The Blood Spell (Ravenspire, #4)(64)

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s Marisol Evrard,” she said.

The girl who was sewing her own ball gown, who’d unabashedly enjoyed both eating snacks at the tea table and dancing with Kellan, Jacinthe, and Genevieve. He liked her. “What’s happened?”

“She’s dead.”





TWENTY-SEVEN


DINAH HAD BEEN waiting for Blue when she got home. The moment Kellan and his guards walked out of the farmhouse gate and back toward the city, Dinah grabbed Blue’s upper arm and dragged her to the kitchen.

“We’re going to find that spell of your mother’s,” she said.

“I can’t,” Blue said, pulling with all her strength, until Dinah faced her, tears shining in her eyes.

Her grip on Blue’s arm gentled. “Please, I’m going to lose everything if I can’t find a way out of this. Getting an old, rare potion of your mother’s could be the key.”

Blue didn’t think an old potion would be worth as much as Dinah seemed to think, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe this would get the Chauveaus out of her life. And she’d promised Papa that one day she’d face the root cellar.

Reluctantly, Blue allowed herself to be pulled toward the root cellar’s door.

The cellar smelled of drying herbs, pickled roots, and dust. Blue clung to the ladder, her breath coming in shallow pants as she slowly eased her way down. A lantern hung from the crook of one elbow, and her gathering basket hung from the other.

“Please hurry,” Dinah said from above her. “You spent far too much time in town. I want enough time to search the whole cellar tonight.”

The whole cellar? Blue’s heart slammed against her chest as she took another shaky step toward the floor. The cellar ran along the entire length of the farmhouse. There were walls full of shelves, crates stacked higher than Blue in two corners, and several chests lining the center like a row of soldiers.

The chests hadn’t been there the day Mama died. Maybe Papa had moved them so that he wouldn’t have to walk over the place where she’d last been. Or maybe he’d just run out of space elsewhere.

“Move faster, girl. I know you know how to get down a ladder.”

Blue carefully slid down another step, her knuckles white with strain as she gripped the rungs.

There was no wintermint. No spilled herbs.

No Mama.

She was going to be fine. Papa had always wanted her to face her fears, and now she was. Of course she’d never imagined facing them in front of Dinah Chauveau, but she couldn’t afford to think about that. Not if she wanted to keep her nerves under control.

Her foot found the dirt floor, and she slowly pried herself off the ladder. Her knees shook, and she nearly stumbled, but caught herself in time. Panic skittered through her at the thought of landing on that cold dirt floor where Mama had lain dying.

Dinah stepped off the ladder and faced Blue. “What are you waiting for? Light the room.”

The faster she obeyed, the faster she could get through this ordeal.

Blue turned and made her way to the wall torches in their glass hurricane shades. Pulling a candle from her pocket, she touched the wick to her lantern’s flame and then carefully lit each torch along the walls. Before long, the cellar was bathed in a warm golden glow that did nothing to calm the frantic beat of Blue’s heart.

“Where would your mother’s things be kept?” Dinah asked, sweeping an arm out to encompass the towering stacks of crates and the wooden chests.

Blue shrugged as she gently blew out the flame on the candle she held.

Moving rapidly, Dinah wrapped her hand around Blue’s hair and yanked the curls back until Blue staggered, her face tilted toward the ceiling.

“Maybe I can’t leave a bruise on you for the prince to see, but there are plenty of other ways to make sure you’re compliant.” Dinah’s voice was cold. “Don’t underestimate how far I’m willing to go to right the wrongs done to me.”

Blue winced as Dinah pulled on her hair, and tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not here. Not for this woman. The tears Blue shed in the root cellar belonged to Mama alone.

“Let’s try again. Where are your mother’s things kept?”

“I don’t know.” Blue’s voice trembled, and she swallowed hard.

Dinah’s nails dug into Blue’s scalp. “Do you know what happened to the last servant of mine who refused to obey me?”

“I’m not your servant.” Blue blinked her tears away and met Dinah’s gaze.

“Close enough.” Dinah’s voice was stern. “I own you, Blue. I own this house, the shop, and everything inside them. If I want, I can burn all of it to the ground and send you far away.”

The panic threading through Blue’s veins burst into a thin flame of anger. “Might be hard to explain to the royal family why you destroyed their friend’s home and then got rid of her.”

Dinah’s smiled winked out. “I don’t explain myself to anyone. Show me your mother’s things.”

“I don’t know where they are.” Blue winced as Dinah’s grip tightened.

“Of course you do. We’re surrounded by drying herbs, bottles of roots, and satchels of ground flower petals. There are several old cauldrons on that upper shelf. This is an alchemist’s cellar, and you are the alchemist of the house.”