Chapter 22
‘I still can’t believe he kissed you,’ Lillian said, shaking her head as she and Esme descended the stairs at No 8. It was Tuesday morning, and they were about to leave for school. ‘Did you at least get him to tell you where to find the nightshade?’
On the landing, Esme paused before her mother’s painting of the house, viewed from the bridge over the canal outside. Seeing that painting, the day she first arrived here, had been enough to convince Esme that Aeolia wasn’t a dream. Seth’s kiss, however, still felt like a protracted nightmare.
‘I didn’t get a chance to ask.’ Esme marched down the next set of stairs. ‘He just got angry and stormed out. I don’t know how I’m going to bring it up again.’
‘Well, you can’t avoid him forever,’ said Lillian, fixing her hair in the hall m
