I was still struggling with my conflicted feelings about Catherine when her phone rang. I listened closely as she spoke to Lauren on the other end and confirmed Sol had delivered my body to the Fairly Cosmetics building.

My heart ached, and I desperately wanted to grab the phone from Catherine so that I could ask Lauren had Sol said anything about me? Had he handed over my body without a fight? Or had he given some hint he hadn’t given up on me?

Of course, I couldn’t. I didn’t want Catherine to know just how close Sol and I had gotten. For my plan to work, I needed her to believe I’d turned my back on the Ancile and I was willing to join her.

Catherine told Lauren she’d be at their arranged meeting place shortly to retrieve my body.

As she ended the call, she turned to me. “Now, while I’m not here, I don’t want you trying anything stupid. I don’t even think Pierre’s body has the energy left for you to try and escape. And if you do, I won’t help you. Unless you’re waiting here for me, just as I left you, I won’t restore your soul to your body.”

The warning was clear, and I nodded my head mutely.

“That’s a good girl,” Catherine said, taking my face in her hands and caressing my cheeks like she was an affectionate aunt. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, and then the real fun begins.”

Catherine left the room, and I heard her locking the door. Ah, so even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t wander around the house.

I’d just have to keep playing along until Catherine trusted me enough to give me more freedom. Even though I was confined to the bedroom, that didn’t stop my curiosity.

I pulled myself out of bed, and just about got the hang of using Pierre’s decaying body to move around. Honestly, it was hardly worth the effort though. The room was massive – easily as big as Bernard’s suite at the H.Q – but not very exciting. It was packed full of antique furniture, including a beautiful dressing table stocked with all of Fairly Cosmetics’ latest products. There was also a massive walk-in wardrobe that was almost overflowing with designer outfits. There were blouses, and dresses, suites, a variety of coats. Countless pairs of shoes. It was every woman’s dream, but as I pulled a royal blue evening gown off the rail, I shuddered all over.

Everything was perfectly in my size.

I don’t just mean Catherine had guessed my dress size based on my physical appearance, either. It was like she’d somehow obtained my exact measurements.

As I browsed the clothes, I noticed that as well as everything being tailor made in my size, everything was the style I loved. Or more accurately, everything was in my style, only amplified. It was almost like Catherine had studied me, my personality and what type of clothes I liked, and then had everything custom made to suit not only my tastes, but what she thought would look good on me.

Disgusted, I walked out of the closet and instead browsed the nearby bookcase. But the books I found there were almost as off-putting as the clothes had been. There were countless books on Elizabethan times, and a handful of histories on the Fairly Family. Then there were all the books about cosmetics and makeup. Finally, on the bottom shelf was a series of fairy tales I remembered reading in childhood. Seeing Rapunzel there next to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, caused a strange sensation in my body. The hairs along my arms stood on end, and I felt uneasy, like when I’d first met Lettie.

Like when I’d seen Catherine feeding from Pierre.

I shuddered all over and turned back to the bed.

Exhausted I sank down onto the soft mattress and thought over what I was supposed to do next. Had it been naive of me to think I could single-handedly win Catherine’s trust, find out where her soul jar was and become powerful enough to defeat her?

Who was I kidding? I was out of my depth.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, I heard the sound of the bedroom door opening.

I sat up to see Catherine wheeling in a mortician's trolley and laying on it was me!

It was shocking to look at myself like this. I’d seen my own image countless time in the mirror, but that wasn’t the same as seeing your own body while you weren’t even in it. I noticed features I’d never spotted before.

Seeing myself was doubly unnerving because I was laying deathly still, and my skin was ghost white.

“Now that I’ve confirmed the Ancile didn’t plant anything on your body – magical or otherwise – we can begin the spell to transfer your soul to your body,” Catherine said, and from the bottom rung of the trolley she withdrew an old, leather-bound book.

As she placed the book on the bed, I realized with a gasp it wasn’t bound in leather. It was bound in human flesh.

“This was John Dee’s grimoire,” Catherine said smugly. “He entrusted it to me when he left court. I learned a great deal from this book, including how to artfully manipulate the soul of any living being.”

Catherine lifted her hands and started chanting in what I assumed was Latin.

