The Inheritance Games, #1
The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
Chapter 52
Overview
Avery joins Jameson in Black Wood, where his grief over Emily gives way to their obsessive search for the next Hawthorne clue. After two days, Avery finds a childlike carving reading TOBIAS HAWTHORNE II, suggesting a direct connection to Toby and deepening the mystery.
The discovery is immediately interrupted by gunfire aimed at Avery and Jameson, turning the inheritance puzzle into a life-threatening danger. Oren saves them from further harm, retrieves a bullet, and confirms that someone deliberately targeted them.
Summary
Avery follows Jameson to the outskirts of Black Wood after Thea’s mention of Emily upsets him. Avery finds Jameson violently punching a tree, but instead of confronting his pain directly, Avery makes a light comment about broken fingers, and Jameson accepts the chance to pretend nothing is wrong.
Jameson explains that he believes the four Hawthorne brothers’ middle names correspond to four locations and four clues, likely carvings like the mark on the bridge. The problem is the scale of Black Wood: hundreds of trees could hide the next clue. Jameson has been marking checked trees with glow-in-the-dark duct tape, and Avery realizes they are repeating the painstaking search pattern from earlier puzzles.
Two days later, Avery and Jameson are still searching without success. Jameson grows increasingly intense, while Avery learns that others are also involved: Jameson has seen Grayson with a map of the woods, and Thea has been following Avery unless distracted by Xander. Jameson also explains that Thea and Xander once dated, despite their near-family connection through Zara’s recent marriage to Constantine.
As Avery and Jameson work deeper into the forest, where the trees thin near an open grassy area, Avery finds a carving on a tree. With Jameson’s light, they read the unevenly carved name “TOBIAS HAWTHORNE II.” Jameson identifies the final marks as a Roman numeral, and Avery immediately connects the name to Toby.
Before they can process the discovery, gunshots tear through the tree. Bark shrapnel hits Avery, and Jameson pulls Avery down, covering Avery with his body as a second shot rings out. Oren arrives armed, orders them to stay down, and briefly pursues the shooter before returning to assess Avery’s injuries.
Oren determines that Avery was not shot but was cut by bark, including a deeper wound below Avery’s collarbone that will need stitches. Oren digs a bullet from a nearby tree and says it may be traceable. Jameson, no longer joking, demands to know what happened, and Oren states that someone saw Avery and Jameson as easy targets and fired twice.
Who Appears
- Avery GrambsFinds Jameson in Black Wood, discovers the Tobias Hawthorne II carving, and is injured by bark shrapnel.
- Jameson HawthorneChannels grief into the clue hunt, helps find the carving, and shields Avery during the shooting.
- OrenAvery’s bodyguard; responds to the gunfire, checks Avery’s injuries, and retrieves a bullet for tracing.
- Thea CalligarisOffstage presence whose mention of Emily unsettles Jameson; Avery says Thea has been tailing Avery.
- Grayson HawthorneOffstage rival in the clue hunt; Jameson reports seeing Grayson with a map of the woods.