Inborn (The Birthright Book 1)

Chapter 14

I leaned against the door to get it together and concentrate so I could portal out of there.

And I tried. And tried. But it wasn't working and it wasn't for lack of focus. I simply couldn't completely form one. Then it struck me that my portals were a kind of door. Could a shield block that too?

The door at the top of the stairs creaked open. First, I froze, then fled deeper into the kitchen, ignoring the cobwebs and dirt and folded up into one of the bottom cabinets. How long would it take her to find me there? Seconds? If I couldn't create a portal, how was I supposed to survive this? I had no defenses, my phone just terminated by itself, and nobody knew where I was. Perfect.

I held my breath, trying to talk myself down from the mounting panic attack. Maybe this was some sort of special drill. A test of what I would do under the scariest circumstances ever. But then why would Bryce call and tell me I wasn't with my mother? He wouldn't be in on it and I couldn't think of any reason for him to lie about that.

I stopped thinking and focused on outside sounds. I picked up on a faint scraping, like shoe soles on a hard floor. It suddenly stopped and I covered my mouth with both hands to block my breathing and prevent myself from screaming.

"Rosamund?" I heard whispered in a low, raspy voice.

I refused to move.

"Rosamund?" the person said a little louder. That time, I thought I recognized the voice.

I dared to crack open the cabinet door, figuring I couldn't see anyway. "Lachlan?" I whispered as loud as I dared.

He whirled around, opening the cabinet door and helping me out. My whole body shook from fear and relief, and I hurt as I straightened up. All of my muscles were rigid. "What are you doing here?" I said, knowing that Lachlan and whomever I came with could be the same person.

"I followed you from school."

"Why?"

He shrugged indifferently. "It was something to do. I was bored."

That sounded like a weird reason to follow someone, but I had bigger issues on my mind. "There's a shield on the house. We can't get out."

Lachlan pressed his lips tight. "I know."

"What do we do?" I didn't know enough about that sort of technology to know how to get around it. Or if you could.

"Hide until they get bored and leave?"

I blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Look, he's waiting for you to come out of your little mouse hole to try and find a way out. But there is no way out and he knows that. It's a trap."

"What if he doesn't get bored? He'll find us eventually, and then what?"

"We die."

I folded my arms. "I wonder if he'd take you as a sacrificial offering?"

"Unlikely."

"Well, I'm not just going to wait around to die. We have to try something."

Unless, of course, I'd just come out of my mouse hole to meet my killer because this wasn't actually Lachlan. Or maybe Lachlan was the killer...

I took a breath and tried to focus on what was next. No matter what, figuring a way out of there was a good idea. I couldn't shout for help, and I was starting to get why Dad made us do all those drills. He knew someday we might be on our own.

I didn't have an idea of how to get out yet, but I did realize something I felt was significant: I was out of my comfort zone. I knew zip about that house and I felt sure the killer brought me there because of that. It was also not the kind of place I'd frequent on my own. No one would think to look for me there. And I hadn't had a chance to tell Bryce where I was.