Cinderella Dressed in Ashes ( Book #2 in the Grimm Diaries ) by Cameron Jace Read Free Book Online Page B

in the distance, which they couldn’t have seen if they hadn’t climbed the hill.
    “What about it?”
    “Each element in my Art is divided into smaller ingredients that help you create the element. The Heart needs three ingredients to be completed,” Cerené said. “The three ingredients are ashes, sands, and lime.”
    “Earthly elements,” Shew nodded. She had spent some time reading about magic from books she’d collected from her victims in the Schloss.
    “Right,” Cerené said, panting again, not from climbing the hill, but from excitement. “Ashes are easy to get,” Shew offered. “We could burn anything,” she did her best not to mention the ashes covering Cerené’s skin.
    “No,” Cerené insisted. “My ashes are special. They are cold ‘soda ashes’ or ‘sodium carbonate.’”
    “How do you know stuff like that?”
    Cerené discarded the question. “These special ashes can only be obtained from drying and burning certain plants like Saltwort and Glasswort, but we don’t have those here,” she said then darted down the hill like a maniac, toward the tower.
    “Wait!” Shew said and followed her. “Where are you going?”
    “To get the plant that makes ashes from the tower of Rudaba,” Cerené yelled. “It’s called Rapunzel,” she said and disappeared in the dark.
    Shew walked cautiously, calling for her, afraid she’d trip. The earth was muddy underneath her. The tower itself was creepy and dark, shooting aimlessly into the night sky like someone’s mistake.
    “Shhh,” Cerené appeared out of nowhere, patting Shew and urging her to kneel. “Here it is. The Rapunzel plant,” she pointed at an orange plant that looked like a sunflower among many of its kind, scattered in an uneven circle around the tower. The plants swung slowly to a slight breeze.  They also looked as if they were alive. Their tiny petals acted as if they were arms.
    “Why don’t we just get one?” Shew whispered.
    “You will see why,” Cerené giggled. “This is no ordinary plant.”
    The two girls waited until a frog hopped by happily in front of one of the Rapunzel plants—reminding Shew how Loki hated frogs. In a flash, one of the once-peaceful plants grew sharp teeth between its petals, snatched the poor frog from midair with its wavy arms and swallowed it.
    The plant chewed on the frog and swallowed it down its green throat, as if it was a snake, all the way down to feed the belly of the earth. When other plants sneaked toward it to try to get a piece of the frog, it snarled at them. Once it finished its meal, it spat out the frog’s legs and plastered a merry sunflower smile on its face again.
    Shew fidgeted a little, not only because of the Rapunzel plant, but also because of Cerené’s giggles.
    “Is this the plant you want to burn down to ashes,” Shew wondered.
    “There is no other way. Magic comes with a price, remember?” Cerené said. “Believe me, I love plants and animals, but this one is vicious. If we come near it, it will eat one of our toes. It has a thing for them.”
    “So how are you planning to get one?”
    “With this,” Cerené pulled out a golden coin from her  dirty dress.
    “Where did you get a golden coin from?” Shew said.
    “I stole it from the Queen of Sorrow,” she smiled, looking at the trophy in her hand. “I am sorry, but you said you wanted to do something, and this is all I do when I have time.”
    “I don’t care about you stealing from my mother. And although I’m not comfortable with it, I wonder why a girl like you wouldn’t buy herself something with that large amount of money?”
    “Buy?” Cerené looked confused as if someone had hit her with a rock. “I never thought about it. I only stole the coin to practice my magic.”
    “You never thought of buying yourself a new dress, or a good meal?”
    Cerené looked dazed. Shew was worried but she also sympathized with her. The poor girl had lived a life down low and got so used to it that