From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(24)

"Never fear, Mama. All will be well now Charlie's back. You'll see."

Lady Vickers scowled. I suspected I would once again have to reassure her that I had no intentions of trapping her son into marriage.

Seth grinned at me. "And just in time for her birthday too."



Lady Vickers shadowed Seth all the way to the kitchen, her handkerchief fluttering and her black skirts rippling. "Let me at least wipe the blood off."

"I'm fine!" he snapped over his shoulder. "Nothing a hearty meal can't cure. What's for supper, Cook?"

Cook looked up from the pot he was stirring on the stove and greeted Seth with a grunt. "Supper's for them that live here."

"I live here again, as of tonight." Seth clapped him on the shoulder and peered into the pot. "I'm half starved. Look at me! I'm fading away." He picked up the wooden spoon Cook had rested on the pot rim, dipped it in and slurped off the contents.

"Oi!" Cook snatched back the spoon. "Lost your manners as well as your common sense, I see."

"It's been a trying evening," Lady Vickers said from the doorway. "Bella can bring me supper in my room. Will you dine with me tonight, Son?" She didn't seem to want to venture in any further. It was as if we stood in the sea and she on the shore, not willing to get her skirts wet.

"I need to speak with Charlie. I'll join you for breakfast." Seth strode back to his mother, kissed her forehead and told her he loved her dearly. Always the charmer.

It worked too. She smiled and patted his cheek. "Goodnight, dear boy." She left but not before shooting a warning glare my way.

I fetched bowls and Cook ladled soup into them then removed bread from the oven. Gus and Doyle joined us after seeing to the horses, and we four sat at the table like a family, albeit an odd one. Yet it wasn't complete. Lincoln's absence left a hole that I, for one, felt keenly. Gus was the first to mention him, soon after his first slurp of soup.

"When's Death gettin' back?" he asked Doyle.

"He didn't say," the butler said.

"You know what he be like," Cook said. "He could be gone for days."

"Or he could wander in at any moment," Seth added.

We all looked to the door.

I sighed. "Apparently he's warning all the…" I glanced at Doyle and searched for another way to tell them without giving too much away.

"Supernaturals." Doyle patted the corner of his mouth with his napkin then continued consuming his soup as if he'd not said anything significant. "Mr. Fitzroy informed me of the ministry's true purpose before he left."

Seth and Gus exchanged looks. "And you don't think it…odd?" Seth asked.

"I'm not employed to have an opinion on my employer's affairs."

"Bet it don't stop you from havin' 'em," Gus muttered into his bowl which he'd brought to his lips. He tipped the final dregs of soup into his mouth and set the bowl down with a satisfied thunk on the table. "There enough for seconds?"

"Just leave some for the others," Cook told him.

"Why did Fitzroy collect you?" Seth asked me. "Did he say?"

"He thought I might be in danger," I said without meeting their gazes.

"He must have seen it," Gus said, concentrating on not spilling any soup from his very full bowl as he made his way back to the table.

"He told us about his seeing power," Seth clarified. "Before we left."

"He didn't tell me," Cook muttered.

Doyle had a stunned look on his face. It would seem this was news to him too.

"He doesn't know what you're doing all the time," I assured him. "And he can't read your mind. He only knows when someone is here or not."

"And when Charlie's in danger," Seth said, watching me. "It's strongest where she's concerned. So what happened? Or did he overreact?"

"Lincoln, overreact? The word isn't in his vocabulary. There was a situation at the school, but it resolved peacefully when Alice woke up." I gave them a brief version of events, which led into a discussion about Alice's powers and that of the other girls. "It seems we witches are considered wayward by our parents and guardians."

"Wayward?" Cook asked.

"The school's name."

They gave me blank looks.

"It's the School for Wayward Girls, up near York. Didn't he tell you?"

"He told us nothing," Seth muttered, tearing off a chunk of bread. "Not the name of the school, where you went, how far away it is. Nothing."

"Oh. I see. Well, that's its name, and so-called difficult girls are sent there to be polished and primped into young ladies. There were several supernatural students."

"So you be a young lady now?" Cook asked with a lopsided grin.

I laughed. "Two weeks wasn't nearly long enough. The teachers gave up in despair and the headmistress…" Sent me to the dungeon. "The headmistress saw me as a personal challenge." There was no point in telling them what she'd really said and done. Besides, Mrs. Denk and I had come to a truce, of sorts.

"You didn't climb trees, did you?" Gus asked, humor brightening his eyes.