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Chapter Four
The Heir
As July blurred into August, so too did the days blur into weeks. Cassie hadn't even been aware of the time until they were sitting on the day of Peter's birthday – the eighteenth – with the first day of school approaching not too long after that.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me on my birthday," Peter bemoaned as he flopped down next to Cassie, showering her with droplets of water.
They had gone back to the watering hole that afternoon to swim. Cassie was laying atop a grassy knoll, stretched out on a towel and desperately trying to regain some color. She had become so pale these last few months, and she was determined to be tan again by the time they got back to Hogwarts. Merlin knew she would not be getting any sun there.
"Of all the days in the holiday, Cass, why do you have to go to the Ministry today?" Peter continued. "On my birthday?"
Cassie wiped away the water he'd gotten on her with a frown. "Pete, I told you this already: today was the only day Mr. Gorgon could meet with me. He was booked out before." She squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight as she turned to see his pouting expression. "And don't give me that look! We're not even celebrating until tonight. I'll be back hours before then."
Peter got to his feet, huffing.
"On my birthday," he repeated, before setting off for Potter Manor in the distance. Mrs. Potter had left out a pitcher of lemonade and some snacks for them on the patio, and despite the trek, Peter seemed to have some sort of internal clock that told him when to go back for more.
Sirius snorted from her other side, and she rolled her head to look at him. He'd climbed out of the water about twenty minutes ago, copying Cassie and laying out beside her in the sun.
"What?" she said. She still squinted from the light, cursing herself for not being smart and investing in Muggle sunglasses like the pair Sirius was wearing.
Through the slit in her eyes, she could see his bare chest, and the still-healing scar across it. It was whitening at the edges, forming scar tissue, but it still remained quite pink in the middle, where the gouge had been the deepest. Since he'd showed it to her, he hadn't seemed to mind going shirtless again. Those first days they'd spent at the watering hole he'd kept his shirt on, and she figured he just didn't like swimming, but it wasn't until their conversation in the shed that she'd realized why he'd kept it on. They hadn't spoken about that conversation – or the woman Cassie saw – since then, but Sirius had seemed a lot more comfortable in the days following, like a weight had been lifted from him. The shadows still haunted his eyes every now and then, but he seemed happier than he had in a while.
Sirius jerked his head in the direction Peter had gone. "I swear the lad treats his birthday like it's a national holiday sometimes."
Cassie grinned. "Let him have his fun," she said. "It only comes around once a year."
A loud splash and a victorious whoop came from the water, and Cassie looked to where James and Remus were still swimming. They'd taken to having a two-man battle for the game James liked to call the king of the rock, and judging by James's triumphant stance atop the large rock in the center of the watering hole and the disturbed water where Remus had tumbled in, the former had won.
Remus emerged from the water and renewed his attack on James, and Cassie watched the two boys grapple atop the rock in amusement.
"You know, I could get used to this," she said, sitting up and leaning back on her elbows. At Sirius's raised brows, she smirked and ran her eyes over his bare torso, then flicked her gaze to the shirtless James and Remus, water glistening on their tanned and toned bodies as they wrestled. "Relaxing in the sun, surrounded by a bunch of attractive, shirtless men?" She grinned suggestively. "Not a bad life."
Sirius grinned back, the expression reminiscent of his Animagus form. "As long as you keep wearing that swimsuit, Princess, I wouldn't mind at all."
Cassie blushed but refused to back down from his gaze. Liv had taken her shopping at the beginning of the summer to buy more Muggle clothes to wear so she could fit in with her new neighborhood, and the black two-piece swimsuit she wore had been one of the purchases.
"Oi, this is my fantasy, not yours," she teased.
"Obviously," he said. "Yours clearly involves more clothing than mine."
Cassie groaned, throwing her head back.
"I give up," she said as Sirius began laughing. "Every time I think I can outmaneuver you at innuendo, you put me to shame."
He laughed again. "That's why I'm the master, love."
She rolled her eyes. "Master of arrogance, too."
"That's not what you were saying last night," he said, putting his hands behind his head with a satisfied smirk.
"Sirius!" Cassie looked to the water in terror, but James and Remus were still too busy wrestling to hear them. Heat rushed to her face as Sirius laughed, but also at the memory of their late-night activities. She'd taken ample time exploring the torso stretched out beside her, and the snog they'd shared afterward… Her skin flushed in a way that had nothing to do with the sun. "Shout our business to the world, why don't you?"
