Page 89 of Midnights
“Obviously, whoever lives here is basicallymein another life. I mean, I love books,theylove books. I love plants,theylove plants.” I pause, pretending to consider. “We need to meet this person so we can become best friends.”
Rachel snorts, shaking her head. “You would.”
“Iwould.” I confirm, stepping deeper into the greenhouse.
She leans against a planter, smiling. “Wouldn’t it be funny if the person who lives here is like, some badass who just plays in the dirt for fun? You know to wind down after… murdering someone?”
I can't help the laughter that spills out. “Rachel!”
“What?” She grins. “I’ve read books like that. The guy is always secretly a killer with a weird hobby.”
I roll my eyes, but… she’s not wrong. The idea is both ridiculous and weirdly plausible in a setting like this.
I trail a hand over another set of leaves and the odd tingling returns to my fingertips. It’s stronger this time, but I ignore it.
“This place is huge,” I say, still in awe. “I wonder if this leads outside?”
“Only one way to find out.”
We weave through the winding stone paths, passing walls of greenery bursting with delicate white flowers. The deeper we go, the more the room feels like stepping into a secret world. It feels like we shouldn’t be here, but I don’t want to leave.
I hear the soft click of footsteps against stone and we both freeze. The air shifts again, and my pulse kicks up. We change wide-eyed glances at each other, but when we scan the room, there’s no one there.
“Well, well, look who decided to go exploring.”
Cam’s voice cuts through the silence from the other end of the room, making us both jump like we’ve been caught stealing the crown jewels.
“Holy shit!” I exclaim, pressing a hand to my chest. “You ever heard of giving a girl some warning before sneaking up like that?”
Cam smiles, clearly too pleased with himself. And then there’s Kane. His voice drips with that signatureKane attitude.
“If you weren’t wandering into places youshouldn’tbe, you wouldn’tneeda warning.”
I roll my eyes so hard they might get stuck. “The door was open. What were we supposed to do?Notlook?”
Kane crosses his arms, but his eyes tell a different story. I can't tell if it's annoyance or amusement?Or something else entirely?
I straighten, refusing to let him get under my skin. “Besides,” I add, lifting my chin. “We didn’t touch anything.”
Cam chuckles, and shakes his head. “It’s fine,” he says. And unlike Kane, he actuallysoundslike he means it. “No harm done.”
Rachel nudges me, giggling like we just won the argument. Before I can say anything else, a crack of lightning illuminates the entire room, turning every plant, and every shadow a contrast against the glass walls. The sharp flash is gone in an instant, but the thunder crashes through the space like a war drum, shaking the air and rattling the windows.
“Fuck.”
Kane mutters under his breath before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.
Umm… What the hell just happened?
My eyes follow him, while my mind tries to piece together what that was all about. It wasn’t just irritation, that was something else.
Cam watches him go, shaking his head again before stepping forward. He flashes an easy smile, but there’s a sharpness to it. Something is obviously going on.
“You can keep looking around,” his voice is too calm. “Don’t worry about him. He’s probably just making sure the windows are up on his car.”
Bullshit.
Something in his tone makes me pause. He knows exactly what’s up with Kane, but he’s not about to spill it.
