She turned away from him, inserting her key in the lock. “I’ve told you everything. Go home.” She gasped when he slammed his hand against the gate, holding it closed.
“Aurelie.”
She groaned and turned back to him, once again finding herselfcaged by him. She could easily duck under his arm and leave, but considering the gate was behind her, that wouldn’t get her any closer to her lab. “What do you want, Des?”
“I know you know I took the drawing.”
She sighed in annoyance. “Of course I know.”
He leaned closer. “I know you wrote that letter to Daisy to get to me.”
She shrugged. “That was merely an added bonus.”
He placed his other hand against the gate, right next to her head. “Where did you learn how to fight a demon, Aurelie? What are you doing in that building?” He jerked his head toward Easton Hall. “Why are demons following you around Wisteria?”
“I don’t know!” She hadn’t meant to lose her temper, but she was cornered and tired, and without adrenaline coursing through her anymore, she was afraid she might actually collapse. She was leaning heavily against the gate now, the iron bars pressing into her spine. She shivered as the snow that had made its way inside her collar melted down her back.
The truth was, demonswerefollowing her. There was no denying it. No denying that thesomniahad spoken to her before, that the demon tonight had, too. No denying that she was in completely over her head.
“I don’t know,” she whispered, her vision tunneling.
Des’s furrowed brow was the last thing she saw before she fainted.
Chapter 19
Des
“I can take her from here, sir,” the servant said to Des as he reached for Aurelie, who was currently lying unconscious in Des’s arms.
It had all happened so fast. One minute she’d been shouting at him, and the next, her eyes had rolled back, and she’d started to fall. Des caught her without thinking. It had been easy, given that he’d had his arms on either side of her already, though he couldn’t remember placing them there. Even as dead weight, she was almost laughably light. He had turned to find Daisy staring at him, her mouth open in shock.
Now, Des found himself drawing Aurelie closer to his chest as he stepped around the young male servant and into the cottage. Des was grateful he’d been in the dean’s house once before. He knew exactly where the nearest sofa was, and he intended to make sure she was at least placed somewhere comfortable. Daisy followed him inside, apologizing on his behalf, as two maids clustered in the hallway.
In the dean’s sitting room, Des ignored the armchairs he’d sat in with Aurelie and went straight to the settee, laying her gently on its plush brocade surface. Unconscious, she looked like a doll, her long lashes resting on her porcelain cheeks. Her lips, which Des had gotten a good look at the other day when he was stealingher sketch, were parted slightly. He had the strangest urge to press his finger to her full lower lip, to know if it was as soft as it looked.
“Is she awake?” Daisy asked, peering over his shoulder.
Des rose. “Not yet. Maybe we should send for a doctor.”
“She’s unconscious, not ill.” Daisy turned to the maid. “Can you fetch a glass of water and some smelling salts, if you have any?”
The maid nodded and hurried off, while the young valet hovered worthlessly in the doorway. “Is Miss Blake going to be all right?” he asked.
“She’ll be fine,” Daisy assured him, but Des could hear the concern in her voice. “The best thing you can do right now is give her some space.”
The boy nodded and left.
“Thank you,” Des said to Daisy. “I was getting ready to remove him myself.”
“I could tell.” She eyed him meaningfully. “You all right there? You were looking a little pale for a minute.”
Des sat in one of the armchairs and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, suddenly exhausted. “Did I cause this, Daisy?”
“You mean by yelling at her?” Daisy smiled to let him know she was teasing and sat across from him. “She was overwhelmed, Des. She’ll be fine.”
He ran his hands down his face, unable to get the image of Aurelie lying against the snow beneath him out of his head every time he closed his eyes. All that lovely dark hair spread around her, mouth open in a smalloof shock. It had been pure instinct to knock her to the ground and out of harm’s way, leaving Daisy to go after the femalenatia. He glanced at her now, unable to reconcile the bookish,sheltered girl he thought he knew with the woman who had so naturally stepped in front of him to confront the demon, knife clenched in her fist, boots planted firmly in the snow. She had fought demons before. There was no doubt in his mind.
Why did she insist on lying?