“Exi ánima mea et fac iussiónem meam.”

Pierre’s cold, almost lifeless body suddenly felt very warm, and the air around me took on a golden glow.

“Redi ad vas unde orieris,” Catherine cried out, preforming a swooshing action with her arms, as though she were directing something from Pierre’s body to mine.

I felt something inside me move and realized that’s exactly what she was doing. She was directing my soul.

Suddenly I was free of Pierre’s corpse, and I felt like I was falling through time and space. I was in the bedroom with Catherine. Only I wasn’t. The golden city where I’d spoken to Idalia blinked in and out of existence. I caught a brief glimpse of my ancestor, as she called out my name. but then Idalia faded, and all around me swarmed other spirits. Their ethereal hands reached for me, clawing, but every finger passed through me.

I glanced in Catherine’s direction and saw that she was surrounded by a sickly, toxic green aura. Within the aura it looked like other figures – other spirits – moved, but I couldn’t make out anything discernible. All I could see were agonized faces.

And then, with a jolt, I felt my soul hurtling towards my body. I jolted like you sometimes do when you’re on the verge of sleep. I opened my eyes, and felt my soul was back in its rightful body.

The difference was amazing. I felt virile, and strong. So full of life. I sat up and twisted my body around so that I could swing my legs off the mortician's trolley. Standing, I walked over to the bed, where Pierre Beauford’s corpse lay, just as horrific as it had been when Catherine had murdered him.

I turned on her, my eyes blazing. “You monster!”

“Oh calm down, Roxie. I’m not your enemy,” Catherine said.

“You killed Pierre. You put my soul in his body—”

Catherine rolled her eyes. “I thought we’d been over all this. If you can’t behave yourself, I’ll put your soul back in Pierre’s body and let you die!”

Catherine opened John Dee’s grimoire and started reading from it again, and as she did I felt my soul shudder in my body.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll behave,” I called out desperately, and the sensation stopped.

“There, that’s better. Now, let’s go and have dinner while I send for a servant to clean up this mess.” Catherine waved a dismissive hand in Pierre’s direction, and for a moment, I wondered what she’d do with his body next.

I didn’t ask though, because now that I was becoming reaccustomed to being in my own body, I realized I was absolutely starving. I knew I wouldn’t even be able to think about what I should do next until I’d eaten, so I obediently followed Catherine from the room.

She led me down a grand, sweeping staircase, where a man in a uniform waited patiently.

“I await your command, Ma’am,” he said in a polite voice.

And that’s when I noticed something different about him. Much like Catherine had when she’d been casting the spell, the uniformed man had a glowing aura around him. His was a pale, minty green flecked with a brighter shade of green that made me think of Catherine.

Catching me staring at the man, Catherine smiled. “Ah, so you can see people’s souls at last?”

“That’s what this is?”

The poisonous green aura around Catherine shimmered and flickered.

I held up my hands and saw that around me was a golden aura. It made me think of Idalia and the golden city, and for a moment the certainty that I could defeat Catherine burned inside me.

Then my gaze drifted to her, and I saw she was watching me closely.

“Hm… how curious. So like mine. And yet so different,” she mused aloud. “Jasper, there’s a body in the guest bedroom I need you to dispose of. Please retain the heart and as much blood as possible. Burn the rest. The bed sheets too, and have new ones fitted.”

“Right away, Ma’am,” Jasper replied, completely unphased by Catherine’s request, like this was something he heard on a regular basis. Or like he was under her control.

I watched Jasper walk upstairs and noticed the whisps of toxic green in his aura were swirling around like snakes, consuming the paler, mint shade.

I committed everything I saw to memory, not knowing exactly what might come in useful to use against Catherine.

She led me through into a grand dining room, with more antique furniture, and despite my disgust for what she was and what she could do, I found myself asking, “Did you keep all of this from your time as Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting?”

Catherine turned to me with a charming smile, and for a moment, I forgot the horrors I’d witnessed. I was transported back to my teenage years, when Catherine had looked at me like I actually mattered.

“Some of it, yes. Other pieces, I’ve bought from collectors throughout the years. That’s one advantage of living for as long as I have; you amass a large amount wealth.”

