The Inheritance Games, #4
The Brothers Hawthorne
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 89: JAMESON
Overview
Jameson’s victory at Vantage is followed by two important shifts: Zella reveals that she has positioned herself as a future architect of the Game, threatening Rohan’s standing, and Jameson confirms Avery’s loyalty after she protected his secret. Jameson chooses not to reveal that secret yet, preserving a tension between trust and truth in his relationship with Avery. The celebratory moment ends abruptly when Jameson receives Grayson’s emergency text, pulling the story back toward the crisis in Phoenix.
Summary
After the family matter with Branford, Jameson returns downstairs and finds Rohan and Zella waiting in the foyer. Zella says she did not read Jameson’s secret, and Jameson tells her that she still owes him. Rohan notes that Jameson beat both Zella and Rohan, but Zella insists she achieved what she wanted.
Zella then reveals a larger ambition: the Proprietor has promised that she will plan and run next year’s Game. This unsettles Rohan beneath his calm surface because Zella frames herself as another possible heir to the Proprietor’s legacy, making their rivalry explicit.
Jameson reunites with Avery, who immediately knows he won and asks to hear everything. Their reunion turns intimate, charged by Jameson’s victory and by their mutual loyalty. Jameson points out that Avery got disqualified for him and burned his secret without reading it, and Avery answers that the secret was his, not hers.
Jameson nearly offers to tell Avery the secret, but Avery says she does not need to know if what Jameson needs is for her not to know. Jameson understands that Avery is choosing to protect him, even if part of her wants the truth. A fragment of the secret still weighs on Jameson, but he decides to wait and enjoy the victory for now.
Oren interrupts to report that cell service is back and gives Jameson his phone, courtesy of Rohan. Messages and missed calls arrive all at once. Jameson begins joking with Avery about Vantage and Scottish castles, but the moment is cut short when Jameson sees the latest text from Grayson: 911.
Who Appears
- Jameson HawthorneVantage winner; savors victory, trusts Avery, and receives Grayson’s emergency text.
- Avery Kylie GrambsReunites with Jameson and affirms she will protect his unread secret.
- ZellaAdmits she did not read Jameson’s secret and reveals ambitions to run the next Game.
- RohanFactotum challenged by Zella’s claim to be another possible heir to the Proprietor.
- OrenInterrupts Jameson and Avery to return Jameson’s phone once service resumes.
- BranfordPresent as Jameson returns from resolved family business.
- Grayson HawthorneAbsent but sends the urgent 911 text that ends Jameson’s celebration.