"Aw, is the princess pouting?" he teased, poking her cheek. She smacked his finger away, much to his amusement.
"Just shut up and tan," she grumbled, laying back down.
When Sirius barked another laugh, and James and Remus began howling like wolves once they reached a truce and both occupied the rock, Cassie rolled her eyes and cursed herself for ever getting involved with insufferable boys.
Liv arrived precisely at four o'clock. Cassie could hear her aunt and Mrs. Potter exchanging pleasantries through her open door as she rushed to put on her stockings and shoes, not nearly as punctual as Liv was.
"You're late," Sirius said from where he was lounging against her doorframe, the portrait of careless elegance and boredom.
"Nonsense." Cassie rifled through her trunk until she found her grandmother's pearl hairpin, tucked away in a pair of her socks. She twisted her hair up loosely before stabbing the pin through it, checking to make sure it held before getting to her feet. "See? I'm ready now."
Sirius smirked as she breezed past him into the hall, stashing her wand up her sleeve. He fell into step beside her as they made their way downstairs, Cassie's heels echoing loudly in the grand house. He ran a finger down the black silk robes she wore and hummed in appreciation.
"You wore these to Christmas at my place last year, right?" he asked.
Cassie nodded. "Yeah. They were a gift from my mum." She didn't let herself linger on the thought too much. "How did you remember?"
He grinned wolfishly. "I always remember the outfits that make you look utterly irresistible."
Cassie rolled her eyes, though she blushed anyway. "Do you ever get tired of flirting?"
"Sometimes." He shrugged. "But I do love to watch you squirm whenever I do."
He laughed and jogged down a couple of steps when Cassie attempted to shove him. She scowled. "Git."
"Is that any way to speak to your loving boyfriend?"
Cassie's only response was to call him a viler and more creative name that left him speechless from laughter as they reached the ground floor. He placed a hand on the small of her back, still chuckling, and led her to the parlor with the exquisite stone fireplace she'd arrived in when she'd Flooed to Potter Manor only a couple of weeks before.
Liv and Mrs. Potter sat in one of the loveseats, drinking tea and chatting like old friends. Both witches were dressed in splendid robes, Mrs. Potter in a charming set of mauve and Liv wearing forest green to complement her dark hair and hazel eyes. Cassie started when she saw her aunt; she'd never seen Liv wear anything but Muggle clothes before. Even when her aunt had escorted her from Hogwarts, Liv hadn't dressed in wizard robes.
James, Remus, and Peter were standing idly by one of the tall windows, there to see Cassie off, and after she waved to Liv to let her know that she was ready, she approached them with Sirius.
"You better make this meeting snappy, Princess," James said. He leaned against the window frame and grinned. "I have a party all planned out for our dear Peter, and I dislike tardiness."
"Rich, coming from you," Cassie retorted, remembering all the lessons he'd showed up to late over the years. James only sketched a bow. "I won't be gone long, I promise. My parents were adamant in teaching me about their finances and holdings growing up since Will and I are the only heirs. All I have to do is make sure everything is in order and then have Liv sign some forms as my guardian. I'll be in and out."
"You still haven't told us what we're even doing for Pete's party," Remus pointed out, raising a brow at James.
James waved him off. "It's a surprise. Right, Wormtail?"
Peter nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet and looking utterly delighted that he was the only one privy to James's plans. Even Sirius was gazing at his best mate in bemusement.
"Well, whatever it is, just save me some cake," Cassie said. "And not a corner piece! You know I hate too much frosting."
James rolled his eyes. "Of course, Princess. Your wish is our command."
Remus elbowed him in the side, smiling at Cassie as James swore. "I doubt you'll be late, Cass. But that middle piece is yours if you are. Even if I have to fight this lot off for it." He jerked his chin at the other boys, and Cassie grinned.
"At least I know you have my back, Remus." She turned to Peter and ruffled his hair. "Happy birthday, Pete. I'll be back before you know it, all right?" They bumped fists, and Cassie waved to the others as she went to where Liv was now standing patiently by the fireplace, Mrs. Potter collecting the tin of Floo powder for them.
