She shoved past everyone in her way to get to him, clutching the bars that separated them.
“You’re alive,” she sobbed. He was thin, so much frailer than when she’d last seen him.
“I’m all right,” he said, taking her hands through the bars. “Everything is going to be all right.”
“I’m so sorry,” she managed, her entire body shaking with hertears. “I did so many things wrong. I know I let you down in every possible way.”
“Aurelie, this isn’t your fault. I prom—”
His words were cut off by another thunderous roar. Aurelie turned to see the demon standing on the other side of the courtyard, even more monstrous in the daylight. She pressed back against the gate, almost laughing at the absurdity of how she’d once thought she could contain this on her own. Everard was nowhere to be seen. The Iron Guards had their swords and spears drawn, Des among them. Aurelie’s iron blade was in her hand, though she didn’t remember reaching for it.
“Aurelie!” Uncle Leopold hissed from behind her. “Get through the gates, before it’s too late.”
“All injured guards and civilians are to get to the Iron Fortress immediately,” a man shouted. It must have been Commander Yew, though Aurelie noticed none of the guards on this side of the gate obeyed his command.
Instead, one launched an iron-tipped arrow at the demon. It plinked uselessly off the monster’s thick skin. All along its arms and back, its flesh glowed with strange symbols. Runes, Aurelie realized. Though the gates seemed to be holding it for now, Aurelie sensed it wouldn’t be long before it discovered it could leap over them. They were not going to be able to kill this demon the usual way. Their best bet was to send it back through the portal somehow, and then destroy it, assuming the portal was even still standing.
“Come on, Aurelie,” Uncle Leo said, his voice so full of fear Aurelie found herself wanting to comfort him.
She needed to talk to Des, to help him formulate a plan. “Go with the guards,” she told her uncle.
“Not without you.”
Aurelie risked turning her back on the demon to face her uncle. “I’m going to be all right. Please, just trust me. One last time.”
Before he could respond, she squeezed his hands and ran to Des, whose face darkened when he saw her. “What are you still doing here? Commander Yew—”
They both turned at a commotion near the demon. One of the guards had foolishly approached it with an iron pike.
“NO!” Des roared, but it was too late. The pike was sharp enough to pierce the demon’s skin, but not nearly strong enough to kill a demon this size. It seized the guard by his torso and latched its many teeth around his head, ripping it away before anyone could react.
And then all hell broke loose.
Guards who had previously been bravely facing the monster quailed. Several made a break for the gates, nearly shoving Aurelie off her feet in the process.
“Hold your ground!” Des commanded, but it was clear to Aurelie that he wasn’t in charge here. She wasn’t sure anyone was anymore.
“Come on,” Aurelie said, grabbing Des’s hand. “That demon is about to get even bigger. If we don’t get it back through the portal now, we might never be able to.”
Des searched her face with a look of desperation she’d never seen there. “Back through the portal? What are you talking about?”
“There are runes on its skin. I think we can control it that way.”
Des shook his head in disbelief. “So you’re saying you want togo back in there.” It wasn’t a question. Des knew her well enough by now. “Commander Yew will kill me.”
Aurelie glanced back at the commander, who was busy yelling orders at his guards. “Then we’d better hurry,” she said, pulling Des toward her laboratory while the demon continued to swat away guards like fleas.
“You said it yourself, if it eats anyone else...”
“Commander Yew knows how demons work, doesn’t he? And I’m sure he’s figured out by now that iron weapons aren’t going to be enough.”
Sure enough, Yew was calling off his guards, who were streaming through the gates now. Aurelie looked back at the demon, which had grown by at least another three feet since it fed.
“I can’t just abandon my post, Aurelie.”
“You won’t be. We’re going to help them.” She tugged again, and was grateful that he didn’t resist her this time. They began to run. “We need chalk and salt.”
“I hardly think this is the time for one of your experiments,” he hissed, but he followed her as she let them into Easton Hall.