Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
This was a great idea.
Wearing a mask and a cape made me feel safer and provided a sense of anonymity and protection.
Surely, the killer searched for me, but couldn’t find me.
Ah ha! Now I’m steps in front of you.
Several waiters passed us.
Are any of you the person?
As we maneuvered around guests, my cape swept around me, making me feel larger and more imposing. Or maybe that was all in my head.
The average human was not supposed to repeat time over and over. Could that do something to my brain? Would it make me insane?
Don’t think about it. You have enough going on.
Near the orchestra, a small group chanted and cheered. I got on my toes to see what was going on.
An older woman rocked her hips into a younger guy’s behind. While another man humped her from the back and gripped her breasts with both hands. Her gray hair spilled out from her bun, and she raised her hands and hooted. “Yes. Go me!”
Ethan stopped and stared. Then, he shook his head. “Well. . .”
I leaned closer to him. “What?”
“Now, I know what the emergency was about my mother.”
“Oh.” I parted my lips under the mask. “That’s your mom?”
“It is.”
“Hey.” I shrugged. “She’s having fun.”
“That’s one way to look at it.” Ethan quickly headed off, telling me he was completely mortified.
Soon his mother yelled for another guy to come over. “Let’s party!”
Mom seems cool.
I rushed after Ethan.
He took a long hallway. The noise of the party lessoned.
I got to his side. “What’s the plan?”
“Besides, making sure you don’t get killed tonight?”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to get some champagne and food, then go to the library.”
Hope surged through me. “To check out Aria’s grimoires?”
“No.” He shook his head. “They’re no longer there.”
“Where are they?”
“Museums.”
My hope shattered. “Oh well.”
“We’re going to the library to be alone and think. I doubt the killer would believe that we would go there.”
“Why?”
“I barely spend time in the library. I also never bring guests in there, especially during a party.”
“But, there’s the passage.”
“Yes. The tunnel doorway is near the fireplace. It’s a mock stone wall. However, it has been stuck for a long time. The last time we opened it years ago, it took three men to pry it open.”
“Then, you think we’ll be safe there?”
“As safe as we can be in this Manor.”
“That works for me.”
“Perfect.” He pushed the double doors open before us, and we entered a gigantic kitchen. Tons of other waiters hurried in, filling their trays with hors d’oeuvres and flutes of champagne.
Are one of you the killer?
None glanced our way. Why would they? Everyone was just doing their job.
We followed the other waiters’ actions, waiting for them to finish and then grabbing our own items.
Ethan gathered up several flutes full of champagne.
I focused on the caviar and bacon-wrapped shrimp. Usually, I would have focused more on the veggies, thinking about my weight. However, one good thing about repeating time was that I didn’t have to worry about calories.
For once, I could stuff my mouth with anything and not stress.
The chef hurried over. She was a dark brown skinned woman with a long gray braid going down her back. “Do we have any confirmation that Mr. Vanderbilt received his hors d’oeuvres and champagne?”
The others shook their head.
She turned to us.
We shook our head too.
She sighed. “Someone find out. This is a special night for him, and I would like to have little feet running around this house one day.”
One of the chef’s assistants giggled. “This one will come and go like the rest of them.”
The chef frowned. “Don’t say that. I have hope for the author. I love her books. She has spunk. She’ll shape Mr. Vanderbilt up.”
I watched them as they headed off to boiling pots by a large stove.
Ethan nudged me and whispered, “Ready?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Carefully, I picked my tray up and walked away.
Damn. This isn’t that easy. Lots of respect to the waiters.
We left the kitchen.
Ethan took me in a new direction away from the ballroom. All I could do was follow as he rounded one hallway taking us to the left. Then, he guided us down there and had us turn right.
This place is too damn big. How does he live here?
Soon, he stopped us in front of a huge door, turned the knob with his free hand, and opened the door.
I walked ahead of him, entering a dark room.
The light came on.
Wow.
The library was a huge room of bookshelves that reached the ceiling. Polished wood floors and a high vaulted ceiling. A massive wooden ladder was attached to one wall and looked like it could be rolled all around the room. In a few places there were gold hooks. In some spots, plants hung off the hooks. In other areas nothing was on them.
This is. . .insane. . .
I spotted the fireplace on the right wall. Two stone walls barely three feet wide flanked it on both sides. Then, it went into more bookshelves.