Then a light appeared. A small light, like candlelight. Yes, it was a candle. It bounced through the fog and stopped, and then there were two lights. I saw Annalee. She smiled at me sadly, then vanished back into the fog. As she parted, the fog did too, and I caught a glimpse of the wall behind her. I was in the Mirror Room! How had I gotten here?
“Handsome?” He didn’t answer me. I couldn’t be sure he heard me, but I could hear him singing. His deep voice sounded farther away now, though, as if he was in the next room or on the other side of a window. As my fear grew, I saw another light flicker. Another figure appeared, not as tall as Annalee but very like her. She did not smile but lit the next candle on the table, and she too disappeared into the fog as quickly as she’d appeared.
More figures came out of the fog, all women, all with candles. Soon the table that usually stood bare against the wall near the door was full of lit candles in silver candlestick holders.
And then there was Anne, but she was not as I’d known her in life. She was young, with her typical neat hairdo and a fitted pink dress. She too smiled at me, but it was empty and as dead as she was.
“Miss Anne?” Had I fallen down the stairs? Injured myself somehow? Why was I here?
“Someone answer me!” I waved my hands furiously, and to my surprise, the fog began to fade. I saw them now, dozens of women lined up against the wall of the Mirror Room. I saw their empty smiles and their pale skin, and they all had something in common. They wore the ring!
The ring I wore burned my skin, and I screamed. I tugged at it, but the metal singed my fingers. I cried out, but the women merely watched me like dead dolls. It was dark in the room except for the candlelight.
And there he was—Ambrose in all his loveliness. His dark hair shone in the light as if he were alive, young, and healthy. The women stared at him adoringly, sighing in loving expectation of his attention. His cheeks were warm with life, and his red lips were bright as he sipped red wine from a crystal glass.
He walked—no, slid—toward me. The remaining fog covered his feet, but I swear it was as if he had walked. His hands—yes, they were real! I could see the lines in his fingertips. He was as real as I was, breathing and walking and talking.
“My Avery. Such a rare, beautiful bloom. You belong in my garden, my darling Avery. You wear my ring, and you are mine. My soulmate.” His lips were close to my ear as he whispered the last word slowly. “I have many blooms in my garden, but I would treasure you above all others.” He sipped his wine and offered the cup to me. What could I do but accept it? I took it with shaking hands but didn’t drink. I stared into the crimson liquid. Was that blood? What was this?
“What about these others, Ambrose? Did you tell them the same thing?”
“You wear my ring, and you are mine. My soulmate! I will not be denied, Avery. How can you refuse me when I’ve waited so long for you?” His hands were in my hair, and he pulled me to him. I wanted to push him away, but something in my spirit was in control. My mind screamed loudly against this.
“No, I can’t deny you, Ambrose. You’ve waited so long.”
Then I heard another voice, a familiar voice. It was Handsome! I kissed Ambrose and began to shake with desire, but I listened and called out to Handsome with my mind.
“Magic runs in our veins, Avery. It runs through mine. It runs through yours. It’s not something we can avoid ’cause it’s who we are. It’s really who we are, but that doesn’t mean we can’t undo what we’ve done. We can. I can, and I will, if you let me. Can you hear me?”
I didn’t speak aloud, but I couldn’t help but nod. Ambrose stepped back and took the cup from me. His dark eyes glittered with anger. “You will drink. You will be mine.”
Call me, Avery, and I’ll come to you.
“Handsome?” I stared at Ambrose as tears began to flow down my face. Oh, how I wanted him. How I wanted to be loved by him…forever. And he loved me too. I could feel his love, his need for me, his desire. He was the handsomest man I’d ever seen. No one was as beautiful as Ambrose. No one…
Avery, call me, and I’ll be there. Miss Billie’s singing. She’ll watch over us. If you kiss him again, you’ll die.
And then I saw her—Susanna! She was in the large mirror behind Ambrose. She shook her head, pleading with me. I could not hear her, but her face was full of fear. Seeing her gave me the courage I needed to call out, and I did. With all my heart, I screamed, “Handsome, help me!”
