Stampeded. B.J. Daniels

Alexa all the more curious about his motives for being here.

      Through all the laughter and camaraderie during the meal, Alexa found herself studying her brother. If she hadn’t known Landon so well, she might have thought he felt at ease with the assembled group, even though his roots were nothing like theirs. It was clear that Sierra had come from their world, though, rather than the one Alexa and Landon had grown up in. This made the reporter in Alexa curious, since Sierra had said she had been raised by a single mother in what she made sound like the Los Angeles projects.

      Something was definitely wrong with that story, Alexa thought as she watched Sierra interacting with her friends. There was a gaiety to their stories. These young people had no worries—unlike her brother who seemed to be working hard not to show his.

      Alexa also sensed tension within the group but couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. All she knew for sure was that her brother’s forced merriment tonight didn’t fool her for a minute. If only their mother was here. Tallulah Cross would have sized up this bunch in an instant and known exactly what was going on.

      Alexa hated that she felt bombarded by conflicting sensations in this house. Something was trying to break through the wall she’d built to keep these kinds of sensations out. For years, she’d feared she’d lied as much to herself as she had to her mother and brother. She felt things, things she didn’t want to feel. But if she truly had her mother’s gift, she was terrified of it, didn’t know how to use it and had done everything she could to block it for so long that she had no control over it.

      Coming here had been a mistake and yet even as she thought about leaving, she knew she couldn’t abandon her brother. Not when she knew something was wrong in this house. He’d said he’d already had a series of accidents. What if he was right about something—or someone—wanting him out of the mansion?

      By the time supper was over, Archer had the flushed face of a man who’d consumed more wine than anyone else. Sierra was in a friendly debate with Carolina and Gigi about the best sushi restaurants they’d ever gone to outside of California. Archer and Devlin excused themselves, saying they were going to try to catch the baseball game on television.

      Alexa rose to help with the dishes.

      “It’s Gigi and Landon’s turn to do the dishes,” Sierra insisted. “Come on. I want to show you the house.”

      “Go on,” Landon said. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

      Alexa had hoped to talk to her brother after supper and wished the two of them could have done the dishes together, but Sierra was determined to show her the house.

      “You have to see this,” she said as they passed through the huge living area. She pushed open two large carved wooden doors. “The library,” she announced with a grand gesture. The books on the shelves had been moved and stacked as if someone had gone through them, the thick layer of dust that coated the room disturbed.

      “We have so much to do before the house is restored,” she said. “But I love this room and can’t wait to get to it.”

      Closing the doors, Sierra led her down a hallway, pointing out the servants’ quarters, most of the rooms empty except for one that Jayden was using. In another wing there was a music room with an old piano, and finally the ballroom.

      All of the rooms looked as if a little work had been done in them. Alexa had the feeling, though, that not much was getting done—at least from what she’d seen so far.

      “Let’s take the back stairs,” Sierra said and led Alexa up to a wing of the second floor.

      Alexa felt a little turned around and said as much.

      Sierra laughed. “It does get confusing. That’s why I ask that you not go exploring on your own. It is too easy to get hurt, and who knows how long it would be before anyone found you?” She laughed as if delighted by the size of this place.

      Alexa thought of her brother’s accidents and wondered how long it had been before he’d been found.

      “We are in the north wing. Your room is in the east wing, Gigi and Dev have a room on the west wing, Carolina and Archer are on the south wing, Jayden’s on the first floor in the servants’ quarters. His choice,” she added quickly. “We decided we might as well stretch out and have our own space.”

      She remembered at supper how she’d felt the others occasionally studying her with interest. She realized with a start that Sierra had probably told her friends about Landon’s sister’s “sight.” She groaned inwardly at the thought that everyone in this house would be watching her now.

      “Jayden’s kind of a loner.”

      Alexa mentioned her surprise that he had wanted to be here with three couples, as Sierra led her along a long, dark hallway.

      “He’s one of the gang,” Sierra said. “I guess I was a little surprised too that he came with us. But we all loved him the moment we met him. Isn’t the house in great shape for how old it is?”

      “Some relative of yours lived here most recently?” Alexa asked.

      “My great cousin lived here until she died,” Sierra said. “I never knew her. Most of the rooms were closed off while she lived here. She stayed in one of the maids’ rooms downstairs, where Jayden is on the first floor.” She chuckled again. “The old maid in the maids’ quarters. It’s pretty funny. I doubt she even came up to these rooms.”

      Alexa couldn’t help but wonder why Jayden preferred one of the small rooms for maids rather than the opulence—not to mention the views—of an upstairs bedroom. Maybe he didn’t hold himself apart only at supper.

      As they left the catacomb of rooms and hallways to return to the main hall, she saw that the kitchen was empty. Gigi and Landon had finished the dishes. Alexa couldn’t wait to get him alone to talk to him again.

      “Do you know where I can find Landon?” she asked.

      Sierra shrugged. “I’ll tell him if I see him before bedtime.”

      She got the feeling Sierra had no intention of telling him. “Thank you for the tour.”

      “My pleasure, although I do wish you had waited until the house was done before coming for a visit,” Sierra said.

      “Landon asked me to come now.”

      Her sister-in-law raised a brow. “Did he? I wish he’d discussed it with me first.” She smiled and let out a small, humorless laugh. “I guess it isn’t that big of a deal. I just wanted everything to be perfect the first time you saw it.”

      With that, Sierra gave a wave and disappeared down a hallway.

      Alexa looked around the huge living room, thinking that her brother had made a mistake calling her. Not only had he upset his new bride, but also, she thought, spotting a Ouija board on the coffee table in front of the huge fireplace, he’d called the wrong person.

      Landon would have been much better off trying to reach their mother.