“Can I help you?” a gruff voice asked. It took Aurelie a moment to realize he was wearing magnifying glasses similar to her own. She’d never considered how ridiculous she must look in them.
She cleared her throat. “I’m Aurelie Blake, Dean Blake’s niece?”
The eye blinked. “Yes?”
“Erm... well, I’ve brought you some muffins. I was hoping I could talk to you for a bit.” She held up the basket, hoping to entice him to at least open the door farther.
“I’m quite busy,” he said.
“Of course. It’s just that I’m interested in learning about arcane magic and runes, and Professor Booth thought you might be able to help.”
“Professor Booth?” The old man’s voice brightened considerably. “She mentioned me, specifically?”
Aurelie nodded in encouragement. “She did. She said you’re brilliant. That if anyone could help me, it’s you.”
At that, the door opened wide enough that Aurelie could confirm the professor had two enormous eyeballs. “Do come in,” he said, motioning for Aurelie to step forward. “It’s a bit of a mess, I’m afraid. I don’t often get visitors here.”
“A bit of a mess” was the understatement of the century. Professor Sheldrake’s office made Aurelie’s lab look minimalist by comparison. Every inch of available space here was occupied with books, papers, maps, and tools, but also gadgets and gizmos that Aurelie didn’t have names for. Hanging from the ceiling was what could only be a prototype for a flying machine. A half-assembled automaton in the shape of a man rested in a broken armchair.
Some children dreamed of tables laden with sweets or vaultsfull of treasure. Some wandered into a toy shop or a pet store and felt they’d reached the very pinnacle of existence. Up until today, Aurelie had never known that level of joy.
As she turned in a slow circle, her eyes wide with astonishment and glittering with tears, she wondered if she’d finally found what she’d been missing all along.
“Good heavens, Professor Sheldrake,” she breathed. “You’re an inventor.”
Professor Sheldrake shushed Aurelie loudly as he hurried to close the door behind her. “I’m not aninventor,” he said, back to his gruff self. “I’m ascientist. I conduct experiments. And yes, every now and then I create—inadvertently, mind—something new. Such is the nature of science.”
Aurelie thought about quibbling. What he’d described was an inventor to a T. But she thought better of it, lest he decide he’d had enough of her and force her to leave. Not yet. Not when she’d just discovered this treasure trove of projects and ideas. She could spend hours in this room and not cover everything lining the walls and desks. Yes, desks. She counted three, perhaps four, if one included tables. Which Professor Sheldrake clearly did.
“Professor Booth?” he pressed.
“Yes! She speaks so highly of you.” Aurelie was fairly certain Professor Sheldrake was married, and Professor Booth definitely had a wife. “A friend of yours, I take it?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call us friends,” he said, almost coyly. “We’re colleagues. But she’s always been so lovely. She brings me tea from time to time.” He glanced at the basket hopefully.
“I’m afraid it’s just muffins,” she said. “I’ll bring tea next time.”
“Mm.” The tone implied there likely wouldn’t be a next time, so Aurelie hurried on.
“What about the demons?” she asked, pressing one gentle fingertip to the flying contraption. She was immediately shooed away by the professor. Now that she could see all of him, she realized he was not as old as he’d been made out to be—eighty, at most—and if his faculties were misplaced, they were likely to be found in close proximity to Aurelie’s. Either Professor Sheldrake wasn’t truly mad, or Aurelie was. Both seemed equally likely at the moment.
“The demons, ifaccidentallyconjured, are dealt with.”
She cast him a questioning glance, and he gestured to the corner of the room, where a large barrel of salt sat beside a taxidermied dog the size of a lion.
It blinked.
“Demons take me!” Aurelie gasped. “Is that thing alive?”
“Thatthingis named Alastor, and I’ll have you know he’s a purebred Wisterian hound. A bit larger than his littermates, to be sure. But still within breed standard.”
Aurelie had never seen such an immense animal before. She resolved to give it a wide berth. “That’s... convenient.”
“Hardly. He eats like a horse and has to be walked at least an hour a day or he’ll go into a frenzy. But he is excellent with demons.” The old man patted the dog on the head. It didn’t twitch a whisker. “At any rate,” he said, eyeing the basket of muffins, “what was all this about arcane magic?”
Aurelie had nearly forgotten her reason for coming here in thefirst place. Did she dare to tell Professor Sheldrake about her own inventions? He would likely find them amateur and inane compared to his own work. But the very fact that he was here, creating in secrecy, made her want to embrace him.
“Professor Sheldrake, I was wondering, do you have a protégé at the moment?” She handed him the basket of muffins and watched him make quite a show out of choosing one. “That is, I’m in need of a mentor, and I’m afraid no one else in the science department shares my particular interests.”