Magic Under Stone by Jaclyn Dolamore Read Free Book Online

forest,” Erris said. “They are full of good things for animals and people.”
    “You’re talking like I’m a child!”
    “Well, I promise to stop if you give that poor salad a chance,” Erris said. “I don’t need to be a doctor to know that the human world is making you sick.”
    “It’s not! And I’m half-human!” Violet obviously realized she wasn’t going to win. She stood up, shoved her chair over so that ithit the floor with a bang, and stormed off, with one last shout at Lean Joe, who started laughing heartily.
    Once she had left, we could hear her coughing all the way down the hall.
    “I hope she doesn’t hurt herself, with all this commotion,” Celestina said, poking a sausage with her fork.
    “She won’t,” Erris said. “Anyway, once she’s calmed down, I’ll bring her an apple.” He looked at the salad hungrily. “If any of the rest of you would like some ... I don’t think it will keep long.”
    “It might keep through tomorrow,” Celestina said. But she took a little, obviously out of guilt. Erris couldn’t eat, and it was strange to eat piles of sausage and potatoes smothered with gravy while he had no plate or even a cup. The desire for food was constant in his eyes whenever I ate anything, even the stale roll I packed for the train.
    “Why aren’t you eating it?” Lean Joe asked.
    “I’m not sure you’ll want to know,” Erris said. “I must apologize in advance for being so unnerving.”
    Lean Joe scoffed. “Unnerving? Why, I’ve been to prison. Not much you can say to unnerve me anymore, especially something that starts with eating rabbit food. There’s men in there that would eat a lot worse.”
    “Like what?” Erris asked, but I kicked his leg.
    Celestina started laughing. “Joe, at least give them a day before you tell those stories!”
    “You can laugh, but there was a cannibal in that prison!”
    “He never saw cannibals,” Celestina said. “He was in prison for conning people out of their money selling fake medicine. They don’t put murderers in the same place. And he’s reformed now, aren’t you?”
    Joe nodded solemnly. “That’s right, I’ve had my fun. I’m no fool. Best to shape up before you’re dead.”
    “This house isn’t much like Hollin’s, that’s for sure,” I told Erris after dinner as we strolled the house. Celestina had encouraged us to explore while she attempted to coax Violet into eating the salad. I had shown Erris our guest rooms, and we roamed from there. I was happy to have him to myself again.
    “I never did see Hollin’s house, but I can imagine his gardener wasn’t a con man.”
    “No. It was much more proper. Although, I think I like this place better.”
    Once, I might have called Ordorio’s house gloomy. We poked our noses into portrait galleries lined with people frowning out from cracked paint and heavy wooden frames. And perhaps the tapestries had once been vibrant and beautiful, but now they were faded, slowly disintegrating on the walls. I suspected most of the furniture had been built by people wearing starched ruffs, who did not want their descendants to be any more comfortable than they were.
    Nevertheless, there was a difference between a house full of mold and uncomfortable furniture and a beautiful house where sad secrets permeated the very walls. The absence of taxidermy was a comfort, and I saw very little evidence of sorcery. Ordorio probably had a library somewhere where he kept his books and artifacts, but it wasn’t spilling all over the house like a warning that someone dangerous dwelt here.
    “More paintings!” Erris said with dismay, pushing open the next door. “Were his parents art collectors?”
    “With rather poor taste,” I said. The men had beady black eyes and fiercely pointed beards, and the women fared no better; unnaturally rosy cheeks and huge bosoms seemed the fashion.
    “They must have brought them over from the Old World,” Erris said. “These are no doubt heirlooms,