Daisy’s mouth opened in mock offense. “How dare you speak about my friend Aurelie that way! I’ve already asked for permission to leave for a few hours on Monday evening to meet with her.”
Des was speechless. Well, nearly. “Daisy, you can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“She wrote that entire letter to get tome. Even you must see that.”
Daisy was quiet, and for a moment, Des was afraid he’d gone too far. He was sure Aurelie did like Daisy. She was a thoroughly likable person. But anyone could see that she was fishing to find out if Des was going to turn her in. She’d deliberately insulted Des, knowing that Daisy would share it with him. Had she no shame at all?
“My, you certainly think highly of yourself,” Daisy said, punching him lightly on the shoulder. She was smiling, but there was genuine hurt there, and Des hated that he’d caused it.
“I’m sorry, Daisy. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just clear that—”
“That what, Des? That no one like Aurelie could possibly want to be friends with someone like me?”
“Daisy.” He reached for her hand, but she was already climbing off his bunk.
“I suppose I’ll be able to ask her on Monday when we meet. If she can talk about anything other thanyou, of course.”
“Daisy, I didn’t mean it like that.”
She didn’t respond, but a moment later, he felt her settle back down next to him.
“I did see her tonight,” he said gently. He felt like he owed it to her, somehow. “I think she blew something up.”
“Aw,” Daisy said, patting his forehead. “See, you twoaremore alike than you want to admit.”
Des shoved his pillow over his face, hoping he might suffocate by morning.
Chapter 18
Aurelie
Aurelie read the letter from Uncle Leo again, praying that the words would rearrange themselves and tell her something different. That he wasn’t remaining with his friend until after Yule. That she wasn’t going to spend the rest of the year on her own.
Uncle Leo was profusely apologetic, but that didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t leave his friend’s side. In fact, he spoke about him so tenderly that Aurelie knew they must be more than friends. Uncle Leo loved this man, deeply. And while she felt quite sorry for herself at the moment, all she could do was write to him and tell him that she understood entirely. She’d spend the holiday with the Morels. She’d be perfectly fine without him.
For the most part, it was the truth. She’d fallen into a routine these past weeks, spending less and less time in her lab as she began working on Everard’s portal in earnest. She was exhausted from staying up later than usual, and she had to be extra vigilant when Mr. Willoughby, the guard who’d checked on Aurelie the night thesomniachased her, was on duty. He’d made it his personal mission to ensure she was safe, and his spontaneous visits kept her from falling into complacency. The knowledge that someone could walk in on her at any moment forced her to take all necessary precautions, ones she’d have to continue with when Uncle Leo did eventually return.
But building the portal was exhilarating in ways she couldn’t havepredicted. She had never faced such a large challenge, and between the runes and the puzzle of the metal plates, she went through dozens of pieces of parchment working on her schematics.
Before the metal plates arrived, she procured wooden blocks of a similar size and attempted to connect them without using any other metal, as instructed. She’d considered that if the frame were perfectly sized, she may be able to slot them into place without any additional means of connecting them, but one slight shove and they all collapsed onto the floor. It would have to be an adhesive, then, but one that could work on metal, which opened up an entire other world of research.
When the metal plates were finally delivered in several large wooden crates, Aurelie nearly squealed with joy. She pried one of the crates open with a crowbar as Mephisto peered over the rim next to her, then promptly left when it realized there were no cockroaches inside. She lifted one plate reverently. It was as bright and shiny as polished gold, without a single scratch or blemish. As she turned it on its side, she noticed that there were already engravings there, smooth lines and notches that must be the key to connecting the plates, though they weren’t provided in any particular order.
Another puzzle for Aurelie to obsess over. It felt like she’d tried a thousand different combinations before she finally discovered that there was a complex pattern at play. She had cackled maniacally at the discovery, startling even herself.
It was Professor Sheldrake’s tacit approval that helped buoy her when she began to question herself, or worse, when Kiara did. And though he never worked with her directly on the door, he was indeed mentoring her, aiding her with her studies whenshe was falling behind. She’d slept through one class for the first time in her life, but her professor had allowed her to complete the experiment with Professor Sheldrake instead.
Yes, they’d accidentally conjured a smallveritawhen Professor Sheldrake decided to change the experiment around, just for fun, and she’d been convinced they were done for when it got loose and was spotted by the campus guard.
But Alastor had quickly chased it down, puncturing it with his iron-spiked collar. Seeing Des so publicly humiliated was a nice perk, although the sight of him had caught her off guard. She’d nearly forgotten how imposing he was, how his physical presence did strange things to her body.
After he had stolen the drawing, she had spent an entire week in terror, waiting for him to come in and arrest her. Then, when no arrest came, she’d decided to fish for information instead, or provoke it, if necessary. If Des hadn’t turned her in, she needed to know why. And if he had, she needed to know why no one had acted on it yet. Daisy had responded to her letter right away, proposing they meet at a small café close to the university today at five o’clock.
Now, she set the letter from Uncle Leo on her desk and sighed. It was early in the winter for snow, but snow it had, for three days. Aurelie pulled on thick wool tights under her dress and swathed herself in a knit cardigan before bundling herself in her coat. She let Willoughby know where she was heading and when to expect her back, then let herself out of the university gates.
It was just ten days until Yule, and the streets were more crowded than ever. Children sledded down any slope they could find, includingthe middle of the road. Aurelie couldn’t help smiling at a boy pulling his sister on a toboggan while she threw snowballs at his back, urging him to move faster. A dog sporting a full-body snowsuit with fluffy white trim trotted after them.