The Blood Spell (Ravenspire, #4)(35)
But these weren’t different circumstances, and Blue needed a distraction if she was going to survive the next few months until her birthday. She needed something else to focus on, and she knew just the thing.
Ana had never returned to the Gaillard quarter. Lucian hadn’t seen or heard from her, and neither had any of the other children he’d spoken to. And yesterday, he’d reported that another child had suddenly gone missing. This time a five-year-old boy. Ana may have sought work in a different quarter, but it was very unlikely a child of five would leave the people and places he was familiar with.
Blue wasn’t ready to try making gold again, but she didn’t need wealth to search for a few missing children. All she needed was time, a familiarity with the streets of Falaise de la Mer, and the courage to go into the neighborhoods controlled by the brokers.
Hurrying to get ready before Jacinthe started yelling for her breakfast or Dinah thumped on the wall to summon her to sweep the floor, Blue formed a plan for the day. She’d fulfill the orders, send Lucian out with the shop’s deliveries, and make enough potions to restock the shelves out front. And then she’d close up early and head out to start asking questions.
It was entirely possible that she’d find nothing. The children might have joined different shelters in other quarters. A kind person might have taken them in. They might have already signed up for jobs with a broker. But searching gave Blue purpose, and she needed that if she was going to get through her day.
The hours flew by as Blue worked hard to finish potions, restock shelves, and place orders to replenish her stock, all while running back and forth between the stockroom and the shop floor to deal with customers. Her nerves frayed until she thought she’d snap, and she desperately sang Mama’s lullaby under her breath hoping to find a sliver of calm.
Lucian delivered the packages she had ready for him in the morning, but she deliberately kept a few back as an excuse to leave the shop early that afternoon.
She broached the subject when Dinah did her regular midday check-in to poke around the stock and ask Blue what new potions or experiments she’d like to try. “There are a few more deliveries that need to be made. I’ll head out after Princess Nessa’s tutoring session.”
“Just get that boy back here to do that for you.”
“I can’t.” Blue swept a rag over her worktable, sending a puff of fennel dust into the air. “He works at the bakery in the afternoons.”
“So you expect to close the shop while we could still have customers?” Dinah’s voice was impatient.
“Well, yes. Unless you want to take care of sales while I make the deliveries.”
Dinah raised her chin. “Do I look like a shopkeeper to you?”
Blue shrugged, and the older woman’s eyes narrowed. “It’s past time for you to hire someone to run the shop floor. We can get one of the urchins who do odd jobs to take the packages while we post a Help Wanted sign.”
“And how would we pay for that? Are you going to volunteer coin from your own coffers?”
Something flashed in Dinah’s eyes. “Don’t be daft, child. You know very well you can pay someone to work here.”
Blue stared. “Pay with what? We make enough coin to cover the costs of maintaining the building, buying supplies, and keeping up the farmhouse. There really isn’t much extra.”
A muscle along Dinah’s jaw ticked. “Haven’t I been kind to you, Blue? Haven’t I given up my home, divided my attention between you and my business empire, and looked after your needs?”
“I . . . You don’t have to—”
“And you expect me to mind the shop. To believe there’s no extra coin—”
“There isn’t any.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Dinah’s hand whipped across Blue’s face. “I’ve done everything your mother would’ve wanted me to do.”
Blue raised a trembling hand to her stinging cheek and blinked at Dinah in shock. Until today, the older woman had been demanding, and had certainly put her daughters’ comfort ahead of Blue’s, but she hadn’t been cruel.
Dinah leaned forward, a wild light in her eyes. “I have an empire that desperately needs my attention. Daughters to position for the prince’s betrothal. A family to run. All I want is for you to show me where the extra coin is kept so that we can hire someone to run the shop, and you sit there lying to me. I despise liars.”
Blue scrambled out of her chair and backed away, keeping the table between them. “I’m not lying. We had enough to get by, but not much extra. And I never expected you to keep shop. I never expected you at all. You just showed up and took over my life!” Blue’s voice rose. “You took my home, my bedroom, my time with my grandmother, and my shop. Well, I don’t need you. Go back to your mansion. Go run your empire and find a way to marry one of your girls to Kellan. I don’t care what you do as long as you leave me alone!”
Dinah lunged from her chair as Blue whirled toward the stockroom door. “Don’t you dare leave without my permission.”
Blue snatched up the three remaining delivery packages, flew into the alley, and slammed the door behind her. Before Dinah could follow, Blue raced to the main road, ducked around the bakery on the corner, and dove down a side street that broke into a dozen different streets within half a block.