After speaking with Kiara, Aurelie had sent a letter to Everard to let him know she’d be coming with an update. It felt like it was something she ought to do in person, and besides, she needed to tell him that she’d return the metal plates as soon as possible. She had balked at taking most of the money she’d earned this year from her locked safe, but she couldn’t very well tell Everard that she was canceling his project without paying him for lost time.
On Friday, with her money in a satchel and a scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face, Aurelie stepped out of the gates into the city. It had snowed nearly a foot this week, and the temperature had dropped to a low usually reserved for January. The few people who were willing to brave the cold were bundled up almost beyond recognition, looking more like walking duvets than humans.
Everard’s house was even narrower than Aurelie remembered it, as though the cold had caused some kind of shrinkage. She forcedherself to walk straight up the stairs and grip the demon-head knocker, ignoring the twisting in her stomach. This was the right thing to do. And it would all be over soon.
“Miss Blake,” Everard said when he opened the door. “I’m impressed you made it here today. Come in, come in. You must be freezing.”
Aurelie was, indeed, half frozen. It took several minutes sitting by the fire for her teeth to stop chattering. “Thank you for meeting with me,” she said when she’d recovered. “I know it was a bit last-minute.”
“That’s all right. I’m looking forward to hearing of your progress.”
Aurelie glanced around the room nervously, her eyes landing on a book that looked rather old. “Where did your collection come from?” she asked, stalling even though she’d vowed not to.
“Here and there.” Everard sat across from her, one long leg folded over the other. “I have a great love of books.”
Aurelie wished she had tea, just so she’d have something to occupy herself with. The more time she spent around Everard, with his vague answers and bizarre habits, the more resolved she was to end this relationship. And there was no time like the present.
“Mr. Everard, I came here today because I am unable to complete your project.” She paused, not sure what sort of reaction to expect, but he merely arched an eyebrow. “You see, I have become far too busy with my schoolwork to take on what is clearly a very important project to you. It’s not fair of me to hold you up further. I will have your supplies delivered here as soon as possible, and I’m prepared to pay you for all the time I’ve wasted. It was arrogant of me to take on the project in the first place, and you have my most sincere apology.” She began to reach for her coin purse, but Everard held up a hand, silencing her.
“It’s only been a few weeks, Aurelie. Surely you aren’t going to give up so easily.”
She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I think part of being successful in life is being able to admit when you’re in over your head. And I’m afraid that’s where I have found myself.”
“I see.” Everard uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “And there’s nothing I can say that will change your mind? More money, or more time perhaps.”
“I’m afraid not. As I said, I let my ambition and my pride get away from me. I hope you can forgive me.”
Everard rose and went to the bookshelf that Aurelie had been looking at. He trailed his fingers over the spines of the books. Aurelie once again heard the clicking of dog paws on the hardwood floor and wondered where the animal was. It sounded large, larger even than Sheldrake’s hound.
“Aurelie, I chose you for this for a reason. As I mentioned before, I know a great deal about you.” He turned back toward her. “Beyond what I learned from Mr. Morel.”
She could confront Everard about this lie, but she’d already done what she came to do. She didn’t want a lecture, and she certainly didn’t want him to offer her something more. She wanted to leave this place and never return. “There’s very little to know.”
He huffed a wry laugh. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Your inventions, for example. The Helping Hand and the Load Lightener? Hardly ‘little,’ I’m sure you’d agree.”
Aurelie blanched. “How could you possibly know about those?”
“Because I know about all the demons in Wisteria. I even know about your little pet. Mephisto, isn’t it? One of the oldest specimensin this world, and certainly one of the most benign. It’s no wonder you kept it around.”
He knew about Mephisto. He knew Mephisto’sname. It wasn’t possible, and yet there was no one who could have told him. Aurelie wanted to run, but fear had her rooted in her chair. “Mephisto is innocent, Mr. Everard.”
“Of course it is. All demons are. They don’t choose to be conjured, and they only act on the instincts they’re born with. Unless, of course, they’re controlled by someone else.” Everard didn’t make any discernible movement, but suddenly the clicking sound started up again. It was growing closer and closer, until at last, the “dog” appeared.
Even without its enormous red eyes, no one would mistake it for anything other than a demon. Wolflike, with a long, pointed snout crowded with teeth, it had two massive horns curling back from its skull. Its legs were long and bent in a strange way, ending in claws the length of Everard’s fingers. Seated, the demon reached above Everard’s waist. On its hind legs, it would be taller than a grown man, even one as tall as Everard.
Aurelie shrank back in her chair, hand instinctively reaching for her dagger.
“Not to worry,” Everard said, patting the creature’s back. “Kobal is entirely within my control. It won’t hurt you unless I tell it to. In fact, it has saved your life.”
“What?”
“The man who died in Aciano Square? He was a predator, and he was huntingyou,Aurelie. Kobal killed him atmycommand.”
The implicit threat was enough to make Aurelie’s limbs gowatery. She would have collapsed if she hadn’t been sitting. Now she understood why Des believed her to be a demon consorter. This must have been the creature following Everard the night she met him. And Des had seen the attack Everard was referring to.
“I don’t understand,” Aurelie said, shaking her head, even as her heart began to drum wildly in her chest. “How can you know that about the man who died? How do you know about my demons?”
Everard sat down again, with Kobal by his side in some macabre version of master and companion. “Do you remember how I mentioned that there was a great conspiracy in this kingdom?”