Sirius approached with Cassie, his hand still on her back, and he dipped his chin respectfully to Liv. "Mrs. Hastings. Good to see you again."
"Sirius." Liv's voice was pleasant enough, but Cassie saw her eyes linger on Sirius's hand. "How lovely to see you, as well. And you must call me Liv, please."
Sirius nodded. "Of course." He released Cassie before swooping her hand up to his lips, kissing it softly – playing up the part of the pure-blood prince he'd been raised to be. Cassie refrained from making a face as he winked at her and straightened. "I eagerly await your return, Cassie Alderfair."
She smiled politely but hissed "Kiss-ass" to him when she went to join her aunt at the fireplace. He said nothing, but his lips twitched in a smile when Mrs. Potter offered the tin of powder to Cassie and Liv.
Mrs. Potter kissed both of Cassie's cheeks when Cassie grabbed a fistful of emerald powder. "See you soon, dear." She turned to Liv and smiled – a wary but kind gesture. "It was wonderful to see you again, Olivia. It's been…quite a long time."
"Indeed it has." Cassie thought she saw a flicker of regret in her aunt's eyes before it was gone, replaced by her refined and poised grace once more. "We must have tea sometime and catch up."
Mrs. Potter smiled again. "I would like that very much."
Liv returned the gesture before she stepped back into the fireplace and threw the Floo powder at her feet. "The Ministry of Magic, London!"
She was gone in a burst of emerald flames, and Cassie followed suit once the smoke had cleared. She waved to everyone congregated in the parlor before dropping the powder and shouting, "The Ministry of Magic, London!"
She whirled through fireplace after fireplace, feeling like her eyes were rattling around in her skull before the green flames released her into cool underground air and an expansive hearth.
Fortunately, she did not lose her balance this time, but she still had to gulp a few breaths down before the room stopped spinning and her stomach ceased its churning. She stepped out into a high-ceilinged, dark-floored atrium, the sounds of a bustling workspace hitting her full force once she was clear of the fireplace she'd come through.
She had vague childhood recollections of the Ministry from when her mother used to bring her to visit her father while he was working. Everything had been so much bigger then, more frightening to her young eyes. The Atrium was still humongous though. It stretched away into the underground of London, so far that she could not see either side or where it ended. Windows that gave the illusion of the outside streamed golden sunlight into the cavernous space, making the dark wooden floors and the gilded fireplaces along each wall gleam.
Wizards and witches in an array of robes hurried past her, too busy to notice her standing there gawking. Hundreds of Charmed parchment planes soared through the air, memos and messages to other departments zooming through the crowds of people and narrowly avoiding collisions with other planes. One raced past Cassie, so close she had to jerk her head back to avoid receiving a nasty papercut to her cheek.
Dodging both people and parchment, she went to where Liv was standing a few paces away and joined her before the fountain that she remembered clearly, despite how long it had been since she'd seen it.
The Fountain of Magical Brethren dominated the center of the Atrium. The golden statues were so large that they seemed to reach the peacock-blue ceiling above, the golden symbols moving across the ceiling causing the statues to glow with an incandescent light that made them appear more life-like. A noble wizard and a beautiful witch stood at the center of the fountain, glittering jets of water shooting from their wand tips into the circular pool below. A centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf stood below the wizard and witch, each statue spouting its own jet of water, but one thing Cassie noticed now that she hadn't before was how the centaur, goblin, and house-elf were gazing adoringly to the witch and wizard above them.
She frowned at this, wondering if she was reading too much into things. But when she glanced at Liv and saw her aunt staring at the wizard's statue, her top lip curled slightly, she realized that perhaps she wasn't entirely wrong.
Before Cassie could say anything, Liv grabbed her elbow and pulled her along into the streaming crowds, saying, "Come; we have to check in at the visitors' center before we can find Mr. Gorgon's office."
Cassie only nodded, falling into step with her, acutely aware that she now stood taller than her aunt, even though they were both wearing the same height in heels. She tried to slouch some, hoping nobody would recognize her as they joined the queue at the visitors' center, where a wizened, gruff wizard sat checking wands and identification.
The longer they waited in line, the more attention they started to draw. Sweat prickled at Cassie's underarms when she began to notice the stares and whispers, and she wiped her palms on her robes, staring ahead resolutely. It wasn't until a pair of exiting visitors walked past them – two older wizards – that Cassie learned why.
