S M Reine - 05 Dire Blood by S M Reine

Author:S M Reine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Ariane Kavanagh hadn’t aged a day since the last time Elise had spoken to her. Her hair was still chestnut brown, and she didn’t have a single new wrinkle. She could have passed for the same age that Elise had been when she died. “The courtyard is meant to be off-limits until I finish restoring the wards. What are you doing here?”

Elise’s mouth worked silently.

Her mother’s head was a buzz of white noise with the volume turned low, but she showed no indication of recognizing her own daughter. Not after fifteen years of aging, a rebirth, and new clothing.

Elise couldn’t feel her hands. Couldn’t think. Could barely breathe.

“We’re just looking around,” Nathaniel said finally when Elise was silent for too long.

Worry darkened Ariane’s eyes. “You are a human boy.”

“I’m visiting.”

“I wasn’t told of any children visiting,” Ariane said. “Children don’t visit the Palace.”

His brain sparked as he searched for a lie. “Uh…”

“I’m searching for Hannah Pritchard,” Elise said suddenly.

Ariane paled. She glanced around the corner where Elise had last seen Isaac. “Where did you hear that name?”

“She was recently brought to Hell. I think she should be in the Palace,” Elise said, speaking a little too quickly, her words a jumble.

The witch picked up a collection of bottles she had set on the ground, tucked them in her bodice, and pushed her hair out of her face. “We can’t talk here.”

She waved her wrist over the nearby tower door and led them inside. Nathaniel stayed glued to Elise’s side as they navigated dark, narrow corridors. “Hannah—” Elise began again.

Ariane cut her off. “Wait.”

When the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, she opened the cage and strode ahead.

Nathaniel hung back with Elise. “Who is that?”

“That’s my mother.” She clenched her jaw. “She doesn’t know who I am.”

They followed her to private quarters in a hallway on the east side of the tower. The rooms were large, but modest, and Elise recognized the battle-axes mounted on the wall as her father’s. He had almost cut off one of her fingers when he’d trained her to use them at eight years old. The axes were the only way that her parents had personalized the sitting room—that, and the family photo in a wooden frame on the table by the door.

Elise studied it as Ariane shut the door behind them. Her father was young and handsome. Ariane, mostly unchanged, had her arm around the shoulders of a little girl with auburn hair, freckled skin, and a big smile.

Ariane flitted around the room, flicking her fingers at totems on each wall. Magic flashed in the corners of Elise’s vision and a cool mist washed down her arms. Nathaniel watched the wards fall into place with great interest.

“Who are you?” Ariane asked as soon as she was done. “How do you know Hannah?”

“She’s my mom,” Nathaniel said.

Even through the buzz of Ariane’s protected mind, the flare of shock was impossible to miss. “Mon dieu.”

“I’ve brought Nathaniel to Hell so that we can get her back,” Elise said.

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