I couldn’t hear anything.
With a shaking hand, I reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it, letting out the breath I’d been holding when it gave.
At least he hadn’t locked me inside.
I opened the door a few inches and peeked out.
The hallway seemed deserted.
I squeezed through the library door and scrambled across the marble floor, keeping an eye out for any staff or the creepy butler.
I cautiously ascended the grand staircase. The chandelier cast eerie shadows along the dark, ornate walls. Thunder echoed through the mansion, as if the damn place were growling at me.
I should be running. I knew that. But where? The storm was raging, my clothes were torn, and the police were still hunting a murderer. Me.
Besides, Pierce would find me before they did.
The mansion was huge, maybe I could hide long enough to form a plan.
At the top of the staircase, I hesitated.
The upper floor was shrouded in an otherworldly gloom.
I approached the first bedroom.
Pushing the heavy oak door, it squealed eerily in protest.
I hunched my shoulders and stopped, listening for a cry of alarm. None came.
The rooms were tombs. Musty air, moth-eaten curtains, faded wallpaper peeling at the edges. In one, a cracked mirror hung crookedly on the wall, reflecting warped shadows. In another, a diary lay open on a vanity, its pages yellowed with age. When I reached for it, a gust of wind rattled the windows and I jerked back, pulse spiking.
A voice shattered the silence. “Miss Madison, you shouldn’t be wandering without an escort.” It echoed through the room.
Startled, I turned to find the butler, Elijah, standing in the doorway.
“Elijah, I…I apologize,” I stammered. “I was just exploring.”
“It is Mr. Tompkins or just Tompkins, Miss. Only Mr. Worthington calls me by my Christian name.”
I blinked. Remembering my Downton Abbey lessons, I nodded. “Of course. Sorry.”
His glare bore through me. I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear as I lowered my head, unable to withstand his stare.
“Follow me,” he said. “You are to stay in the Blue Room, as instructed.”
I followed him through the winding corridors, trying in vain to hold the scraps of my shirt together.
He opened the door to the Blue Room with a flourish. Unlike the rest of the abandoned wing, this space was fresh and clean with pale robin’s-egg blue walls, a four-poster bed draped in elegant curtains, and a cream silk comforter.
As if it had been prepared in advance for my arrival, which was creepy as fuck.
How long had Pierce been planning this?
No. Don’t do this.
I heard him argue earlier with Tompkins over which room had been prepared. And yet that could have been done solely for my benefit. My god, the man had me questioning everything. Next, I would be arguing that the sky wasn’t blue and water wasn’t wet.
“You will find everything you need here. There is a bathroom suite through the far door on the left,” Tompkins said, his tone softened ever so slightly. “Will you be requiring a tray?”
