Page 89 of The Brothers Hawthorne

“Keep pushing,” he told Avery. “When we get to a position where only one bell rings, she’ll be pointing us where we need to go.”

First. As in, number one.

Jameson and Avery repeated the process they’d already been through, turning the statue, listening to the bells when it locked, then turning it again.

And finally, just as Katharine hit the beach a hundred yards away, the statue locked into a position where only one bell rang. Jameson looked up. The Lady pointed them onward.

Again, the two of them ran—straight into the smallest of the caves. There was a sharp turn just past the entrance, and when they followed it, the light from outside disappeared almost completely. Jameson reached for his phone to use it as a flashlight, but then he remembered:No phone.

“There’s no time,” Jameson said fiercely. “We have to keep going.”

He felt along one side of the wall, and Avery felt along the other. A minute in, there was a split.Which way do we go?

“What do you feel?” he asked Avery.

In the darkness, he could hear her breath, and no matter the stakes, he couldn’t shut down the part of his brain that imagined the rise and fall of her chest.

“Water,” Avery said. “The cave on this side, it’s wet.”

Jameson wondered how high the tide got. Were there times of day when this cave, with its shallow ceiling and utter lack of light, was deadly?

The water made Avery’s side of the cave seem that much more treacherous.

“We’ll split up,” Jameson said. “I’ll take your side, you take mine.”

“We’re looking for a key.” Avery didn’t say that as a reminder to him—or even herself. She was steadying herself.

Like she needed it.

Like his Heiress wasn’t always so damn steady.

Jameson made his way forward, aware that Katharine had to be closing in on them, that she had likely seen which way they went.

And she might have thought to bring a flashlight.

Jameson pushed himself forward, feeling his way along the damp cave wall as he went, following the twists and turns of the cave until he saw something.

Light.

The cave dead-ended into a shallow pool. And standing shin-deep in that pool was Branford.

Jameson’s uncle was holding two items: a lantern and a key.

CHAPTER 62

JAMESON

The key in Branford’s hand was made of shining gold, encrusted with green jewels.

Branford found the key first.A dull roar in his ears, Jameson turned back. On his way out of the cave, he didn’t even bother feeling his way along the wall. He moved quickly, without a single safeguard in place to keep himself from falling.

Jamesonhatedlosing.

He passed Katharine near the entrance but didn’t say a word to her. Bursting back into the sunlight, Jameson wondered how long Branford had been in the cave. Minutes, definitely. But how many?

How much did he beat us here by?

Given his uncle’s familiarity with the manor and the estate, Branford wouldn’t have had to work to find his way out of the house, wouldn’t have had to search for a way out to the edge or down the cliffs.