And suddenly he was there, holding my hand. Ambrose froze, and the women vanished one by one. As each vanished, her candle flickered out as if stilled by a deadly wind.
There was only one candle left now, and the cup was still in Ambrose’s hand. “You will drink. You are mine.” He offered the cup to me once more.
Handsome squeezed my hand. “Now, Avery. Renounce him, and I can help you!”
“What do I do?”
I heard Ambrose growl, and he slung the cup at Handsome. It didn’t touch him. In fact, it passed through him like he was a ghost. Was I a ghost too? Was I already dead?
“Tell him you renounce him. That you don’t want him. That you are not his soulmate!”
“I renounce you, Ambrose! I don’t want you!” But I did! I did want him! Why was I doing this? Handsome squeezed my hand harder and faced me. The windows flew open, the wind blew through the Mirror Room, and the curtains fluttered wildly. Ambrose didn’t move. His hair whipped around his head like angry snakes.
“Avery! Come to me now!”
“No! I renounce you! I don’t want you!”
Handsome turned me around by my shoulders. I was facing one of the large mirrors and could see Ambrose’s reflection behind me.
I saw him for what he truly was. Not handsome, not seductive, but a corpse, a grasping corpse. He called me again. “Avery! Now! Drink!”
“No!” I shouted as the wind whipped around the room. “I renounce you! I am not your soulmate!”
As quick as lightning, Handsome slid the ring from my finger. He grasped it in his palm and smiled sadly at me. “I have to undo what she did. She did it. My ancestor, she cast the spell, but I can break it. I set you free, Avery. And Susanna,” he yelled, tears streaming down his face as the wind buffeted us both. “I set you free. I break the power of the ring by the power of the blood that runs through my veins, Sulli’s blood! You are free!”
Ambrose growled even louder, and suddenly the room began to explode. No, each mirror exploded, and as it did, Ambrose grew fainter and weaker. He cried pitifully as he was denied his prize, and soon he faded completely, taking with him the insatiable desire I had for him. I felt as if a fog had lifted, not just from the room but from my mind. I was truly myself again.
Once again, I was Avery Dufresne, and I was free of the power of the ring.
I picked myself up off the ground and stepped around the glass shards, looking for some sign of the women or Ambrose. But I saw none.
I was alone. Even Handsome was gone.
“No! Handsome! Where are you?”
As I walked around the room, it slowly became lighter, and I noticed that the mirrors had been restored. There was no more broken glass, no more melted candles, and no more devilish Ambrose.
But I could see Susanna now, and on her arm was Handsome. They embraced, neither saying a thing, for they knew full well who they were. They were of the same blood, after all, as I was.
And then I saw Chase standing by the table. He nodded once and was gone. He walked behind them in the mirror, and they welcomed him. They were together at last, and Susanna was free.
We all were.
Chapter Nineteen
Summer Dufresne
After the night I’d had, the last thing I was thinking about was sex. But I’d made a promise, and honestly, I wanted to get to know Jamie better. Now that I knew for a fact that Avery wasn’t into him at all, I felt better about pursuing him.
I left Reed to pick up the pieces of Avery’s heart, and Jessica went to the hospital to
wait for Lucas. I’d head over there in a little while, but I had to see Jamie. Although things appeared settled, at least for the moment, I couldn't deny the growing sense of wrongness I felt. Yes, the other shoe had dropped somewhere. But where?
Come on, Summer. Stop looking at the negative.
When I rounded the corner to Jamie’s apartment complex, cops were everywhere. I pulled into one of the few remaining parking spots and stepped out. I’d taken the trouble of changing my clothes before I left. I wore a light blue, clingy dress that showed off my curves. The hem was kind of short, mid-thigh, but I liked my legs. I wore a gold chain belt and Gucci shoes and left my hair down. I assumed he’d like it down, like a lot of Southern boys did.
I was walking toward Jamie’s apartment when I spotted his car. The driver’s side door was open, and there were cops all over the place. I thought I saw someone in the car. He wasn’t moving, but I couldn’t see him clearly. The people beside me whispered something about a gunshot.
