Gideon waved for Mavis to follow him inside, while Lorenzo gave a nod of encouragement as well. She started toward the mansion, expecting Lorenzo to enter as well, but the man simply stood at the front of the building, overlooking the expansive yard. With luscious grass, gorgeous bushes and plenty of roses around, it provided quite the view to the eye. Gideon had good taste, if this was his home.

She followed the affluent man into the foyer, then continued as he turned left and entered a spacious kitchen with marble benchtops. Mavis watched with confusion as Gideon headed straight for the pantry and opened it, then turned back to her.

“Well, are you coming?” Gideon asked.

“Into the pantry?” Mavis cocked her head, wondering why on earth one of the supposedly best luxury custom home builders in the area wanted her to enter the pantry with him. She took a deep breath and paced over, hoping she wouldn’t regret this.

At least the pantry was spacious – more spacious than any she’d seen in her entire life, even before the Collapse. Certainly, only somebody who could afford custom home designers based on the Mornington Peninsula could have a pantry this big.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, only the sound of their breath between them. Mavis tugged at her collar, hoping Gideon would explain why they were standing in a pantry sooner rather than later.

That was when Gideon extended his hand outward, toward a section of the wall that had no shelves. Following his hand, the wall retracted, revealing a secret passageway with stairs that descended into darkness.

Of course, a home builder would be able to magically move the walls. Mavis honestly should have seen it coming.

Gideon led the way, lighting the dark stairwell with a lighter that he pulled from his pocket. When he was a few steps ahead, Mavis followed, shuddering as the wall went back into place behind her.