Page 38 of Blood Coven

It was Matthias’s choice to leave their daughter here, promising to come back for her. Riina was scarcely out of the orphanage when she had their daughter and knew that it was not an ideal place to grow up, but she wanted to better her own life before caring for another. Both had agreed Azalea could not know about Eliise, and the orphanage was the only place that seemed safe. They had plans to move to a neighboring town—any town away from Azalea would do—build a home, then come back for their child.

“Eliise,” Kaisa called to the young girl. Matthias never had a chance to learn her name; Riina hadn’t named her before she died. She wanted to name her everything and nothing, no name was suitable, and she hadn’t made a decision in time. Eliise. It sounded right. Kaisa told the girl, “There is someone here to see you.”

The girl looked up, her eyes scanning until they landed on Matthias. No recognition flashed through them; of course, she would not remember him. She was only a few weeks old when Matthias left Ocleau. She stood, wiping dust and crumbs from her beige skirt before daintily walking over to her father.

“Are you here to take me away?” she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.

“Not yet.” Matthias crouched down and cupped her face. Her eyes resembled her mother’s, a rich, deep brown. The color of tea steeped too long. “Soon, I will come for you and give you the life you have always dreamed of.”

“Do not give her false hope,” Kaisa scolded.

“I do no such thing,” Matthias replied. “Eliise, I am your father. I have been away for a very long time. I was forced to leave you behind. But now I have returned, and I will take you far away from here. You have my word.”

Eliise stared blankly at him, unsure how to digest his promises. She glanced at Kaisa, looking for confirmation of Matthias’s words.

Kaisa said nothing; clearly, she didn’t trust him to follow through. After all, he abandoned his child for ten years.

“What would you like to do? What has been your dream?” Matthias asked her.

“To see Mama.”

Matthias smiled; even if Eliise could remember, Ana looked just like Riina. They wanted the same thing, Matthias and Eliise. They both wanted Ana. This time, he would not let Azalea take that away from him or Eliise again. Everything was falling into place. He could feel it. “I can do that. I promise I’ll bring you to your mother very soon.”

She smiled tentatively, then wrapped her arms around Matthias’s neck in a weak-armed hug.

Matthias left the orphanage with questions burning in his mind. Am I capable of having Kaisa, an innocent, killed in replacement of Ana? Everyone believed him to be so righteous and yet the idea of letting Kaisa be a stand-in for Ana’s corpse came so easily. Too easily, he thought as he walked the long way around town to Ana’s house.

The second, more important question would soon be answered.

His urgency moved him along quicker than usual. In the dense fog that crept in as the hour grew late, he found himself momentarily lost. Only the skeletal trees on his right guided him. He had visited Ana nearly every day since his mother poisoned her with sickness. He tended to her, and every moment he was there, he feared her husband would return.

Her house came into sight, and Matthias relaxed. The decaying head of winter rose on the doorstep, reminding him that he was an interloper here. This was Ana and her husband’s home. The rose was a symbol of their deceit. He knocked on the door, prepared to face the man of the house at any time. When no one answered, he presumed it was safe and entered. The bitter scent of bile and an unwashed body told Matthias that only Ana was home. He quickly hurried to check on her.

Ana’s eyes fluttered open when Matthias entered the bedroom. She attempted a smile but winced in obvious pain. “What are you doing here?” she croaked as she sat up.

“I need to ask you something,” he said, as he sat on the side of the bed. Before she could reply, he continued, “You spoke of Riina as though you knew her. Was she?”

“My half-sister,” Ana replied. “Banned from my home by my mother, who was ashamed of my father’s infidelity. We still played as much as we could…until one day, she was no longer around.”

“Why?” Matthias asked. His hands were sweating, and he wiped them on his trousers.

Her eyes, surrounded by bruised skin, searched until they landed on a cup.

Matthias handed it to her, and she drank small sips.

When she finished, she gave it to Matthias, who gripped it tight.

“She met you.”

Matthias inhaled sharply. More questions pummeled him inside. Did she ever see Riina again? he wondered. Instead, he asked, “Did you know she had a child?”

Ana nodded. “Not right away, but not long after you fled Ocleau. I could do nothing for the girl, so I didn’t take her in. Besides, she wasn’t mine to take.”

“You knew who I was when we met, and you knew I had a child.” Matthias tapped his fingers on the edge of the cup. “Ana, is that…something you want?”

She coughed, her entire body shuddering at the effort. When she recovered, she took the water from him again. After she finished what was left, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “When I was younger, I always wanted what she had.”

“And now?”

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