Page 39 of Hell and Halos

"The plan." And he smiles these words out. "Her plan."

"What plan, Wyatt? What are you talkin' about? Because he was telling me things about our family down there. He was tellin' me that⁠—"

"The Ashby women are nothin' but whores?"

I suck in a big breath. More tears fallin'. I can't answer, my chin is quiverin' so hard. All I can do is press my lips together and nod.

"It did start that way," Wyatt says. "That's how the whole dynasty started. A mail order bride from Denmark. Morgengave, Eleanor called it. The 'Morning Gift'. Our great, great, great whatever grandma Maren was sold to the Ashby name with an obligation to serve on her back. That's why the whole Ashby fortune lives in a trust that runs through the daughters. It's conditional because the money to buy that first Ashby bride was pooled together from all the local ranchers. She was... community property. Everyone took their turn."

I just stare at him for several long seconds. "You knew this? The whole time?"

Wyatt nods. "She told me I was the record keeper of the Ashby skyld. The broker of the guilt-debt, I guess."

"Broker? But you never lifted a single finger when it came to me."

Wyatt scoffs. "Yeah, Savannah. I shirked my duties as usual." Then he gives me a small salute. "You're welcome, by the way."

There's more here than I can process in the span of twenty seconds. My mind is reelin'. Legion is pulling me into him, sayin', "Let's not do this now."

And then Mercy says, "Well he put me in a fuckin' trunk and locked me in the covered wagon! Doesn't anyone care about my night!"

"What?" And then I'm ashamed of myself. I'd forgotten she was missing. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mercy. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Mercy grumbles. "He fooled me. He tricked me. They all tricked me. The school knew, Savannah. They told me he was my benefactor." Then she breaks down in tears and turns to Legion. "They gave me a pony. They tricked me. I can't go back there, can I?"

"No," Legion says simply. "No, Mercy. Once a traitor, always a traitor. You never give someone a second chance to fuck you over. Not ever."

"That's great news," Wyatt says, beaming a smile at Mercy. "Boarding schools are for prissy bitches. You're not one of them, Mercy. You're one of us. They don't deserve you. And anyway, I've missed you. You really pulled dinner time together."

And then… I laugh. I just killed a man who thought he inherited me as part of his trust fund, and I'm actually laughing.

It must be shock.

Or maybe it's just funny.

Because she really did pull dinner time together.

The elevator doors ding open and Cash reappears. He's talking before he even steps out. He looks at his watch, then Legion. "Opening bell's at seven-thirty. You're gonna wanna be there. So whatever business you got left, let's get it done."

"What are you talkin' about?" I ask. "And what are we gonna do about Marcus? How will we explain this to the police?"

"Police?" Cash nearly laughs. "There's not gonna be any police, Savannah. Go clean up, put Marcus out of your mind, and chill. It's over now."

"Over how? I just killed a man, Cash! A very important man!"

"Yeah, well people around these parts are gonna be glad he's missing in about ten hours. I'll give you all the details later. We've got shit to do." Then he points to Wyatt. "Let's go find ourselves a tarp."

CHAPTER 11

I take Savannah into the hallway, unsure where to go, only knowin' that we can't stay in her bedroom.

"This way," Savannah says, motioning down the long hallway toward a part of the house I've never seen before. "Eleanor's bedroom," she explains. "I can clean up in there and…"

That sentence ends with silence because she doesn't know what comes after that, and neither do I.

"What about me?" Mercy asks, though she hasn't gone anywhere, she's stuck to my hip.

"Come with us," I say. "We'll all stay in Eleanor's room tonight."