“Well of course. You founded Farley Cosmetics in 1830, didn’t you?”

Catherine positively beamed at me. “I’m impressed. You know your history, Roxie. And yes, I founded Farley Cosmetics in 1830, but you have to remember, by then I’d already been alive for almost three-hundred years.”

Catherine gestured that I should take a place at the dining table, and so I picked a chair near the middle. Catherine then sat opposite me. She picked up a small, silver bell and rang it.

Almost instantly, a young woman of about my age, with mousey brown hair, entered the room. She was wearing a uniform similar to the man who’d been told to deal with Pierre’s body, and like him, her aura was mint-green, flecked with a brighter, venomous green.

“Charlotte, Dear, please tell Chef that Roxie and I are ready for dinner now, please?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Charlotte replied, curtseying politely.

I was reminded of how Catherine had commanded the other Farley Cosmetics employees the night of the gala ball and screwed up my nose.

When Charlotte had left the room, I gazed at Catherine accusingly. “You’re controlling them all, aren’t you? Does anyone actually work for you who has their own free will?”

“Roxie, you misunderstand the situation. I merely guide these people to a better life. Everyone in my employee had nothing before I came along. Charlotte lived with an abusive man who raped and beat her every night. I saved her from that.”

“Like you saved me?” I said. “I was happy before you interfered in my life.”

“Were you?” Catherine challenged. “When you first met me, you were a miserable, friendless teen with no direction. Meeting me gave your life purpose.”

I wanted to argue with her, but in that moment, I couldn’t think of a single reasonable thing to say in response. Catherine was right. I’d had nothing when I first met her. My family seemed completely indifferent to me, and my only friend had abandoned me for people she deemed ‘cooler.’

Inspired by Catherine, I’d worked hard to make something of my life, including getting a 2:1 for my marketing degree.

“And then I gave you a job straight out of university,” Catherine went on. “No other company as big as Farley Cosmetics is would have given a uni-graduate a position like I did.”

“You hired me so you could enthral me!” I snapped.

“I hired you, because from the moment we first me, I saw your potential. But I didn’t want to interfere directly in your life. I gave you advice when you asked for it, and then I stood back and watched where life took you. And it took you to great places, Roxie. You got your degree through your own hard work. I didn’t interfere in that. I offered you a job at Farley Cosmetics so that we might become close. So that one day, I might be able to reveal the truth to you and offer you an apprenticeship.”

“Why me?”

Catherine smiled in a predatory way that made me think of Marguerite, and caused goosebumps on my arms and the back of my neck.

“Because the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were special,” Catherine said, her smile turning from a shark’s grin, to the sweet, reassuring smile of an old friend. The goosebumps on the back of my neck settled down, replaced by a warm and safe feeling.

“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of this. It’s hard to know what to believe. Who to trust.”

“You can trust me,” Catherine said, reaching out and patting my hand affectionately. “All I want is to help you reach your full potential, Roxie.”

We fell silent as Charlotte returned, wheeling in a trolley laden with food. There was a feast enough for ten people with all my favourite dishes. Pepperoni pizza with a crispy crust and lots of gooey, melty cheese. Freshly grilled steaks, still a little blush pink and oozing with savoury juices. Egg-fried rice and chow-mein that smelled like it was seasoned to perfection with Chinese spices. A massive double-baked, New York style cheesecake.

My mouth watered simply looking at the spread.

Charlotte started placing plates on the table, and Catherine said, “Please, help yourself.”

I took an empty plate and started loading it up with a little bit of everything. I felt ravenous.

I barely even noticed that Catherine was hardly eating as I gorged myself on food, eating far more than was normal. I couldn’t seem to stop myself though. Everything was so delicious.

Finally, full to the point of bursting, I laid my knife and fork on my plate, and reclined in my seat with a satisfied sigh.

Catherine rang her little silver bell so that Charlotte came to take away the dinner things. Once we were alone once more, she said, “Now that we’ve had dinner, lets begin discussing your magical training. In essence, our abilities are very similar. We can see the souls of every living being. And through careful studying, we can influence these souls.”

