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