Read A Shade of Vampire 27: A Web of Lies for Free Online Page B

of enthusiasm and appreciation for life. Besides, all signs pointed to it being an accident.”
    Hm .
    “Her room,” I dared venture after a beat, “have you changed it?”
    Mr. Hulse shook his head. “We’ve left it exactly the way it was when she left…even the possessions she left are in the same place. We move them only for cleaning.”
    Hoping that I wasn’t about to cross a boundary, I hesitated again before asking, “Would you mind showing it to me?”
    The old couple looked to one another. Mrs. Hulse appeared a tad reluctant, but Mr. Hulse shrugged.
    “All right,” Mr. Hulse said, frowning. He led us out of the living room and up a wooden staircase. We reemerged on the top floor. He took us past a blue tiled bathroom to a tiny room with a bed, a wooden chair and desk, and a bedside table. Amidst the furniture, there was hardly any room to walk around. Floral cotton curtains lined the window, similar to the fabric of the sofa in the living room, and through the glass was a view of the shop-lined street.
    Mr. Hulse cleared his throat, planting his hands on either side of the back of the chair, from which hung a cream cardigan. He watched Arwen and me as we looked around the room.
    I felt the urge to spend more time in here… just to think. Live for a few moments in the same space Georgina had before she died. But I couldn’t think of how to explain to Mr. Hulse my desire to remain in the room. Besides, it was rude to intrude for much longer. The elderly man continued to watch us, making me feel awkward. I needed to return to this room with Arwen, when we could be alone.
    “Okay,” I said to Mr. Hulse. “Thank you.”
    “No problem,” he said, still looking at us curiously.
    We returned downstairs, thanked the couple and said goodbye. But as they were on the verge of closing the door, I said, “Oh, one more thing, if you don’t mind. You didn’t comment at all regarding Atticus lying to us about Georgina’s death… I can’t help but wonder why he did that.”
    Mr. and Mrs. Hulse shrugged. “Well,” Mr. Hulse replied, scratching his head, “of course, he was probably desperate to get Lawrence back from you. Perhaps he thought that story would tug on your heartstrings and you’d be more likely to hand our grandson over.”
    Hm. That had been a speculation that I had come up with on my own already. Since neither of them offered any more information than that, I was forced to accept it and say, “Okay. Thanks again.”
    We headed down to the pub and then back outside onto the damp street.
    “Now what?” Arwen asked, raising a brow.
    “Make us invisible, and vanish us back to Georgina’s room.”

    * * *
    M r. and Mrs. Hulse were downstairs— I could hear them muttering to each other, comments about our visit. Mostly complimentary things about us, though they were confused about our random visit.
    Inside Georgina’s old room, Arwen closed the door noiselessly. I sat down on the edge of the bed, letting out a shallow breath as my eyes wandered once again around the room. It was odd to think that this bedroom would have been the last place Georgina had slept before she died.
    I couldn’t help but wonder why, in truth, she’d come here—all the way from the United States—just to lock herself up in a room and work on her laptop. If she’d wanted to get some headspace and time alone, why not just check into a hotel somewhere? Why travel halfway across the globe to come to England?
    Maybe that was just something she did. Her parents didn’t seem to think there was anything strange about it. I stood up and ran my hands along the cashmere cardigan that hung from the back of the wooden chair. Pulling the chair outward, I sat on it, planting my palms on the desk’s surface.
    “What are you thinking?” Arwen whispered.
    I was thinking a lot of things right now, but mostly I was still trying to figure out why Atticus had lied. I had told Mr. and Mrs. Hulse about the lie during my recounting of