Page 9 of Black Willow Witch
Emberlyn grinned. Millicent had clearly been aware of Reena’s plans – perhaps through gossip, perhaps because she’d always ‘known’ certain things – and she’d taken moves to ensure that the land she’d loved couldn’t be turned into an upper-class neighborhood for the coven.
‘No,’ Reena repeated, staring down at the will, ‘no, the land wasn’t hers to give away! It is part of Bellcrest!’
‘It lies beyond the border, actually,’ Ripper corrected, his voice deep, thick and rumbly – pure vocal testosterone. ‘It belonged to the Vautier line, not to the coven.’
The corners of Reena’s eyes tightened. ‘It comes with the manor.’
‘No,’ Ripper objected. ‘It was originally my clan’s land. It was purchased by a Vautier witch who hadn’t wanted the house to be so close to werewolf territory; she’d wanted more space. Our clan has been trying to get it back for years, but no one would ever give it up. Until now.’
Reena shook her head hard, the will crumpling in her hand.
‘What else did she leave me?’ he asked.
Reena blinked. ‘What?’
‘You didn’t finish your sentence. It read, “I bequeathboth”, as if there’s more.’
A little flustered, she flicked her gaze back to the papers in her hand.
Jax Stone, to you I bequeath both the land that once belonged to your clan and . . .
She trailed off, her brow creasing.
And my granddaughter, Emberlyn.
Oh, thathag.
Ripper looked at Emberlyn, his brows inching up.
She flapped a dismissive hand. ‘Just ignore that last part.’
‘This whole thing is ridiculous,’ Dez proclaimed. ‘You don’t bequeath people in wills, and you can’t dole out land like it’s candy. Reena, what about the manor, the money, everything else? Whoever owns the building can probably contest this.’
Reena looked back down at the will so fast it must have hurt her neck. She pointed to the bottom of the sheet. ‘Well, she added here: ‘“The rest of all I own, my small fortune included, will belong to the new owner of Black Willow Manor. By new owner, I mean whoever manages to get inside it.” ’
Gill’s lips parted in enraged shock. ‘She didn’t. She didnotpull that archaic bullshit tradition out of her ass!’
Emberlyn exchanged amused looks with the twins. It had once been tradition for the manor to go to whichever of the Vautier beneficiaries it ‘chose’. Every piece of material used to construct it had been imbued with sentient magick, so the house had an ‘awareness’.
It would be interesting to see which of them it chose.
‘What about my coin collection?’ asked Paisley. ‘How do I get it?’
Again, Reena consulted the will. ‘According to this, she placed it in a storage facility for you, along with the other items stated in the will.’ Her gaze cut to Emberlyn. ‘Except for the earrings. She left those in the manor. So if you want them . . .’
Realization dawning on her, Emberlyn inwardly sighed as she finished, ‘I’ll have to get inside.’Motherfucker.
Paisley looked at her. ‘See, Itoldyou she hated you most.’
CHAPTER TWO
Well, it looked as though her friend was right. Because however this played out, it would be painful for Emberlyn in some way.
She’d never get her hands on those earrings via one of her relatives. Those sly, greedy, arrogant asses wouldn’t give hershit. Which left her no choice but to go to the manor if she wanted her mom’s earrings.
One of two things would then happen.
Either the house would magickly strike to keep her out – and yeah, there’d be bruises as a result. Or it would bid her entrance . . . which would mean that it had ‘chosen’ her to be its new owner.
