“Okay,” she says with a yawn. Bless this sleepy, obedient child.
I crack open the door and peek out into the hall. The coast is clear.
I pull her with me, keeping my body in front of hers. We make it to the staircase, but I pause, holding her there until I’m sure it’s safe below. We’ll have to be quick.
“I think we’re good.”
No sooner are the words out of my mouth than a man comes running in from the balcony. Soren.
He spots us at the top. “Hide!” He yells. “Hide like Bella.” He takes off in the opposite direction, once again leading the man away from us—the Giant who is fuming and stomping through the doors now.
“He’s huge,” Bella whispers, finally sensing the urgency as she pulls me back. “I know the perfect place.”
With renewed energy, she speeds up, leading me back to her room.
“We’re not safe here. Maybe the bathroom.” I lock the door behind us and head for the attached bathroom, but she shakes her head.
“Through here.” She crouches beneath her desk and pushes at the wall. It collapses in, exposing a small passageway.
“What the—?”
“Move it, lady!” she shouts. I drop to my knees and follow her inside. It’s cramped, and my back brushes the ceiling of the small crawl space, but I manage to reach behind me and push the door closed.
It’s nearly ten feet of crawling before the space opens into a small room. There’s a TV mounted on one wall and two computer monitors, complete witha video gaming setup. There is a beanbag chair positioned next to shelf of books far beyond her maturity level. The room is painted black, but there are neon lights decorating every corner.
“You have a secret room?” I’m equal parts annoyed and in awe. How has she never let this secret slip? “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She lifts a shoulder. “You didn’t ask.”
I blink. “Are there any other hidden rooms in the house I don’t know about?”
“Somany,” she chuckles.
I shake my head. This girl never ceases to surprise me.
And then she wakes up the computer, and on its resting display is… a live video of every room in the house.
“You have access to the security feed?”
“Duh. How else am I supposed to know what’s going on?”
Are the Hartwells sure this girl is only nine? She’s more formidable than most adults. What has she seen on these monitors? Specifically in the last forty-eight hours.
“It’s just the live feed, right? It doesn’t, like, record?”
“Of course it records. I have to know all the places you look when you try to find me, so I know how to hide better the next time.”
I’d like to hope that is the only reason she would watch the recordings, but I’m not dumb.
“H-how did your parents allow this?”
“They didn’t.” She’s focused on the computer and flicks around on the screen like she’s controlling the weather. I wouldn’t put it past her. “They think I’m stupid, but I watched them punch in the codes enough times. YouTube taught me the rest.”
This girl will either rule the world or burn it to the ground.
“Can you find Sor—I mean Derek? And that guy?”
She clicks around on the screen, moving between rooms. “I don’t see Derek. But Godzilla is in the gym.”
