But it also unofficially meant he was accepting that this was going to be the rest of his life. Not that he’d ever expected anythingmore, but it suddenly felt like a very serious commitment for someone to make at nineteen.
Perhaps it was that, for the first time in his entire life, he’d seen firsthand this week what other Wisterians his age did. Namely, talk, flirt, drink, flirt, eat, shop, and flirt. Their futures were wide open, and no one was asking them to commit to anything for the rest of their lives, except perhaps marriage. That was the privilege of money. Your time was truly your own to do with as you pleased. Des couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something for pleasure.
His thoughts, to his annoyance, turned to Aurelie. She had a purpose, a vocation, and still seemed to find time for recreational pursuits. Des didn’t know how someone achieved that sort of balance, but it was nice to know that such a middle groundcouldexist in theory.
And yet here she was, wandering blithely through the city, demons trailing in her wake, wreaking havoc, all while batting her pretty green eyes. The audacity. The selfishness.
Promotion or no, if he found out that she was knowingly doing something to attract these demons, he was going to relish grinding Aurelie’s perfectly balanced life into dust.
By the time Des completed his run, showered, and changed, it was time for the evening meal. He went to the mess hall to find Daisy had saved his usual seat. Somehow, she always managed to get there early enough to secure one of the few two-person tables that weren’t reserved for senior staff.
“Where have you been?” she asked, all eyes and freckles, buzzing with barely contained curiosity.
Des didn’t want to admit that he’d lost Aurelie. “I had a meeting with the commander. I’m officially off babysitting duty.”
A small furrow formed between Daisy’s pale brows. “Why?”
“He’s determined she’s not a threat.”
Daisy rolled her eyes and gnawed on a corner of a chunk of bread. “Of course she’s not a threat. What about the threattoher?”
Des speared a steamed potato on the tines of his fork. “Believe me, she can handle herself.”
“What about the attack today? Jasper said she was there when it happened.”
“How does Jasper know about it?”
“You know how quickly word travels here, Des. Are you all right?”
Blood and bones, everyone must know about his failure now. He took a breath in through his nose, releasing it slowly, willing his pulse back down to its normal fifty beats per minute. “I’m fine. If I hadn’t been distracted by that little hellion, I’d have gotten to the victim in time and killed that damned thrall.”
“If it’s any consolation, that thrall might have done us all a favor. The victim was a...” She lowered her voice. “Barley, his name was. He was a wanted criminal. Assaulted several women, apparently.”
Des stewed on this new information for a moment. Just because the man was a criminal didn’t mean he deserved to die that way. He’d had a wife and children. And an attack in broad daylight meant something worse: Commander Yew was right. Demons were getting bolder.
Des knew better than most how arbitrary death was, and how little demons cared about their victim’s identity. Next time, it could easily be an innocent under averita’s claws, instead of someone vilelike Barley. Something was wrong here, and deep down he felt it was going to get worse.
Daisy leaned closer. “I’m glad you’re all right, but we need to keep this quiet. Otherwise we’re going to start even more rumors spreading among the junior lieutenants, and right now we need cooler heads to prevail.”
She was right. Des took a deep, steadying breath, stabbing a green bean because it was his only outlet at the moment.
“So,” she said after a few minutes, “what about the girl?”
“What about her?”
“Don’t you think you should warn her that she won’t have protection going forward?”
He snorted. “I don’t think she saw me as protection, Daisy.”
“Regardless. She’s alone, and she deserves an explanation. After dinner, we’re going to pay her a visit.”
“We?”
“Yes,we. I don’t trust you to go alone.”
He sighed, resigned. The truth was, he didn’t trust himself either. Not when it came to Aurelie Blake.
They waited outside the gates for fifteen minutes while the guard went to fetch her, returning with a clearly exasperated Aurelie. She’d changed since this afternoon. Her coat was too large, dangling well past her fingertips, and the hem of what appeared to be a nightgown pooled around her feet. It was only nine o’clock. Had he woken her?