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A few minutes later, the property came into view through the trees, and whatever breath I had left disappeared completely.

The mansion sat behind towering black wrought-iron gates, dark and imposing beneath the gray sky.

It had been years since I laid eyes on it again, yet somehow the place looked almost exactly the same.

The charcoal stone and dark brick were still immaculate, the sprawling lawns were freshly trimmed, and the massive fountain remained the centerpiece of the circular courtyard. Expansive balconies stretched across the upper floors, overlooking the drive just as they had when I used to come here without thinking twice about it.

Henrietta had kept a landscaping crew on retainer all those years, but keeping caretakers or cleaners inside the house had proven impossible. Every few months, she would tell me about another housekeeper who refused to step foot across the threshold after hearing strange noises, feeling watched, or seeing things they couldn’t explain.

I slowed the Range Rover to a crawl, pulling up against the curb across the street from the main gate.

I refused to pull up any closer.

The first heavy raindrop struck the windshield with a loud thwack, followed immediately by another.

“See?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “The storm is starting. We looked, now we’re going home.”

Kaidence didn’t answer. He was staring through the glass, his eyes wide with fascination.

Against my better judgment, my attention climbed the stone facade of the mansion. It moved past the arched entryway and the massive columns before settling on the second floor, all the way to the far right corner.

Caspian’s bedroom.

I flinched in horror.

There was someone standing behind the tall bedroom window.

At least, I thought there was.

The figure was nothing more than a dark shape through the glass, tall and broad through the shoulders, too still to make out anything else. For one uneasy second, I couldn’t tell if I was really seeing a person or if my mind was turning shadows into something more.

Then the shape shifted just enough to send a chill over my skin.

Someone was up there… watching us.

The breath seized in my throat.

I blinked hard, shaking my head violently, and when I looked again, the window was empty… nothing but dark curtains hanging behind the glass.

“No,” I whispered aloud, my pulse hammering in my ears like a drum.

Kaidence glanced toward me. “What is it, Mommy?”

“Nothing.” I reached trembling fingers toward the gearshift. “We’re leaving right now.”

Before I could pull the lever into drive, the rear passenger door clicked and flew wide open.

I whipped around in pure panic. “Kaidence!”

He had already unbuckled himself and hopped out onto the asphalt.

“Boy, get your behind back in this car!” I threw the transmission into park, tore off my seatbelt, and vaulted out into the rising wind. “Kaidence, stop!”

“I just wanna see the gate!” he shouted, jogging toward the tall iron bars.

I caught him by the hood of his sweatshirt three feet from the curb, yanking him back against my legs.

“Have you lost your entire mind? You do not jump out of moving cars!”