Page 115 of Effortless

That left him with about fifteen halls to search, and at least ten rooms. Not to mention bathrooms, coat rooms, and closets.

Fuck.

“Go play with Sara, and I will find Camilla,” Tom told Rebeka.

“Okay!”

Rebeka darted off, and Tom headed for the front wing of the mansion. If he was lucky, he would find Camilla and be able to finally sneak her away for a night he had waited a whole damn month for.

If he wasn’t so lucky …

Well, he’d just have to find her.

Tom spent a good thirty minutes looking around the front wing of the mansion. It took him up to the second and third floor, but eventually he made his way back down. He called Camilla’s name out several times, but got no answer back.

He was starting to think someone was playing a trick on him. Or someone had gotten mixed up in which direction Camilla went. Either way, Tom couldn’t find her.

And now he was starting to worry …

Tom rounded the foyer stairs, and headed down a hallway that was rarely used for guests, but was a shortcut back to the middle of the mansion. It cut the time in half to get back to the dining room and kitchen.

His best plan now was just to get everybody to start looking for Camilla. What the hell else could he do?

A muffled knock stopped him.

And then another.

“Camilla?” Tom called out.

“Tom?”

Just from the direction her quiet voice came, he knew exactly where she was. Tom went back the way he came, and opened up the last door on the right. From the outside, that door could be opened easily.

But from the inside?

The doorknob jammed.

Every single time.

The only way to open it from the inside was with a little knife his father kept hidden up above the doorjamb. They only used that small room as extra storage for coats or whatever else when they had parties at the mansion.

Sure enough, Tom found Camilla on the other side.

Instantly, she smiled sheepishly at him.

He barely held back his laughter.

“Got lost, did you?” he asked.

The door closed behind him, but he wasn’t worried about it. He knew how to get out.

Camilla made a face. “Nope. I did not get lost. I just knew that eventually the girls would go find someone—likely you—and you would come get me. Now, look, Tom. I’ve got us all alone. See what I did there?”

Her cheeky little response was all bravado, and he knew it.

“You got lost, and then stuck.”

“No, this was entirely intentional.”