The Inheritance Games, #4
The Brothers Hawthorne
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 91: GRAYSON
Overview
Avery confronts Grayson with compassion and blunt honesty, pushing Grayson to stop isolating himself and to consider telling his sisters enough of the truth to repair trust. Toby’s message changes Grayson’s understanding of the threat: Eve only surveilled his sisters, while Vincent Blake has survived surgery. This forces Grayson to rethink who triggered the FBI’s interest in Sheffield Grayson and sends Grayson back toward Phoenix.
Summary
That night, Grayson swims to delay facing what has happened, but Avery finds him on the patio. Avery says Jameson told her about Grayson’s sisters, and her reaction makes clear that she is sorry for Grayson’s pain and frustrated that Grayson did not call her.
Avery compares Grayson’s secrecy to her own regret over not calling the police when her father kidnapped her and Mellie shot him. Avery says that Toby and Oren handled the aftermath, but she now believes they could have survived the media storm. Grayson answers that surviving is what they do, and the moment marks a calmer, more familial closeness between Grayson and Avery.
Avery asks what Grayson’s sisters think happened to Sheffield Grayson. Grayson says they may believe Sheffield skipped town, especially because they know Sheffield is under FBI investigation. Avery suggests Grayson could tell his sisters a partial truth: Sheffield was behind the bombing and Grayson was trying to protect both them and Avery from the full trauma of what happened.
Grayson resists because voluntarily exposing secrets rarely goes well, but Avery calls out Grayson’s pattern of bolting when people get close. Avery then shifts to Toby’s call: Vincent Blake survived his double bypass and is expected to recover, and Toby asked Avery to tell Grayson that Eve has only had Grayson’s sisters surveilled. According to Toby, Eve has not acted against Grayson’s family.
Because Grayson trusts Avery’s belief in Toby, Grayson reconsiders his assumptions. If Eve did not cause the FBI’s sudden renewed interest in the Sheffield Grayson case, then another force may be involved. Grayson calls his brothers and concludes he needs to return to Phoenix.
Who Appears
- Grayson HawthorneStruggles with secrecy, listens to Avery, and reopens the Sheffield puzzle after Toby’s report.
- Avery GrambsConfronts Grayson with empathy, urges honesty, and relays Toby’s information about Eve.
- Toby HawthorneOff-page source who reports Eve only surveilled Grayson’s sisters and Vincent Blake survived.
- EveSuspected threat whose actions are reframed as surveillance rather than an attack on Grayson’s family.