Page 90 of Witches of Dubious Origin
“No.” Ariana shook her head. “I couldn’t care less about that. I put Moran in place to kill you and steal the grimoire.”
“That seems like a lot of work,” Olive said. “Why didn’t you just kill Ziakas yourself?”
I sent her an outraged glance, which she ignored.
“Because, as you know, my powers were stripped from me and trapped inEl Corazón. I had nothing but a wisp of my ability left, and the only host I could find in that hellscape I was banished to was a very powerful but very lonely little hedge witch named Eloise Tate, who had been sent there to heal the earth but managed to get herself killed by the toxic fumes of the burning mine instead.” She rolled her eyes, making it clear what she thought about that.
“You brought her back when she was freshly dead and took up residence inside her, leaving your own body behind,” Olive clarified. “And Eloise losing her body parts had nothing to do with Toni Donadieu’s necromancy magic fading, because she didn’t bring Eloise back, you did. It was the power you were siphoning from Eloise that was weakening.”
“You’re not as slow as you look,” Ariana said. Olive didn’t rise to the bait. “Hedge witches, even the powerful ones, are not made for the long haul. Pity.”
I swallowed, feeling nauseous. “Was it Eloise or you who killed Mamie and my mom with the Waning Curse?”
Ariana’s eyes positively sparkled with delight. “Eloise was such a pathetic little thing; she would do anything I asked even if it went against her precious hedge witch ways. Once I convinced her to use her ability for murder, there was no turning back for her.”
“None of this answers Olive’s question. Why didn’t you just have Eloise kill me, too?” I asked.
“Because you, my dear, were an unexpected gift,” Ariana said. “I watched you over the years and knew you didn’t use witchcraft. I feared you lacked the gift and had resigned myself to living within Eloise forever. But the night I followed the grimoire to your doorstep—hoping I was wrong about your abilities—you said you would take us to the Museum of Literature. I knew you were my pass into the Books of Dubious Origins department and all the delicious books there. I couldn’t risk using Eloise to murder you for fear someone would figure it out and I’d lose my disguise.
“And it paid off. You gave me access to stealEl Corazónand get my power back. And I did—as well as so many other wonderful items. Eloise really was the perfect disguise and I would have stayed within her and stolen every last one of the dark magic books in the collection. I would have been unstoppable. Oh, wait, I still am.” She laughed and it chilled me to the core.
She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out the familiar small burgundy volume.El Corazón. When I glancedat it, I could feel the malevolence coming off it and the frozen heart inside. The feel of the clenching heart was fainter than when I’d first seen it in the BODO but still there.
She waved the book at Olive. “Before I can be fully realized and get all my power back,El Corazónneeds a new witch’s powers. It won’t release me completely until I deliver, which is why I brought you here, Prendergast. Think you’ll enjoy being imprisoned inside a book for eternity?” Olive stiffened, but Ariana slipped the book back into her pocket. “First things first, I am going to use the power I have regained to kill you, Zoe, the last Donadieu, and you are going to use all that untapped magic inside you to help me exchange Prendergast for me inEl Corazón.”
“You don’thaveto kill me,” I protested. I felt the book tremble in my backpack and I clutched it close. I had no intention of giving it to Ariana but felt I needed to discourage her from murdering me.
Ariana threw back her head and laughed. It was as appealing as shattering glass. “Of course I do. Then I will raise you from the dead and you will use that grimoire to do my bidding. This is just the most perfect retribution for your grandmother stealing my powers and banishing me and for your mother eluding me for all these years. So many decades I spent tracking her as she slipped through time. It was supposed to be Juliet who became my undead servant with all the power of the Donadieu grimoire, but this is even better. Now it will be you, Zoe. You and the grimoire are all mine and everything your mother did to save you was for nothing. This revenge will be the sweetest I have ever known.” Her eyes glowed with pure malice and I shivered.
I opened my mouth to fire more questions at her, but Ariana cut me off. “Give me the book, Zoe. Give me the book and I’ll make your death painless.”
“Don’t do it.” I felt Olive lean closer to me as if she would protect me or the book or both, and I was touched.
I glanced across the labyrinth, taking in the twitching fingers rising up from the dirt, and thought I might black out. But the reality that this woman had used Eloise to murder my mother and grandmother made a surge of fury obliterate every other feeling.
“You can murder me, but I won’t come back and do your bidding.” I had absolutely nothing to back this statement up except my rage.
Ariana simply stared at me. The sky had grown dark again as a second storm rolled in, dropping the temperature enough that I could see my breath. With her hair whipping about her face and her electric eyes fixed on me, Ariana looked lethal. I had the feeling that if she could break my neck with a snap of her fingers, she wouldn’t hesitate. I refused to cower.
“You Donadieus are too weak to possess a grimoire with that much power. Do you have any idea of the spells contained in that book? A witch in possession of that book can do everything from traveling through time to seeing beyond the veil to mending souls.”
It was Olive who laughed this time, and it was as cold as a winter wind. “You have to have a soul for it to be mended, Darkwood.”
“Shut up! That grimoire belongs to me!” Ariana declared.
A flutter of fear came from inside the backpack. I huggedit tighter, trying to calm the grimoire. The protective instinct to shield my family’s legacy overrode any other emotion I was feeling at the moment, including terror.
“The hell it does,” I snapped. I felt Olive staring at me and turned to find her color returning and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a look of approval on her face.
Ariana strode even closer until she was a few feet away. “This conversation is tiresome. The book.” She held out her hand.
“It won’t open for you,” I said. “You know that.”
“Good thing I just need a bit of your blood.” Ariana smiled. It was a terrifying display of perfect white teeth.
We were trapped. There was no escape for us. I felt the blood drain from my face. Everything went fuzzy except for a flash of blue in my peripheral vision. It was Olive, shooting blue fire out of her fingertips. Ariana darted back, but Olive wasn’t aiming for her. Instead, she bent low and blasted the hands holding my feet and then her own.
“Run for the boulder, Ziakas!” Olive ordered, and we darted around one of the large stones that demarcated the entrance. Hands punched up out of the ground, trying to grab us or trip us, I had no idea which. When we reached the rock, Olive pushed me on top of it and moved to stand in front of me. She held her arms out in front of her and I knew she was trying to hold Ariana just as she had Moran. It didn’t work. Ariana marched toward us with deliberate steps, her gaze unwavering on my backpack.
