The Inheritance Games, #3
The Final Gambit
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 51
Overview
Eve’s visit to Mallory Laughlin exposes Mallory’s grief, her fixation on Eve as Emily’s replacement, and a key family revelation: Toby’s father was a mysterious man named Liam. The meeting is interrupted when Toby’s captor escalates by breaking into Thea’s bedroom and using her to deliver a self-destructing message to Avery.
The gold envelope’s number, 363-1982, and its concentric-circle seal reconnect the current threat to the disk from Toby’s abduction, suggesting the captor’s riddle is broader than Avery realized. Oren moves the group toward Hawthorne protection, while Mallory’s choice to go for Eve and reject Rebecca deepens Rebecca’s pain.
Summary
Rebecca admits Avery, Eve, and Xander into Mallory Laughlin’s house, where everything appears obsessively cleaned and Rebecca’s hands are chapped. Mallory immediately objects to Avery and Xander being present, but Eve says Toby considers Avery family too, using Toby’s bond with Avery to justify the intrusion.
Mallory fixates on Eve’s resemblance to Emily and to herself, treating Eve as if Emily has returned. Rebecca tries to ground her mother, but Mallory dismisses Rebecca and tells Eve that strong women take what they want. Eve uses Mallory’s need for her to press for answers about her origins, eventually calling Mallory Mom to get her to talk.
Mallory reveals that Toby’s father was an older, attractive, mysterious man named Liam, whom Mallory used to sneak into Hawthorne House when she was young. When Eve asks what happened, Mallory says only that Liam left. Before the conversation can go further, the doorbell rings, and Oren reacts as if another delivery from Toby’s captor may have arrived.
The visitor is Thea, who says someone entered her bedroom, turned off her phone, and left a gold envelope with instructions to bring it to Avery. Oren realizes the captor bypassed his trap and used Thea as an intermediary. Avery sees her full name on the envelope and a wax seal of concentric circles like the disk connected to Toby’s kidnapping, then opens it against Oren’s warning.
Inside, Avery finds only the number 363-1982 written in silver script before the envelope catches fire and burns to ash. Xander suggests the numbers could be a date, a phone number, or some other code, while Avery and Oren recognize that the seal itself may matter as much as the message. Oren concludes the break-in is an escalation and orders everyone back to Hawthorne House for protection.
Mallory initially refuses to go and refuses to let her daughters go, but Rebecca quietly corrects her use of daughters. Thea challenges Mallory’s fatalism, and Eve convinces Mallory to come by saying she needs to know Mallory is safe. Mallory agrees to stay at Wayback Cottage for Eve’s sake, but pointedly tells Rebecca to stay with the Hawthornes because Rebecca loves them so much.
Who Appears
- Avery Kylie GrambsAccompanies Eve, opens the captor’s envelope, and connects its seal to Toby’s disk.
- EvePresses Mallory for family answers and persuades her to leave for safety.
- Mallory LaughlinGrieving mother who fixates on Eve, reveals Liam, and cruelly rejects Rebecca.
- Rebecca LaughlinEndures her mother’s favoritism and pain while supporting the visit and Thea.
- OrenProtective head of security who identifies the break-in as an escalation.
- Thea CalligarisBrings the captor’s envelope after someone breaks into her bedroom.
- Xander HawthorneSupports Rebecca and helps Avery analyze the burned message’s possible meanings.