tricks of time ― grayson hawthorne [the inheritance games]

003. WANT ME DEAD?

"You don't know me." A rush of fury surged through my veins as I cut him off.

"I will," Grayson promised. "I'll know everything about you soon enough."

Every fiber of my being told me that he was a person who kept his word.

"Don't you fucking say that," I said, my left hand still restrained in his.

He chuckled, low, cold, mirthlessly. He didn't move, didn't blink, didn't do anything physically forceful, but he bled power, and he knew it. I could hear the strain in his voice, something telling him not to yell.

"Whatever game, you're playing Leah, my brothers may fall for. But I'm telling you, I will not rest, until I figure this out. I know what you're capable of, I can see it, and I will find the truth— I will bring you down, and when I do, I swear, even God won't have mercy on you."

We stared into each others' eyes for some time, my blue ones scavenging for something in his cool narrow ones.

As I turned to leave, he stopped me again.

"Whatever you're hiding, I'll find it. Every last secret. Within days, I'll have a detailed dossier on every person in your life. Your sister. Your father. Your mother—"

I froze as he said my mother.

"Don't  talk  about  my  mother."  My  chest  was  tight.  I'd forgotten how to breathe.

"Stay away from my family, Ms. Adler." Grayson pushed into the hallway.

"Or what?" I called after him, and then, possessed by something I couldn't quite name, I continued entering the hallway. I watched his retreading frame, but it froze as he heard my words. He turned back to me.

"You won't last a month in this house." Grayson managed to pull himself together long enough to issue that prediction like a royal issuing a decree. "In fact, I'd lay money that you're gone within the week."

Rage seared through my veins.

"What game are you playing?" I finally said, breaking the silence with my cool voice.

"The bigger question, Leah, is, what game are you playing?"

"Everyone plays their own game, Grayson. Sometimes people lose. Sometimes people win. And sometimes people outsmart their own game."

He clenched his jaw as he tried to find an answer but came up with none. He took a few steps back, before fully turning around, leaving me there in silence.
___

I was halfway down the stairs before I ran into Nash.

I froze, worried he'd have the same reaction towards me as Grayson.

I sprung back, and he noticed the look on my face.

"Relax kid." His voice too, was crisp like Grayson's. "I don't want the money. Never have. Far as I'm concerned, this is the universe having a bit of fun with folks who probably deserve it. Pretty crazy shit show down there a few hours ago, don't you think?"

I looked at him with a small smile. "You're not mad?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Not really. You know, my motto is, that we're all put on this earth for a reason. To enjoy it. Not to sprawl away, working hard to live in a fancy house, and all shit like that."

My mouth fell agape, then into a small smile again.

"I'm not discrediting my Grandfathers' achievements. Hell, this is a long way away from how he grew up. But money shouldn't be the only thing we live for. We should live to see the world, try new things," he paused, then spoke again. "Don't you think?"