On a whim, she tried to catch them staring at her, but the wizards looked right past her. Cassie followed their gazes, her eyes widening slightly when it dawned on her that they weren't looking at her, but rather at Liv. Liv wasn't paying any attention, but Cassie shifted closer to the two wizards, angling her head to listen to their hushed conversation better and wondering why they were so interested in her aunt.
"I'm telling you, Doc, that's Olivia Vaughn!"
"You're full of shite, Archie. I heard Vaughn was disowned after she ran off with some Muggle. Why would she be here?"
Cassie glanced back to her aunt as the wizards moved off, shooting Liv furtive looks as they went, still arguing. Liv gave no indication that she'd heard the two men, but Cassie stared after them, frowning.
She knew Liv's story; her elopement with David, her disownment by her parents – Cassie's grandparents, Mattias and Opal Vaughn. But she had no idea her aunt was so…notorious for it. It made her wonder if Sirius would become so known for the same reasons as he was already known for being the first Black to be Sorted into Gryffindor. The thought made her uneasy.
They made it through the security checkpoint with relative ease, not speaking and keeping their heads down. But once they made it through and their wands were returned to them, Cassie put a hand on Liv's shoulder.
"You didn't tell me," she said to Liv's inquiring look.
"Tell you what?" But Liv turned away, too nonchalant to not be suspect.
"About what coming here would mean." Cassie gestured to the checkpoint. "I know you heard the murmurs, saw the looks. People know who you are here. And yet you still came."
Liv turned back to her, eyes flashing. "I came because you needed me; because you asked me to. I'm not like everyone else in my family, Cassie; I don't turn my back on them."
Cassie withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry. I—"
"No, no, I'm sorry." Liv waved her off, shaking her head. "Forgive me; I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I just never expected it to be this difficult." She gestured to the Atrium they'd left behind. "I haven't been back to the wizarding world in nearly a decade. The fallout from my departure…it was catastrophic. I left my parents a fine mess to deal with."
Cassie grinned slightly. "My mother told me you melted down your inheritance to make wedding bands for yourself and David."
Liv huffed a laugh, her cheeks coloring. "I was twenty-three. Could hardly hear my head over my heart."
Cassie tilted her head. "Do you ever regret it? Leaving them?"
"No." Liv's tone was resolute. "I regret breaking your mother's heart, but I don't regret following my own."
"Why do so many people seem to know your name? I know you and my mother were the last descendants of the Vaughn family, but Mum always told me you were lesser pure-blood nobility."
Liv's face tightened. "That's a topic for another time." She grasped Cassie's elbow again and marched her toward the lifts at the end of the hall. "It's nearly four-thirty. Mr. Gorgon will be expecting us."
Cassie had no choice but to follow her aunt into a cramped lift, filled with several other witches and wizards only a handful of years older than herself. They were too busy reading their memos and checking their pocket watches to notice the two women, and Cassie relaxed slightly as the lift lurched down.
They descended farther underground, the lift rattling to a stop at the second level. A cool, disembodied female voice announced that they'd arrived at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the lift opened. Cassie and Liv slipped out along with several paper planes as more Ministry employees entered the lift, but Liv ushered them toward the gilded office doors lining the far back wall.
They passed rows of cubicles and receptionist areas, the atmosphere of the level brisk and businesslike. Attorneys and court officials in billowing robes swept past, hounded by reporters and floating quills. Cassie averted her eyes, hoping none of them would recognize her and begin interrogating her about Will or her parents. But they passed without incident, and she huffed out a tight breath of relief.
Soon, the fancier law enforcement officials were swapped for a different caliber the farther down the level they traveled. Impeccable robes transformed into tighter, more maneuverable combat suits with dusty coats and cloaks, and the polished bureaucrats were replaced by toughened, grim-faced Aurors.
Cassie could not help but ogle as they passed. Dark wizard catchers – that's what these men and women were. But Will had told her that Voldemort's forces had infiltrated the ranks, as well. Were some of them here?
She ducked her head and kept her eyes on Liv's back the rest of the trek to the lawyers' offices, not looking up until Liv gave their names to the receptionist and they were instructed to sit down in the waiting area.
