Page 72 of Hide and Keep

“What?” She would do that for me? I shake away the idea. “No, you can’t go in there. What if one bites you? I’ll go. Just…” I glance past her, down the hall. “I need something long. A broom, maybe.”

“You can’t use a broom,” Ever’s quick to say. “That could hurt them.”

“Hurtthem? Ever, they’re in my fucking room.”

“It’s not their fault they got lost,Crue. They could be on the endangered list.”

“My ceiling wouldn’t be fucking crawling with them if they were endangered.”

“Well, they could still be on a special concern list.”

“Special concern list?” She’s more worried about the bats?

“What? If they are, that’d look bad for my father.”

It’s not like Iwantto hurt anything. There are bats in my goddamn bedroom.

“Whatever. What about one of those skimmer tools for the pool?”

“It’d be in the pool house. But we’d have to turn off the alarm and I don’t know the code. I could go out my wind—”

“No.” I do not trust her to leave this house.

“Okay, well, I saw Edwin taking a net down to the basement once. I don’t know what it’s for but it had a long handle.”

“Show me.”

“I can go get it myself if you want to go open your window all the way and see if any will fly out on their own.”

“All right, yeah.” As long as she’s in the manor, she can’t go anywhere.

I face my bedroom door. With a warning to be careful, Ever turns to leave. After taking several deep breaths, mentally and physically preparing myself, I open the door and dart through to the other side, my head ducked low. I get the window open, then return to the hall, no Ever in sight. I wait for her for several minutes before going in search of her.

I saw Edwin taking a net down to the basement once.

That doesn’t mean he left it down there. Even if he did, she might need help locating it. If the basement’s anything like the rest of the manor, it’s huge.

Before I reach the stairs though, I’m intercepted by a silk-pajama-clad Edwin.

“Can I help you, Mr. Brantley?”

“Have you seen Ever?”

“No, sir. I’m just headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Is…something the matter?”

“I woke up to bats in my room.”

“Bats?” He gives me a quizzical look but not a worried one. Bats areinthe manor and the only person freaking out is me.

“Ever went to get the net.”

“The net?”

“Yeah, do you know where it is? She’s taking forever, so she must be having a hard time finding it.”

“The only net I’m aware of is the one in the pool house.”

“What about the one you put in the basement?”

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