The Inheritance Games Chapter 86–Epilogue Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapter 86–Epilogue

Chapter 86

Avery struggles to comprehend that Skye brought Drake onto the estate, and as Rebecca admits that she should have told someone about what she saw, Grayson comes in behind her emphasizing that she could have talked to him. Grayson sends Rebecca away before asking Avery what she needs from him. She continues talking about Skye, however, so he tells her to pick a number between one and ten and, if he guesses correctly, she will let him handle his mother on his own terms. Grayson successfully guesses she picked the number two, so Avery relents. Xander soon returns with Nash and reassures Avery that Jameson will come.

He eventually does appear, but after the boys unlock the door, he begins to walk away. Avery begs him to come back, but he believes the game is a trap for him because his grandfather knew that he watched Emily die and did nothing to save her. After Jameson finishes telling his story—that he followed Emily and Grayson that night, and when she collapsed he assumed she was trying to manipulate him and so he did nothing to help—Xander speaks up to reveal that Tobias Hawthorne had instructed him to make sure that all of his brothers played the game until the end.

Chapter 87

Jameson pushes open the newly unlocked door, and behind it lies a box with Avery’s full name, Avery Kylie Grambs, spelled out in gold letters. Avery is able to peel the letters off of the box, and Nash suggests that the puzzle may be an anagram. She rearranges the letters to spell out “A very risky gamble.” Xander remembers that his grandfather used to say that phrase to him often. Inside the box are five envelopes, one for each of them. Avery opens hers to find a packet of sugar inside.

Chapter 88

The sugar packet reminds Avery of her attempts to build castles out of sugar packets as a child, but it also helps her remember speaking to a man at the booth next to the one she and her mother shared. The man, Avery realizes, was Tobias Hawthorne himself. Grayson explains that after meeting her and realizing the anagram that her name made, his grandfather would have kept track of her all these years. The boys believe that Tobias Hawthorne risked his inheritance on Avery with the hope that doing so would get their attention.

Chapter 89

That night, Avery sits at Tobias Hawthorne’s desk and reads over her letter again. She struggles to accept the idea that the game was always about the boys and that she was merely a lucky pawn. Avery then recalls that Jameson once told her that his grandfather’s desks always had hidden compartments, so she begins to search for one. Eventually she finds one, and inside lies a folder with her birth certificate and photos of her throughout childhood. Avery realizes that Tobias Hawthorne was invested in her.

Read an analysis of Avery’s character development throughout the novel.

Chapter 90

The next morning, Oren tells Avery that Skye is permanently leaving Hawthorne House, although he is unaware of the reason why. She finds Grayson, and he explains that he will always protect her and help her with the foundation. He insists, however, that nothing can happen between them because he knows how Jameson feels about her.

Chapter 91

After school, Avery tries to call Max to no avail and considers asking Alisa to send Max and her family on a trip to Australia. Not wanting to lose touch with anyone else, Avery sets out to find Libby. She comes across both her and Nan in the music room. Libby asks if Avery is okay, and sensing that she is not, offers to bake her something. Nan confronts Avery about Skye leaving before turning their conversation to Toby. She pulls out a locket with his picture in it, describing him as “a good boy…until he wasn’t,” and Avery is shocked by the picture. While she is looking at a sixteen-year-old, she recognizes the person in the photo as Harry from the park back home.

Epilogue

Xander reads his letter from his grandfather and wishes that there was more to it than “well done.” Rebecca and Thea are with him, and he hopes they can serve as witnesses as he attempts to uncover a message in invisible ink somewhere on his letter. He submerges the letter in water, and slowly a few extra letters appear on either side of his grandfather’s signature, reading “Find Tobias Hawthorne II.”

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