Cassie sank into the plush couch across from Liv, facing away from the majority of the department level. She rubbed at her scalp, already uncomfortable with the weight of her hair and the heavy pin in it. She glanced up when Liv cleared her throat, her aunt watching her shrewdly.
"So," she said, leaning back in her seat. "Sirius Black?" Cassie grimaced. Liv just grinned. "I told you to look forward to this conversation the next time I saw you."
Cassie coughed. "Yeah, but I didn't know if you were actually serious, or you were like my mum, who'd only remember a year later."
Liv's smile widened. "Did she know?"
"Yes." She huffed. "And she already gave me hell for it, so most of your speech will just be redundant."
"Speech?" Liv wrinkled her nose. "Merlin, no. If anything, I wanted to congratulate you on snagging such a devilishly handsome boy to dangle off your arm."
Cassie snorted. "Please don't let him hear you say that. His ego's already big enough for the both of us."
Liv propped her elbow on the arm of her chair and tapped her finger against her cheek, studying Cassie. "So you like him?"
"I mean, we're dating." Cassie shrugged. "I'd say yes."
"Hm. Why him? Your friends Remus and James are handsome as well, and they clearly like you. As friends, at least, but possibly more if you wanted." Cassie inwardly cringed at the blatant disregard for Peter, but she listened anyway in growing embarrassment. "Why Sirius?"
Cassie shifted in her seat. "Remus and James are my friends – more than that. They're like my brothers." She shrugged again at Liv's high brows. "Are you asking about Sirius out of curiosity, or out of prejudice because he's a Black?"
"The Blacks do have a reputation, Cassie. They always have."
"I'm aware."
"I'm not trying to upset you," Liv said. She leaned forward, gazing at Cassie earnestly. "Cassie, really. But you've been through so much already. I don't want to see you hurt any more than you have been."
Cassie glanced down to her lap, her eyes suddenly burning.
"Sirius isn't like his family," she said quietly. "I knew that even before we became friends – before we became more." She bit her lip. "He was disowned this summer. Ran away from home and everything, for having different views than the rest of his family. He's living with James now." She looked back to Liv. "Surely you can understand that? Can understand him a little more, and not be so quick to judge someone based on their family name alone?"
Liv stared at her for a long moment before blowing out a heavy breath. "Godric. You may look like your mother, but you certainly don't think like her." She smiled grimly at Cassie's questioning look. "Always kept her mouth shut and her head down, Eleanor did. The only time I ever saw her stand up for something was when our parents threw me out." She swallowed. "That was the only time she fought back. Raged against who she was, who our parents had turned her into."
"What happened?" Cassie's voice was a whisper.
"She was already married to your father. The coldest bastard I'd ever known." Her tone was full of loathing, her eyes simmering with bitterness. Cassie could only listen, breathless and silent. "He was there that night too. The night I snapped and ran away. Like your Sirius." Cassie's chest tightened at the words. "He dragged her away from me. Hit her when she fought." She shook her head. "It was quick and bloody, Cassie. And my parents stood there and did absolutely nothing – not to stop him, or her, or me."
Cassie sat, stunned. She'd always suspected – always had an inkling that her father mistreated her mother behind closed doors. But to have it confirmed… She was starting to feel ill.
"The next time I saw her, there was no more fight in her. Just complacency. She wasn't a shell – Merlin, no. Lukas could never shatter her, no matter how hard he tried. But something in her broke that night, Cassie. Just like something broke in me. And she never fought again."
Cassie hadn't realized she was crying until she felt the tears seeping through the fabric covering her thighs. Liv provided her a handkerchief. Her eyes were bright, but no tears fell. Cassie guessed that all her tears had been cried out long ago.
"I'm sorry," she said, gesturing to her blotchy, tear-stained face. "I just…never knew. No one ever told me." She coughed out a broken laugh. "I always knew my father was a son of a bitch, but not like this."
"I don't want my past to taint any memory you may have of him, Cassie," Liv said, placing a hand on her knee. "It's just that – the past. You have your own history with him, your own image."
"The last thing I ever told him was to reflect on his own life before the end – how he came to be such a loathsome bastard." Cassie gripped the handkerchief tightly. "He never hid himself from me. He always wanted me to know how little I meant to him."
"That's over now." Liv smiled faintly. "We probably shouldn't discuss such things here anyway." She squeezed Cassie's knee once more before leaning back again. "So tell me: did your mother ever have the talk with you when she found out you were dating Sirius?"
