Des looked up to find Aurelie standing in the doorway, at least having the decency to appear contrite for a change. Gareth and Jasper still hadn’t returned. “And why’s that?”
Aurelie glanced at Daisy.
“Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of Daisy, as well as the others. They know everything I learned tonight.”
“And do they know about my uncle?” she asked, taking a seat in one of the armchairs. Daisy handed her a glass of whiskey, which she took wordlessly.
“As much as I know. Everard has him, I take it.”
Aurelie nodded, took a sip of the whiskey, and instantly began to cough. Des suspected she’d never tasted hard alcohol before. “Yes,” she said when she’d regained her composure. Jasper and Gareth entered and sat down on the floor, and Des felt a stab of affection for his fellow guards. The Iron Guard might be viewed as a form of imprisonment to some, but for Des, it was family.
“Everard asked me to build something for him,” Aurelie explained. “At first, I thought he wanted it for political reasons.”
“And you were willing to help him?” Des asked, not sure why he still found her actions so appalling. He’d known from the moment he laid eyes on her that she was trouble.
Aurelie glanced away, taking another sip of whiskey, wincing at the burn. “I was. I didn’t know what he was like, then. But yes,I’m an inventor, and I let my pride get the best of me. I wanted the opportunity to create something great, to change the world.”
Des shook his head, disgusted with Aurelie, and even more with himself. She was the antithesis of what the Iron Guard stood for. She had put her own individual desires above the safety of everyone in Wisteria, all for grandeur and recognition. And he had helped her.
“I know what you think of me,” Aurelie murmured. She said it directly to Des, making him feel as though they were the only two people in the room, especially when her eyes locked with his. He couldn’t help remembering the feeling of her soft flesh beneath his hands, the way he wanted to sink his fingers into her. How could he desire someone so selfish?
Why would someone so selfish risk her life for someone she clearly despised?
“You have no idea what I think of you,” he rasped.
“For what it’s worth, Everard told me it would be the end of demons in Wisteria. I would never have taken the job if I didn’t think it would do some good.”
Des wanted to hate her. What kind of naïve fool would believe such an obvious lie? But it wasn’t entirely her fault she was so gullible. She’d been shut off from reality her entire life. All she knew was what she’d read in books. Her only real experience with demons was a small, rodent-like creature that had never tried to hurt her.
He remembered how she’d thrown the blade and knew he was lying to himself. She’d definitely encountered her share of demons.
“How could an invention be the end of demons?” Gareth asked. “I didn’t think that was even possible.”
“That’s because it’s not,” Des muttered. “Everard lied to her, obviously. And now he has her uncle, which means that Aurelie is going to go through with this madness no matter the cost.”
“That’s not—”
“It’s a nice thought,” Jasper said, cutting Aurelie off. “But the Iron Guard exists precisely for this reason.Wekeep Wisteria safe. And it sounds like if we get rid of this Everard, your uncle will be safe, too.”
Aurelie tipped her head back and groaned in exasperation. “Do you know how many demons are currently in Wisteria? Because Everard does. Do you know that demons have venom, and that there’s an antidote? Everard has it. Do you know whattenebraare, or that the king could lift the curse on the kingdom but chooses not to?”
Doubt twisted in Des’s gut. He’d never have believed her before. But after what Aspen had told him...
“The only thing Everard doesn’t know is that I have more of Mephisto’s seeds, which I’ll destroy tonight.” Aurelie took an impressive gulp of whiskey and met Des’s eyes. “And if you help me finish the portal, then whatever monster it unleashes could be the very last demon any of us ever has to face again.”
Chapter 28
Aurelie
Aurelie found Mephisto curled up on an ochre velvet pillow on her sofa when she returned to her lab, looking rather pitiful and bedraggled. Fortunately, it perked up at her arrival, running to greet her with its funny, snakelike gait, legs akimbo, mustache and eyebrows trailing behind it like minute streamers.
Breathing in the familiar scent of her lab—lavender and rosemary, old wood, the various tinctures and tonics she’d created—Aurelie wished she could stay here forever. Wherever she ended up, she would miss sleeping on her forest-green sofa, the way the light slanted through the single high window, how quiet it was in the basement. She would miss her books and her shabby rugs, her solitude.
It was close to midnight, and Aurelie was simultaneously exhausted and restless. While the others had eaten the food Gareth and Jasper scrounged up, she tried to convince Des, the last holdout, why they needed to keep all of this a secret from Commander Yew. Why if they helped her finish the portal in the next few days, they’d all survive whatever punishment Commander Yew could dream up, because there would be no more need for an Iron Guard at that point.
In the end, they’d agreed to continue the conversation tomorrow, because the guards were all expected to be present during morningroll call. Aurelie had no idea if she’d done enough to save her uncle, but she now believed Everard that the veil was thinner than ever. There was no other way to explain why thetenebrahadn’t been killed bytwoiron blades. That, at least, had seemed to rattle Des.
She spent over an hour cleaning the mess the demon had left, sweeping up glass and salvaging whatever she could. She put a wooden board in front of the shattered window to keep out as much draft as possible. Finally, she came to her last task. Aurelie lit her stove, then unceremoniously dumped all of Mephisto’s seeds into the flames.