The Chocolatier's Wife (101 page)

She
smiled
sweetly.
“I’ve
been
married for
ages,
and
happily.
But
you are
the one I
am
thinking
of,
my dear.
It’s
an
ever so convenient and
direct way of seeing into one’s
future.”

She wanted to deny the woman, but at the same time she was terrified that
som
e
thing
terrible
was
happening
to
William.
She
filled
the
bowl
again, and
followed the ri
t
ual with shaking
hands.

The
spell
was
not
elegantly
done.
She
slashed
her
finger terribly, dripping
blood
everywhere.
But
the
pink
water
settled,
and
she
saw
William sitting
on
the
roof
next
to
Andrew,
talking
to
him,
his
hand
on
the
back
of his brother’s
neck,
rubbing gently.

A
shado
w
fel
l
acros
s
them
,
an
d
Willia
m
looke
d
up
,
annoyed
.
Hi
s
eye
s
droppe
d
t
o
th
e
barre
l
o
f
a
pisto
l
tha
t
Tasmi
n
coul
d
jus
t
se
e
a
t
th
e
edg
e
o
f
th
e
vision
.
H
e
stood
,
too
k
a
ste
p
forward
.
Hi
s
lip
s
moved
,
bu
t
ther
e
wa
s
n
o
sound
;
eve
n
still
,
sh
e
coul
d
tel
l
h
e
wa
s
tauntin
g
th
e
othe
r
man
,
darin
g
him
.

Franny rested
her
chin
on
her
hand
as
she
stared
into
the
water.
“My timing
is,
as
ever, exceptional.” She
tapped
the
table.
“If
you
give
me
the Heart
of
Ithalia,
William and
his
little
brother
get
to
go
free.
If
you
don’t, they both die and
Eric Lavoussier
di
s
appears without a
trace.”

“I
would
if
I
could,
but
I
have
no
idea
of
what
you
speak.”
Tasmin
looked at
Bonny.
The
woman’s
eyes
were
casting
around
for
something
to
use
as
a
weapon.
She
wished
she
could
lock
the
wench
in a
closet
and
handle
this by herself.

“Is
this
true?”
Franny
asked
her
sprite,
who
still
struggled
on
the
floor.

The body seemed to change color to red. “Lies oomans,”
it said.

“See? You can’t
afford to waste my time like this.”

Shush or
I’ll
stomp
on
you
,
she
wanted
to
say,
but
she
didn’t
want
to give
away
her
pretense
at
calm. “You’re
the
one
who
created
the
spell
that froze my sprites, and
the one who made the poison for
the chocolates.”

“Yes,
yes,
I
am
very
clever
and
my
husband
is
getting
very
restless.”
She waved it off,
not really answering.

Bonny
gasped
and
Tasmin
glared
at
her.
“You
surely
twigged
onto
that before
now?”
She
glanced
at
the
bowl,
and
saw
that
Lavoussier
had
rammed the
pistol
against
William’s
chest,
forcing
him
back
a
step.
He
wasn’t
going to shoot William,
he was g
o
ing to force him
off the roof.

Andrew
had
stood,
his
hands
in
the
air,
looking desperately
for
some solution.

“I
know
it
is
here.
I
can
feel
it.
The
wind, the
rain,
and
the
raging sea.” Franny
broke
into
a
beatific
smile,
reaching
out
with
one
finger,
threatening to stir
the bowl and
take the image away.

“Oh,
very
well.
Your
familiar
is
correct.
I’ll get
you
the
Heart
of
Ithalia.
‘Tis
here,
but
well
hid
and
it
will
take
time
to
fetch,
so
please
call
your husband off.”

The
sprite
turned
bright
blue,
the
color
of
truth,
and
Franny smiled. “Very good,
then.
Have your
little
beasts
let
him
up,
and
he
shall
go
and tell Eric that all is well.”

“Please, my darlings,
let the evil creature go.”

The
sprite
sprang
up,
darted
at
her
and
Bonny’s
eyes,
before
flying
away
swiftly.

With
all
her
heart,
Tasmin
begged
one
to
follow.
Tell
him,
tell
him
what
I
ask
of
you,
please.

“Well,
fetch!” Franny
said.

“I
don’t
want Bonny
to see where ‘tis
hidden. Bid
her to go upstairs.”

“I
will not go upstairs!” Bonny
snarled.

Frann
y
shoo
k
he
r
head
.
“Yo
u
ar
e
u
p
t
o
something
.
No
.
Yo
u
thin
k
yo
u
have roo
m
t
o
b
e
cleve
r
now
,
bu
t
yo
u
d
o
not
.
I
f
yo
u
hur
t
me
,
Eri
c
wil
l
kno
w
it.
”

Tasmin pointed
at
the
bowl.
“I
love
him.
More
than
anything
in
this world.
More
than
the
lives
you’ll
take
using
this
stone,
more
than
the
people you’ll
ruin.”
Her
own
words,
coming
so
easily,
shocked
her.
She
meant
them more
than
she’d meant an
y
thing she’d ever said.

Franny
stared
at
her
a
long
moment. “Bonny,
go
upstairs.
Your
dear sister does not trust you.”

“I
said I
won’t
go,
and
that is it.”

Tasmin
glared at her.
“If you stay,
she will kill
you.”

Bonny
paled,
and
Franny
laughed.
Bonny
swallowed,
her
courage
failing her,
and
went up to the apartment above,
not saying another word.