Page 154 of Gravehouse

Get up.

My legs twitch in their restraints.

Fight them.

My hands refuse to close.

Emeric leans over the bed and pats my hair, smoothing it back from my damp forehead.

“It’s okay, you won’t remember this for a long time.” His thumb brushes my temple. “We can’t have you creating more Monét’s or god forbid les amants maudits takes shape and we have a new generation of Delacroix’s. Even if it costs me mine.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

IVY

SIX MONTHS LATER

“Truly,why do we have to do this?” Jord grumbles, clipping his boots back on. “What happened to champagne and rugby?”

“You wanted rugby,” Luce answers, skidding to a stop beside him. “Ivy wanted this. I’ll remind you it’s her birthday, and we’re still fresh out of the doghouse with her, so none of us wants to rock the boat right now.”

“Speak for yourself!” Khloe hollers from the end of the line. “Ivy wasn’t mad at me!”

True, I wasn’t. It’s been six months since everything both fell apart and together. I was mad at my family for a long time, until I understood that they were victims of Emeric’s fuckery too.

I wish I could say forgivingsomeone elseame that easy. It didn’t. Do I forgive him? Yes. Do I miss him? Yes.

God. So much…

But none of that changes the facts, and the fact is that La Maison du Mal needs to be continued, and if Asher stays with me, he’ll never be able to play his part in the family tree.

“Champagne and rugbyafterthis!” I snap at Jord, unlocking my phone for a photo of the view. Beyond the thick white snowat our feet, the lights of Veilarath glitter in the dark. Far too pretty to miss.

I open Instagram and pause over a new post from Asher.

I’ve watched him from a distance while buying the house in Chicago and settling back into my foundation life. Publishing is a dog-eat-dog world, but there’s some satisfaction in helping people chase their dreams. Especially when you've spent so much time running from nightmares.

My heart drops into a slow, heavy beat at his smile. God, he’s fucking beautiful. Bastard. His face is harder, like all he’s done is protein and weights, which doesn’t surprise me.

The reporter asks him about his new prodigy and how the training has been going. It’s the first I’ve heard of it, but I take it it has something to do with him retiring his board.

I need to stop staring and exit this app.

Mountain air fills my lungs in an inhale of ice and pine.

I read the caption three times before the letters stop swimming.

“Stop cheating, Khloe!” Jord shouts, jerking my head up.

Luce laughs behind him. “She’s been taking lessons from Asher!”

Khloe’s already halfway down the slope, her board spraying snow in a tail behind her. She’d counted down from three but launched at two, classic Khloe.

My thighs burn on the push off. The slope drops beneath me, leaving my stomach weightless for a second. Fresh powder peels away under my edge until all I hear is my heartbeat.

This is what I wanted for my birthday. My friends, the cold, and a sky throwing a color show above us.