“I’m all right, really. Goodnight. And thank you again.”
It was a relief when Aurelie locked the doors behind her and made her way downstairs to her lab, where she immediately collapsed onto her sofa.
A moment later, she felt the sharp sting of Mephisto’s claws at her ankle. “Hello, little friend.” She bent down and held out her hand, and Mephisto clambered onto it, allowing her to lift it to her lap. The demon curled up in her skirt as she reached for a sketchpad. She needed to draw thesomniawhile it was still fresh in her mind.
As the drawing came to life under her hands, Aurelie could still hear its rusted-door voice, see the way it stared at her with those eerie red eyes. She must have imagined it speaking to her. Mustn’t she? The more she thought of it, the more the adrenaline faded away, the less plausible it seemed. Surely someone would have reported it by now if such a thing were possible.
Skeptically, a little embarrassed, Aurelie leaned down to where Mephisto slept, snoring softly. “Erm, excuse me. Just wondering if you’ve been capable of speech this entire time and I’ve missed it?”
Mephisto, oblivious, slept on.
Chapter 9
Des
In the shower, Des ran his hand over his jaw, scratchy with stubble, and let the water run until it went cold. After all his years of training, his reflexes were so quick he didn’t have to think before he acted. But now, in the aftermath, doubt plagued him. What if he hadn’t been fast enough? He hadn’t even noticed the carriage until it was upon them. The Blake girl would have been flattened right in front of him, and then he’d have one more death on his conscience.
They never should have interfered with her. If Daisy hadn’t introduced herself, she would still be none the wiser that the Iron Guard was keeping an eye on her. And he wouldn’t be left with the feeling of her in his arms, the way her body had pressed up against his armor, how she’d clung to him for just a moment even after he let go. As if he wasn’t the big, scary man who frightened small children, but the person they turned to when the monsters came.
When he’d reported thesomniatrailing Miss Blake, Commander Yew had commended him for trusting his instincts.
“I want you to keep an eye on the girl, especially until her uncle returns,” he’d said. “Leopold Blake is a friend of mine.”
“I’d prefer to track down the man with the thrall, sir.”
“I put Lieutenant Commander Grayson on the job.” CommanderYew looked up and met Des’s eye. “I suggest you take the assignments you’re given, Whitlow.”
Des had swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded, but it was with no small amount of bitterness. Grayson hadn’t seen the thrall or the tall man, hadn’t witnessed asomniadeliberately trail a civilian through the city. He would kill first and ask questions later, as all the other guards would. As he himself would have, before. But now... he couldn’t help thinking that there were larger forces at play here, a bigger picture he didn’t yet understand.
Daisy was still awake when he climbed into his bunk, as he’d known she would be. She always waited up for him, though he’d never asked her to. If anything, he’d urged her to get the sleep they all needed. But she said she couldn’t rest without knowing he was all right, and though he’d never tell her, it felt nice to know someone was leaving a proverbial light on for him.
“Everything okay?” Daisy whispered from the foot of his bed as he climbed in, weary and exhausted for reasons unknown. It wasn’t like it had been physically difficult to follow the girl.
“Mm,” he grunted. “Just a long day.”
Daisy’s silence was so unusual that Des felt the weight of her implied judgment.
“What?”
He could hear the smile in her voice when she whispered, “It’s just curious, that’s all.”
Now it was Des’s turn to be silent.Curiouswas a code word forstrange.
“She rattled you tonight,” Daisy continued. “More than I’ve seen in a long time.”
“I’d have reacted the same way if you stepped in front of a runaway carriage.” He exhaled. “Like you were a damned fool.”
Daisy poked him in the ribs, knowing it was the one vulnerable spot on his body. “Why do you dislike her so much, then?”
He flexed his abdominals, but damn if it didn’t still tickle. He batted her hand away. “I don’t have any feeling toward her whatsoever. It’s all those people who spend their days drinking in cafés while we risk our lives that I can’t stand.” He sat up, leaning closer to Daisy. “And thesomniatrailing her, the thrall last night. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”
“Agreed,” Daisy said.
“She doesn’t seem afraid of demons.”
“Or of you.”
Des shot Daisy a dark look.