran whimpered. "I'm sorry for anything bad I said behind your back. It was just harmless gossip..."

Beatrice slapped the young starlet across her face. "Shut up! I don't believe a word you say."

Grace handed over a bawling Posy to Dena and marched up to Beatrice. "Listen, you spoiled little witch, I'm not afraid of you. Leonard says you are a monster, a tyrant. Feel free to ruin my career but know that I've known real work from my upbringing. Elaine and I were the ones who screwed with your husband. She was just smart enough to take off. The only reason I stayed was to ensure that poor Posy remained safe. She, Fran and Dena have done nothing to you."

Beatrice looked almost crazed, her green eyes darkening, her cheeks flushed with rage. When her eyes fell on the other women, huddled together, arms linked, lips pressed together as if they'd dare not speak. "You see them? They know their place and you better learn it you, Southern trash."

"I'd rather be trash than a desperate debutante!" Grace taunted back. "Why don't you run back to your parents? Jack is the real talent anyway and I remember when you were a B level actress at best. Face it, you charmed and screwed your way upwards. You're no better than us. And your mother, she was born in a gutter, right? So what does that make you, spawn of the a sewer rat in glittering heels?"

Visible waves manipulated the air in the room as Beatrice screamed in rage so loud glass broke. The five starlets spread out to avoid the glass.

Isabella almost cried out but Seth covered her mouth. "Shh. Shh." Isabella pulled his arm around her from behind and clung to it, digging her fingers into the sleeve of his jacket. Too shocked watching the scene unfold in front of her to reprimand him for shushing her.

Beatrice glared at the young women. "So, I'm the spawn gutter trash, you say?" Glass started to rise in the air, the pieces fusing into sharp spear-head like shapes. The women screamed. "Well, let me share my feelings straight from the heart!" She sent the shards at her helpless captives, stabbing them each fatally through the heart. Blood splattered everywhere as the starlets slumped to the ground.

Isabella was frozen in horror. Beatrice was a monster. This was who she'd wished she could be more like, who she revered practically her whole life? The darling of the Foxworthy family, the woman who met her tragic end, and they all mourned? But then she felt a sickening feeling she recognized. "No," she whispered.