Old World Charm by Cate Martin

Author:Cate Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946552921
Publisher: Ratatoskr Press

Chapter 13

I started to get up and head towards the door, but Sophie caught my wrist.

"Wait, let's talk this through," she said.

"We've left him alone long enough," I said. "He's so isolated and despairing. We can't leave him like that a moment longer."

"I think you're projecting," Sophie said.

"What are you talking about? We just felt everything he was feeling," I said.

"I didn't," Sophie said. "I knew he was on the third floor. I sensed that. But as to the rest?" She looked over at Brianna, who shrugged and then shook her head.

I sank back down to the floor. "We were all seeing the same thing, right?"

"A projection of the house like a dollhouse with blots of color inside," Brianna said.

"I didn't see the dollhouse," I said. "I guess I was just in it. But the blots of color were people."

"Yes," Brianna agreed.

"I saw the dollhouse," Sophie said, "but my colors were more like streaks in a stream. Moving, like dancing, but never quite fading away."

"So we created a thing together, but we all have different perceptions of it," I said. "Didn't you two see Edward?"

"I sensed him upstairs, where we already knew he was," Brianna said. "I was worried about who Charlotte might be talking to, so I tried to focus on Coco and her. But Coco hasn't found her yet, and I couldn't sense Charlotte anywhere."

"I didn't either, but I wasn't trying too," Sophie said.

"Nor I," I said, but turned to Sophie. "What were you trying to sense?"

"I was focused on the library," Sophie said. "I thought perhaps a malevolent heart would either be one of them, or in their custody, or just as interested in what the police were up to as we are."

"But you didn't find anything?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Otto is still being questioned. He was in some discomfort. I'm not sure they are being kind with their questions."

"Great," I said. "Another thing we have to stop. The police are botching this. We really have to step in."

"And do what?" Brianna asked. "Declare ourselves witches and command everyone to obey us?"

"Obviously not," I said.

"Then what?" she asked.

"I don't think Otto would want us to intervene," Sophie said. "He knew what he was up against when he let them take him into the library. I don't think it's gone outside the realm of things he was prepared to face."

"All right," I said. "But I'm still going upstairs to see Edward. And no one is going to stop me."

"How are you going to get past our guard?" Sophie asked.

"Through there," I said, pointing at Coco's little secret door.

"It's going to be tight," she said, swinging the door open to look inside. "And dusty."

"Well, it's not like I was ever going to wear this dress again anyway," I said. But even so, I gathered the long skirt up around my waist and tied it up so I wouldn't trip on it while I was crawling.

The crawl space smelled like old dust and mouse droppings, and it was bone-chillingly cold.

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