Page 98 of Midnight Waters

I climbed up a nearby tree and crept along a thick branch until it bowed under my weight.

A litany of swear words passed my lips before I launched myself at the wall. My stomach slammed into it as I clenched my arms over the top. My legs flailed for a moment as I hung there.

Why hadn’t I bothered learning parkour or something in London?

With much huffing and puffing, I shimmied over the top of the wall and dropped on the other side, landing in a bush.

“Gah.” I tried to roll out of it, but my jacket snagged on the many tiny branches.

It was official. I was a graceless oaf on land.

I tugged my jacket free and ducked down behind the bush. Over the top of the bouncy greenery, I spied the house about ten yards away.

It occurred to me I had never actually seen the Everhart house before, although I knew the location. Made entirely of stone, the house was two storeys but stretched out across several acres.

Exotic plants dotted the grounds, and a fountain stood out front, though it wasn’t on.

I rolled my eyes. Who was that even for?

Some windows were lit, so I snuck to the wall underneath an unlit window and pressed myself against the stone.

This was insane. Why hadn’t I called Kira and asked her to shrink down and find Ben in his house while tiny-sized?

I slapped a palm to my head.

Now that would have been a better plan.

Still, I was already up to my neck in it. There was no turning back.

I crept along the wall, ducking underneath all the windows until I got to the first lit one. I peered inside, grasping the windowsill with both hands.

An older man I knew as Dorian Everhart, Ben’s grandfather, was sitting at the dining room table eating a slice of cake and custard.

My stomach rumbled. Dinner had looked so good…

I ducked under the window and crawled underneath the next one before peering inside.

Brenda, Ben’s aunt, was curled up in a drawing room reading with a blanket and a glass of wine.

Woman had the right idea. At least she wasn’t drinking it in the bathroom.

Without warning, her head snapped up, and I almost fell on my butt trying to get out of sight.

I scrambled to the corner and dove around it as the sound of the window creaking open reached me.

I didn’t dare look around the corner again until I heard more creaking. Then I peeked just in time to see the window closing completely.

Gods, that was close. I had to find Ben before someone else found me. If another Everhart discovered I was here, there would be no stopping the conflicts that would follow.

I carried on past the back door, toward the next window. But as I passed it, the door swung open, and a hand seized the back of my jacket.

The hand flung me, and I slid across the stone floor of the kitchen, headfirst. My heart leapt to my throat, pounding so hard as it urged me to get up.

I tried to scramble to my feet, but something struck me hard in the back and I hit the floor again, my breath whooshing from my lungs.

“We’ve got an Arrowood!”

My skin prickled with danger as I rolled onto my back to see my attacker.

---