Oh, my God! Someone got shot in Jamie’s car! How horrible… Oh, my God! That can’t be him! It can’t be!
“Jamie?” I dropped my purse and kept running. “Jamie!” I screamed as I got closer to his car. He was wearing a white dress shirt, and there was blood all over it.
“Miss! Miss! You can’t come in here. If this is your friend, you don’t want to see him like this, I swear. Please, Miss.”
I sobbed once but gathered my wits. “I am Summer Dufresne, and that is my boyfriend. I demand you let me by.”
One of the other cops, a cousin of mine, waved me over. His partner started to protest but quickly shut his mouth.
“Tom, is it Jamie?” I couldn’t bear to look. Now that I was up here, I couldn’t do it.
He nodded. “Christ, yeah, it’s him. I don’t understand. Coroner says it looks like a suicide, but he’s got a bottle of wine and bouquet of flowers beside him. Sorry, Sis.” Tom always called me Sis. I don’t know why, but it comforted me. Unlike Mitchell, who said it awkwardly and not very often. He’d sure picked a fine time to leave Belle Fontaine.
“Do you want to see him? They are about to move him.” I didn’t want to see him, but I made myself look. I had to. I wanted to remember Jamie, remember his death. Ambrose had made me a promise, and he’d kept it. He might not have me, and he may have lost the ring and its power over the Dufresne women, but he’d found a way.
He did the deed. He stole my happiness.
“Jamie,” I whispered as I took in the scene: his handsome face disfigured by the gunshot, the blood everywhere.
Now I knew the truth. There would never be love for me. I would never have children or have a family beyond my Dufresne family.
Well, if that was all I could have, then that would be enough. I would love them with everything I had. You won’t steal that from me, Ambrose. You who were so bitter won’t pass that on to me. I’ll beat you by being happy, by being whole. I don’t need a soulmate.
The man I loved died tonight. I would grieve him, mourn him, and dream of the life we might have had, but when that was over, I’d pick myself up and go on.
I had to.
I was Summer Dufresne, and I was the Matrone.
Epilogue
Avery Dufresne
A Month Later
“It’s all nonsense anyway. I never agreed with the whole DNA thing. I hope you know that. Both of you.” Pepper wiped at her nose with an embroidered handkerchief and then shoved it in her jacket pocket. She was clearly upset by Handsome’s disappearance, but I sensed she was telling us the truth. I’d completely misjudged her when we first met. She’d proven to be one of the few Dufresnes who actually wanted me to know the truth about the ring and the spirit that came with it.
She’d tried in her own way to show me what it was all about. As if she read my mind, she grabbed my hand and then Summer’s. “I hope you both know that I wish you well and support you in whatever you do.” Accompanying her words was a surge of warmth that testified to her honesty. Yes, Pepper had a rare gift. I guess what Handsome said was true, that “Magic runs in our veins.”
“Thank you,” Summer and I said simultaneously. Before Pepper departed the sunshine-filled conservatory and the next Dufresne came to greet us, Summer squeezed my hand and smiled. Yes, we were doing the right thing. This had been her idea, taking the reins of the family together, and I loved her for it. With Summer and I both serving as Matrone, we would finally put the ghosts of Sugar Hill at peace. Surely this would do it. The ring was no longer in play, and we weren’t the pawns of a deceptive ghost. We’d set our family free!
Now it was Danforth’s turn to address us. The room quieted as the old man spoke in his clear, booming voice. “I look forward to working with you ladies. I am sure together we will do great things that will take our family into the next decade stronger than ever.” He extended his hand to me, but I didn’t take it. I wanted to slap his smug face. Everyone here knew he’d been involved in Bray’s attempt to oust me. Summer spoke up, her sweet voice dropping an octave, letting Danforth know we knew all about it, and she wasn’t joking around.
“We’re making a few changes, cousin. We’ve expanded the board to include more seats, and Avery and I have decided that board members will no longer have lifetime appointments. That’s not good for the family. We think it’s time for more…well…diversity, I guess you could say.”
