Bones and Ashes by Gemma Holden Read Free Book Online Page B

and Glacia were being mean to her? It sounded so petty and childish.
    “You need to do something. It isn’t fair.”
    It was easy for Cassade to say that; she was never the target of Blaize’s hatred. For some reason it was always Raiden they tormented. It had always been that way, from the very first day she had come to the school. What was so wrong with her to make them hate her so?
     
    ****
     
    The last lesson before she had to leave to see her grandmother was French. The classroom overlooked a small courtyard filled with dead roses and tangled vines. Rows of tables and chairs faced a bare grey wall with a single nail in the centre. There was nothing else in the room except a few empty shelves.
    No one said anything as they waited for Miss Radbone to arrive. She had been one of the teachers that had been absent from dinner the night before. The door opened and Grub came in, bending double to get through the doorway. Tucked under his arm was a large oval mirror which he hung on the bare wall at the front of the classroom.
    The mirror’s surface gradually faded away and an image began to form. A young woman sat behind a desk. Only her top half was visible. Black hair hung limply around her pale face and her large dark eyes stared down at the desk in front of her. Raiden had seen stuffed creatures at her godfather’s museum with the same glassy look in their eyes. No one knew what Miss Radbone had done to be imprisoned inside a mirror. It was the harshest punishment reserved for witches by the Inquisition.
    Although the Inquisition had allowed Miss Radbone to teach at the school, Raiden didn’t think they had done it out of kindness. She was a warning, of what would happen to them if they were to break the law. They might have magic and wealth, but they were not more powerful than the Inquisition.
    “Bonjour girls,” Miss Radbone said, her voice listless.
    “Bonjour madam,” they echoed back.
    “Mr Grub, wait outside until I call you.” She didn’t look at the ogre as she spoke. She waited until he had left the room before she began to talk about verbs and the second participle. She never looked directly at them. Her gaze was fixed on the back of the room, above their heads. Her voice was toneless as she recited the lesson.
    The bell rang. Miss Radbone broke off in the middle of her sentence. “You may go,” she said. She stared down at the table in front of her while they got up to leave.
    “I’ll see you in a few hours,” Raiden said to Cassade.
    “Raiden,” Cassade called. Raiden turned back. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any magic. Don’t let your grandmother tell you otherwise.”
    It did matter. It mattered a great deal, especially to her grandmother and the rest of society. Instead, Raiden nodded. “I won’t be long.”
    Marielle was waiting in her room, ready to help her change. She had laid out a black pinstripe hooded dress on the bed. Marielle quickly helped her into the dress. Raiden flinched at the touch of her cold fingers as she did up the buttons down the back. The ghost picked up a brush and began to brush out Raiden’s hair. Raiden winced as her hair was twisted and pulled. Marielle was usually much gentler. When she was younger, she had always known when she had been summoned to see her grandmother by how tightly Marielle had braided her hair.
    Marielle held out her coat. Raiden shoved her arms into the sleeves and then pulled on her gloves and pinned on her hat. She looked in the mirror. Her face was pale, her green eyes wide with fear. She pressed her hands to her stomach and took a deep breath. She couldn’t let her grandmother see she was afraid of her. She squared her shoulders and marched out of the room.
     

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Outside the manor, Tobin waited with the carriage. He opened the door as she hurried down the steps. She smiled at the empty space where his head should have been as she climbed in.
    Knightsbridge wasn’t as crowded as it usually