Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) by Shalini Boland Read Free Book Online

excited, Maddy?’ Angie asked.
    ‘ Dunno. It’s a bit weird.’
    ‘ Weird?’ Trevor scoffed. ‘It’s everybody’s dream come true, is
what it is. Things like this just don’t happen. I’d say you’re the
luckiest girl in Britain.’
    Maddy shrugged
her shoulders. Sure it was great and everything, but she certainly
didn’t feel like the luckiest girl in Britain. She just felt ...
weird.
    After a couple
of changes, they reached Baker Street and stepped out into the
muggy warmth of central London. Outside the station Maddy saw a few
stalls and shops selling the usual tat of policeman’s helmets, t
shirts and postcards. The queue for Madame Tussauds and The
Planetarium snaked along for what looked like half a mile up the
road and the traffic roared past.
    Trevor led the
way and within minutes, they stood outside the impressive white
mansion block that housed Hamilton Blythe Solicitors.
    After taking
the wrought iron lift up to the third floor, they found themselves
in a plush reception area, a bit like the lobby of a five star
hotel. Madison looked around, trying not to feel intimidated. She
took in the pale marble floor, dark green pot plants and several
groupings of subtly mismatched sofas and armchairs. Today’s
newspapers and the latest glossy magazines adorned side tables and
an indoor water feature provided a delicate tinkling sound, making
Maddy want to pee.
    They were
greeted immediately by a smartly dressed young woman who asked them
to please sit and make themselves comfortable for a few minutes. Mr
Vasey-Smith would be with them very shortly. She took drinks orders
and returned almost immediately with a tall jug of iced lemonade
and a plate of freshly baked cakes and biscuits.
    ‘ You better get used to this, Maddy,’ Trevor said, ‘now you’re
a lady of means.’
    ‘ It’s just lemonade and biscuits, Trevor.’
    ‘ No pleasing some people.’
    ‘ Mads, this is awesome,’ Ben said, eyes wide, taking it all
in.
    ‘ Not bad, shortie, not bad.’ She smiled and winked at her
brother.
    Phones trilled
in the background and she heard low murmuring voices from the room
behind the large reception desk. Barely a couple of sips of
lemonade later, and Maddy saw Mr Vasey-Smith heading their way. He
smiled at Maddy and Ben and nodded to Trevor and Angie.
    ‘ Shall we?’ He gestured to them and they followed him up a
small set of stairs to the left of the reception area and then
through an unmarked door into a small conference room with an oval
walnut table and eight high-backed chairs. A briefcase lay on the
table. He sat down in front of it and wheeled the combination lock
until it clicked open. The receptionist came in behind them and set
the tray of drinks and biscuits on the table, along with a pot of
tea for Mr Vasey-Smith.
    ‘ Please do sit. Now, first things first. Did you bring your
birth certificate?’ Angie took the document out of her handbag and
passed it across to him. ‘I’ll take a copy of this, but it’s just a
formality, Madison. We know who you are.’ He removed a rolled-up
scroll of paper from his briefcase and slid it across to her. ‘This
is how we found you.’
    Maddy unfurled the paper and laid it flat on the table. It
showed a hand-written family tree stretching back to 1764. Hers and
Ben’s were the most recent names, right at the bottom, linked to
her mother’s name. The names Swinton and Hathaway were the
predominant surnames on the document. Her surname, ‘Greene’, was her
father’s name and none of his ancestors were on the tree. The tree
related to her mother’s lineage.
    ‘ The gentleman we’re interested in is ‘Harold Swinton’. His
wife Victoria is your distant relative.’ Mr Vasey-Smith reached
across and pointed to the name, somewhere near the top of the
scroll. ‘She was the niece of your great-great-great-grandmother
and her husband left his considerable fortune to you and your
brother.’
    ‘ So what about all the other people here?’ Maddy