“Yes, that’s right. Hey, Lucas,” I called. Handsome’s son stepped forward and extended his hand to Danforth, whose mouth had fallen open. “I think you know our true cousin, Lucas.”
“Nice to meet you formally,” Lucas said with a smile, clearly amused at Danforth’s shocked expression.
Lucas went to stand by Reed and Summer continued, “After all your years of service, Danforth, we think it’s time you had some rest. Maybe take that young wife of yours on a trip. Courtesy of Avery and me, of course. It’s our way of saying thank you.” Her white smile gleamed, and she handed Danforth a sealed envelope.
“What?” He accepted the envelope and looked from me to her. “You can’t do that. It’s written into the trust that there must always be a board.”
“And there is,” Reed interjected. “But there’s nothing that says we can’t make these changes. I’ve sent you a copy of all the paperwork, Danforth. I think you’ll find that everything is in order. If you have any questions, have your attorney give me a call when you get back to Belle Fontaine.”
“You can believe he will.” He stomped away with the envelope in his hand as the Dufresne family quietly whispered to one another. Can they really do that? What’s going on here? I noted Pepper’s smile. Good. At least we’ll have her solidly on our side.
“Avery, do you have something to say?” Summer asked. We’d agreed earlier that I would be the one to do this. I was happy to make it official.
“For far too long, this family has been divided by things most of us don’t even understand. We’ve been divided by long-held prejudices and old beliefs that we don’t have the courage to admit to, but all that has changed now. There will be no more wars about bloodlines and DNA. No more struggling to see who comes out on top.”
I took Summer’s hand and continued, “Summer and I represent change. We are both descendants of Chase Dufresne, as are all of you. Today, we embrace the past. We don’t hide from it. Although we cannot change what has happened, we can change our futures. Get ready, Dufresne family. Change is here, and it’s a good thing.”
The gathering clapped, and a few wiped away tears. “And today, I formally name Summer Dufresne as co-Matrone. Together we will lead our family to greater achievements and greater unity.”
A wild round of applause filled the room, and Reed hugged me. He whispered in my ear, “Should we make any other announcements?” I was ready, but I caught Summer out of the corner of my eye. She’d barely begun to grieve for Jamie. Who knew she’d loved him so deeply? I sure didn’t, but it was real. Summer wasn’t the kind of person to fake that stuff.
&n
bsp; “No. Let this be a day for Summer and for the family. We’ll tell them later.”
“I love you, Avery Dufresne.”
“I love you too, Reed.”
The Starlight Ball
Sugar Hill Book 4
This book is dedicated to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Terry. Some of us were listening.
A longdrawn carol, mournful, holy,
She chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her eyes were darken’d wholly,
And her smooth face sharpen’d slowly,
Turn’d to tower’d Camelot:
For ere she reach’d upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
The Lady of Shalott
Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1832
Prologue
Annalee Dufresne
Sugar Hill 1839
The flimsy wooden boat creaked in the water. Leaning back to hide in the bottom, I arranged my wet hair and drenched gown around me. I’d clumsily fallen into the pond while trying to escape Mineola’s watchful eye, but I managed to climb aboard the boat. Knowing I was unseen felt tremendously freeing. Finally to find solace and avoid their sympathetic looks, their whispers. All their harsh whispers. Sugar Hill held no love for me, none at all.
Yes, even after all this time they still whispered and clucked their tongues. How long had it been since I’d stumbled into Champion’s web?
A year? No, almost two years.
The boat spun about like a leaf on the swirling water. If I drowned, so be it, but I would never be so lucky. Fortune would not smile on me so, and besides, I had a purpose still, a purpose I fashioned for myself. Champion would suffer, but when my task was complete…perhaps then. Feasting my eyes on the sparkling skies above me, I pretended I sailed among them. I no longer walked the earthly realm but roamed the celestial expansion above. Flying from star to star, I would traverse the heavens until one night, like one of those flickering lights--I would finally vanish and be no more.
The Hauntings Of Sugar Hill: The Complete Series Page 48