Page 39 of The Vampire in the Potting Shed

“It must have been a one-off.” I walked the living room, checking that no framed photos had fallen. That would have explained the thud. But nothing was missing from its place. “Or maybe an outside noise?”

“Maybe,” she allowed, sounding unconvinced that was the case.

Aiming for the kitchen, I couldn’t hide the rumble in my stomach. “Do you want a snack?—?”

Thump.

I jumped back, certain the sound had come from…under the floor.

“Ana.” Sloane lunged for me. “Get back?—”

The thick tan rug where I had been standing flipped back like a self-folding pancake. As Sloane herded me away, I watched a freaking trapdoor built into my floor—my hundred-year-old oak floors—swing open.

“I scrubbed this place from top to bottom before moving in, and I swear that wasn’t here.”

Which meant it had been addedafterI was living here.

“We’re getting you out of here.” Sloane herded me toward the kitchen. “We’ll leave through the back.”

“Wait.”

The familiar voice locked us both in place, and we watched as light bloomed, illuminating a small tunnel I had been living above all this time.

And Mercer’s haggard face.

“Anie.” His weathered face crinkled at me. “Thank God you’re all right.”

The relief I probably should have felt at seeing him, at knowing I had a way home, was shattered by the cataclysmic breach of trust he was emerging from. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to save you from these beasts.” He laughed like I was being ridiculous. “Come on, Anie, let’s go.”

A boom shook the floor under my feet, and Mercer growled a curse at someone behind him.

“What was that?” I rushed to the front window. “There’s smoke in the direction of Main Street.”

Not inside the ward, I didn’t think, but down toward the curve leading to Springvale.

“That’s our distraction, and it’s only going to last for so long.” Mercer climbed higher on what must be a ladder, revealing him up to his waist. “We need to get you out of here.”

“Ana?” Sloane, having followed me, watched my back. “What do you want to do?”

“What do you meanwhat does she want to do?” Mercer barked a laugh. “She wants to go home.”

“It’s your call.” Sloane cuffed my upper arm. “I’m with you, no matter what you decide.”

Deep down in the pit of my stomach, I knew without asking Mercer that Dad would snatch her away from me. She had defied his orders in letting me choose to come. Even now, with her superior a few yards away, she was giving me the choice that would define the rest of our lives.

Impact rattled the front door to my right, the hinges screaming, and Sloane yanked me away before I got a look at who was responsible. But I knew. Ifelthim.

“Ana,” Rían bellowed through the door. “Are you okay?”

I had no idea how to answer him. I wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot. But I wasn’t sure he could fix that.

“Sloane, get her over here.” Mercer held out his arms. “Bring her to me.”

Teeth grinding, she fought the compulsion to obey him, buying me precious seconds to choose.

Wood splintered as Rían exploded through the door, his eerie eyes settling on me with naked relief. His chest rumbled when he pivoted toward Mercer, but he didn’t advance on him. He flexed and relaxed his hands, preventing them from forming fists, but stood his ground. Next to me.

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