Having taken the dinner things away, Charlotte returned carrying a covered birdcage, and set it on the table.

“Thank you, Charlotte Dear. That will be all. Please retire for the evening, and have something to eat yourself,” Catherine said.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Charlotte replied, curtsying again.

Once Charlotte had left us, Catherine removed the cover from the birdcage to reveal three beautiful, brightly coloured parakeets within. One was green and yellow, and the other two were blue and white. They all had black patterns on their wings, like parakeets often did.

Catherine took one of the parakeets from the cage and placed it on the table, where it walked around happily, pecking at crumbs.

“What do you see, Roxie?” Catherine asked.

“A bird?” I answered, wondering what she was trying to get at.

“No, what do you really see?”

I concentrated, and around the parakeet was a faint, white aura.

“Is that the bird’s soul?” I whispered, scared if I spoke any louder, I might disturb something.

“It is,” Catherine said, matching my tone. “Now watch.”

I studied the bird carefully, and noticed the aura was growing stronger and stronger. Soon there was a distinct halo of white around the parakeet. And then, as I continued to watch, the white was flooded with flecks of acid green.

My gaze snapped up to Catherine and saw that her aura was glowing brightly too. I could see the gossamer thin threads transferring from Catherine to the bird, and for a moment I was reminded of when I saw Catherine feeding from Pierre.

“Please, don’t kill it!” I cried out.

Catherine shot me an annoyed look. “Do you want to learn or not?”

“Yes, but please, don’t hurt the bird.”

Catherine held her head up. “I wasn’t going to. Watch.”

I watched as the bird trotted across the table to me, opened its little beak and chirped musically.

“These birds were newly bought today. They’ve received no previous training,” Catherine informed me.

The bird was now walking backwards and forwards in front of me, moving in a way that almost seemed like it was dancing.

“Then how is it doing that?” Before Catherine could answer me, I’d worked it out myself. “You’re doing it, aren’t you? You’re controlling it.”

“I am,” Catherine said proudly.

“It’s not hurting the bird, is it?”

Again, a look of irritation flashed in Catherine’s eyes. “No.”

“Please, stop it and let the bird just be.” I hated how whiney my voice sounded at that moment, but at the same time I hated the idea of Catherine controlling this poor, innocent bird.

“Fine,” she huffed, and I watched as the snakes of noxious green slithered back into Catherine’s aura, leaving the bird’s completely white again.

The poor little parakeet looked exhausted, and without thinking, I scooped it up in my hands, and placed it gently back in its cage.

“If this is what having the ability to manipulate souls is like, I don’t want any part of it,” I said.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake Roxie. It’s just a bird. A few hours ago, it was cooped up in a cage, at a pet shop. After our lesson, I planned on rehoming all the birds in a massive outdoor aviary. Can’t you see, I will repay it for our service to us?”

“Like you repaid Pierre?” I muttered darkly.

“This again?” Catherine snapped. Her nostrils flared. “What will it take to make you understand? Pierre gave himself to me willingly. He wanted to die. He’d lived a long, and successful life. He was exhausted. Do you know what his last words to me were? They were ‘thank you’. He thanked me.”

“Only because you were controlling him!” I screamed. “Like you’re controlling Jasper and Charlotte. To you everyone are puppets, aren’t they? You made that poor little bird dance for your amusement, and you’re trying to claim you’re doing it a favour.”

Any semblance of niceness vanished from Catherine’s face, and her aura flickered bright and deadly. Her face morphed from that of a beautiful woman, into a hollow, skeletal wraith.

My body temperature rose, and I saw the gold shimmering into life around me, pushing back against Catherine’s toxic green. I almost felt like I could completely push her away, and took a deep breath, ready to send out a final wave of power. Suddenly, green overwhelmed me. The whole room shone with it, and my golden aura faded.

Any animosity I had for Catherine vanished, and I blinked at her for a moment, as though I didn’t know who she was or where I was.

Then, I found myself saying, “When can you teach me to control the birds, like you just did?”

Catherine smiled that sinister, predatory smile, but instead of feeling unnerved, I smiled back like I’d just been told the most wonderful, exciting secret.

“We can begin whenever you’re ready,” Catherine said sweetly.