He was still facing her, the book cradled against his chest. “Perhaps not. Still, I may have overestimated your capabilities. When I heard there was a young woman in Wisteria crafting brilliant creations, I was so excited I leapt at the opportunity to speak with you. Rash, in hindsight.”
She rose from her chair, so caught up by the need to defend herself she didn’t stop to question who, exactly, was talking about Aurelie and her “brilliant creations.”
“It has nothing to do with my capabilities, Mr. Everard, and everything to do with my sensibilities. Humans should care about each other. That’s the very definition of a functioning society.”
“And yet you invent, Miss Blake. You risk the lives of all your fellow humans when you create for yourself, do you not?”
“That’s not—”
“So which is it?” he continued. “Is our loyalty to the truth, or to each other? Do we protect one another at the expense of everythingelse, or do we pursue knowledge for knowledge’s sake, even if what we find might shatter our collective comfort?”
Aurelie found she was breathing heavily, as though she’d just run up a flight of stairs. She had never felt so defensive before, and now she was humiliated as well, because she didn’t know the answer. Worse still, she didn’t know how to go about finding it.
“I don’t know,” she finally admitted, deflating.
Mr. Everard looked so sad that Aurelie found she wanted to comfort him now. “That’s a pity, Miss Blake. I had hoped I’d found the person I was looking for.” He returned the book to the shelf. “You should get back to your university. It seems that’s the perfect place for you. After all, one can’t get into too much trouble by reading.”
Aurelie could only nod and follow him toward the front door. A distant voice in her head asked how this man knew so much about her—she very much doubted he kneweverything, but he knew far more than he should—but she was too disappointed in herself to hear it. All this time, she’d believed she was dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, but Everard had revealed something deeper. Something she had never looked at very closely before.
DidAurelie want progress? Or was Miles right? If the status quo was good enough, was it worth upsetting it for progress’ sake? At what point did morality factor in? Did a true scientist abandon their experiment because they might not like the answers they found?
No. No, of course they didn’t. And neither could Aurelie.
She stopped before the open door and turned to face Everard. “I’ll do it.”
His lips twitched. “Do what, Miss Blake?”
“I’ll make your portal. I don’t know what is happening out there in the rest of the world, but I know what it was like in this kingdom prior to Aciano’s curse. History has proven that progress is a good thing. I believe that, with all my heart.”
His smile spread, revealing sharp eyeteeth that reminded Aurelie of a wolf from a fairy tale. “As do I, Miss Blake. Now, we haven’t discussed payment.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” she replied, slipping into her coat. “Let’s see if I’m actually capable of this before we worry about the money.”
“We also haven’t discussed a deadline.” Everard had positioned himself between her and the door.
“Oh. Right. Well, I suppose I’ll need a year, at least. I have my studies, and I’ve barely begun to grasp the runic alphabet, let aloneancient runes. Then there’s my uncle to think about...”
Everard frowned again, and all the bravado Aurelie had felt just one minute before withered like a spent bloom. “Aurelie, I’m afraid I can’t wait a year. Time is of the essence. Surely you can manage this by spring.”
She hated the way she fidgeted in Everard’s presence. It must make her seem very young to him. “Less than six months? I have a job, and my studies.”
“Yes, you mentioned that already.”
“Right.” Aurelie pulled at a loose thread on her sleeve and instantly regretted it. A hole had opened up along the seam, and this was her very favorite coat. Her mother’s coat, in fact. Her mother had been petite, like her, but she had very little of her mother’s clothing. Shehadn’t had the foresight at seven to ask to keep it. What child could imagine being as large as their parents, taking up the same amount of space as the people who were her entire world?
“Let’s take it day by day for now, shall we?” Everard said gently. “I’ll check in with you from time to time to see how you’re getting on.”
“All right.” Aurelie hoped he meant by letter, because if he showed up at the university while her uncle was there, she’d have more explaining to do than she could possibly manage. She was an expert in the small, mostly benign lie, but a cover-up of this magnitude would require a level of deception she didn’t think she was capable of.
That shehopedshe wasn’t capable of.
Finally, Everard opened the door, and Aurelie was in such a hurry to take in a lungful of fresh air that she forgot to thank him. By the time she was at the bottom of the stairs and looked up, the door was already closed, the demon knocker staring down at her like a bad omen.
Chapter 13
Des
Des barely had time to curse Aurelie before the crowd dispersed enough to reveal the demon in question.