Cassie blanched, and Liv laughed.
Mr. Gorgon was a small, pallid man with a rather pitiful receding hairline and large, watery grey eyes. Dressed in black robes that seemed far too large on his thin frame, he made for an unintimidating figure – someone her father would have chosen carefully. Intelligent, but discreet. Someone with connections and access, but so unforgettable that no one would remember his name or what he'd inquired after.
Lukas Alderfair had always been a bastard, but at least he'd been a bastard with sense.
Mr. Gorgon had greeted Cassie and Liv warmly enough with that shrill, reedy voice of his and gotten right down to business. He walked the two women through the stacks of parchment atop his elegant desk, piled so high that Cassie could barely see him over it. Then came the signing.
Cassie sucked on a piece of toffee while she and Liv scribbled their names on document after document, for so long that Cassie feared she would need to replace her hand before going back to Hogwarts. It felt like hours later when they finished and Mr. Gorgon sealed the final piece of parchment, bearing Cassie's signature as inheritor and Liv's as the legal guardian of the Alderfair fortune until Cassie came of age.
"And there you have it, Miss Alderfair." Mr. Gorgon reached out and shook her hand, his skin warm and papery to the touch. "As your brother William has been sentenced to serve a life sentence in Azkaban, all Alderfair properties, assets, and holdings go directly to you as the sole and last heir of the House of Alderfair. The Gringotts accounts associated with your parents have been frozen until you turn the legal age of seventeen, in which time your aunt must accompany you to the bank to retrieve the funds set aside in your own account. Once you turn seventeen, everything legally becomes yours for you to decide what to do with."
Cassie's head still swam from all the words she'd read and the sheer shock of discovering just how much money her family had, but she forced herself to stand and smile at the wizard. "Thank you, Mr. Gorgon. It's a relief to know that my family placed such trust in you, and I'm grateful to you for continuing to serve me just as well as my father."
"Of course, of course." Mr. Gorgon bobbed his head, standing along with Liv. "If you have any more questions or concerns, you will find my information on this card." He handed both women a business card. Cassie pocketed hers, turning to leave, but Mr. Gorgon said, "If I could actually have a moment alone, Miss Alderfair?"
Cassie glanced to Mr. Gorgon, still standing and smiling benignly, and then to Liv, who appeared to be sizing him up. Liv caught Cassie's eye, but Cassie nodded; she could handle this on her own.
"I'll be right outside," Liv said to her, eyeing Mr. Gorgon once more before departing the office.
Cassie remained standing when Mr. Gorgon made no move to sit back down. "Was there something else, Mr. Gorgon?"
"Yes." He opened a drawer of his desk and extracted an unaddressed, unsealed envelope. "Several weeks before your mother and father's tragic demise, your father visited me and gave me this." He held up the envelope. "He was very explicit that no one was to read it – not even me. His only instruction was to give this to you – and only you – should something ever happen to him."
Cassie's body went cold. "What?"
But Mr. Gorgon only shook his head. "That was all the information I was given, Miss Alderfair. Your father was very clear."
He held out the envelope to her. She tried to steady the tremble in her fingers as she took it from him, holding it carefully as if it were a firecracker that might blow up in her face.
"Thank you," she said, not knowing what else there was to say. "Thank you, Mr. Gorgon. Good-bye."
Before he could say anything more, Cassie ducked out of the office. She looked around and saw Liv standing and talking to the receptionist. Taking advantage of her aunt's momentary distraction, Cassie ripped open the envelope, her heart pounding. Written on a piece of her father's heavy, rich stationary, in his handwriting, was only a single word. A name.
Norvina
Cassie flipped the paper over, but there was nothing else. Just that one word. That one name. Norvina.
Her heart thundered against her ribs. What did it mean? Why had her father gone through so much trouble and secrecy just to give her a single name?
"Ready?"
Liv stood before her, looking happy to finally be leaving the Ministry. Cassie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She subtly moved her hand behind her back and crumpled her father's note in her fist, glancing back to Mr. Gorgon's office, but the door was closed.
"Yeah," she said, forcing her voice to come out normal. She took Liv's hand in her own that wasn't holding the note and tried to ignore her creeping sense of dread. "Let's get out of here."
Next Chapter: The Shadows