Severine shook her head, and she could have sworn she heard her father’s laughter as she started down the last hill towards the house. What do you think, Sevie girl? Look at this place. It’s all ours now. A crow of laughter and a lash of the wind, and she wasn’t sure which sounds were from her memories and which were from the moment.
Anubis bumped her, and she glanced at Lisette, seeing the white of her friend’s eyes. They were wide with worry.
“I never thought,” Severine said, “I’d come back here after I was left alone for so long. Sometimes it seemed as though my parents and this house and the rest couldn’t have been real.”
“It is real,” Lisette said flatly, tugging Severine forward.
“Is it?” Severine asked, swearing she heard the shout of her mother, shrieking at her father. Mother or the wind? Severine wasn’t sure she could tell right at that moment.
“It’s real, it’s dry, and I was promised wine.”
Chapter Eight
They poured into the great hall on the other side of the massive front doors like damsels in distress, complete with soaked dress and hair, a door clattering against the wall in the face of the wind, and the inexplicable howl from Anubis who was nearly always quiet.
“Well,” Severine laughed when a startled butler appeared, followed by Mr. Brand, her grandmother, and a good half dozen others. “We’ve arrived.”
“You’re soaked!” Mr. Brand said, rushing forward to take her sopping cloak.
“Oh, no, no, I’m sure my dress is even worse.” She grinned at him. “Perhaps a bedroom with a bath?”
“Immediately,” he said.
“The dogs will need to be taken to the stables,” Grandmère stated.
“Don’t be silly, Grandmère, they’re angels. I’d kiss you, but alas, I fear you too would need to bathe off the storm.”
She glanced round the room, shoved back her wet hair, and smiled to Lisette who looked so relieved to be inside she might collapse where she stood.
“Come,” Mr. Brand said. He nodded at the butler who waited until Grandmère nodded as well, and Severine scooped up Kali and Persephone and clucked at Anubis. The butler led the way, followed by Mr. Brand and Grandmère, who seemed to be struggling for supremacy. Severine and Lisette trailed after them, dripping on the rich carpets and marble floors. They reached the floor where Severine’s parents had once lived and then passed it by.
“Who is living here?”
“Mr. Brand stated those rooms should remain empty,” Grandmère replied. “Your bedroom was prepared for you, but it was aired out by an idiot girl who left the windows open before the storm started.”
“No matter,” Severine said. She wasn’t sure she wanted her old bedroom.
“Lisette can stay in a room up those stairs,” Grandmère stated.
Severine turned, noticed the servants’ stairs. “No.”
Grandmère lifted a brow. “I am the mistress here.”
“You are a guest of my parents who stayed after their death,” Severine stated firmly. “This is my house.”
Grandmère hissed, “I would have thought nuns would have raised you to respect your elders.”
“Nuns raised me to stand up for what I believe is right,” Severine shot back. “Lisette is my friend. She’ll have a suite next to mine and be treated as an honored guest.”
“Lisette is a girl you picked up in New Orleans upon your return. She is nothing more than the byblow of a man who didn’t even bother to marry her mother.”
Lisette blushed darkly and her hands were fisted.
“That is indeed a crime,” Severine stated evenly. “And no more fault of hers than my divorced mother is of mine.”
Grandmère slapped Severine like a cobra striking, but Severine grabbed her wrist just as quickly, ignoring the flare of pain. Mr. Brand’s gasp of horror was echoed by Lisette’s.
“Grandmère,” Severine told her calmly, “I would say I love you, but I cannot recall one instance of kindness or care, so instead, I will remind you that your income, your home, and your security rely upon my goodwill.”
Grandmère’s hand trembled as Severine released her bony wrist and added, “Hell will freeze over before I see you homeless, poor, or unsafe. You will have those funds until the day you die along with an excellent place to live.”
Grandmère lifted her jaw, her gaze raking over Severine with an edge of dislike that she didn’t feel she deserved.
Still, she recalled that she had been raised to respect her elders, even ones like her grandmother. “I apologize for threatening you. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Your mother would have been disgusted.”
Severine smiled slightly and said, “Let’s not pretend that she didn’t always find me vaguely distasteful. I was not the daughter she wanted, and I wish I could have been. Perhaps there was some confusion in heaven before my birth.”
Grandmère stepped back. “What has become the family wing is full. Your parents’ floor will remain empty. Unless you disagree?”
Severine shook her head.
“There are quite nice suites the next floor up.”
“Lovely,” Severine said easily, ignoring the heat in her cheeks and the fury in her heart.
“The servants won’t be waiting on the east wing of the house that has been prepared for your little —” Grandmère finished with a rude insult about the color of Lisette’s skin. and Severine wanted to be shocked at the icy hatred, but she wasn’t and neither, it seemed, was Mr. Brand.
He merely turned from Grandmère to the butler. “Miss DuNoir is your mistress. Any servant who objects should pack their bags this evening.”
“Sir,” the butler said, evenly.
Severine added smoothly, “Lisette is my special guest.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Ensure she is treated as such, please.”
“Of course, Miss DuNoir. Welcome home.”
Severine turned to her grandmother. “If you wish to maintain your status as the mistress of the house, it is possible. It’s entirely up to you.”
“You mean I have to obey my granddaughter?” The last words sounded so disgusted that Severine was
