~ODETTE'S POV~
"Mother?" I whispered.
A soft humming answered from down the hall.
Her humming.
It was her gentle, warm, voice. The sound that soothed every childhood nightmare.
My heart pounded. Anxiety was funneled into me like a shady business deal.
"Mom"
I rounded the corner and stopped dead.
She stood at the end of the hall, wearing the same pajamas she'd worn when I was ten. Her back was to me... She lifted a hand, urging me to come over.
"Odette," she said.
Only it wasn't her voice.
It was hers on the surface… but underneath, something evil and ancient rasped, like nails on a chalkboard.
It was his voice. Ezelreth.
I froze. My body went cold. My legs refused to move.
"Come here, little one," the layered voice called. "Your mother misses you."
I wanted it to be her. Despite knowing it's a spell, knowing it's not her, my brain still wanted it to be, tried everything to make her look more real.
"I know you're not her," I forced out. "You're not."
