The demon watched with unblinking red eyes. If the seeds were eggs, did Mephisto know? Had it deliberately germinated one? If so, why? It had never shown any proclivity for evil before. Could it even have known what its seeds would produce? It didn’t try to stop her from destroying these ones, but there were more where they had come from. All she needed to do was feed Mephisto a few more cockroaches.
She thought back to how thetenebrahad circled her instead of killing her. She’d tried to reason with it, but unlike thesomniaand thenatia,it didn’t seem capable of communicating with her mentally. Still, it hadn’t wanted to hurt her, that much was clear.
Aurelie stripped out of her dress, which was bloodstained and reeked of Everard’s bedsheets. She wasn’t sure any amount of washing could undo the damage, and she shoved it into the Load Lightener for now, where at least she wouldn’t have to smell it.
Padding across the laboratory, she caught her reflection in her standing mirror and sighed. Her shift hung loosely off her injured shoulder, revealing Everard’s bandage. At least the wound hadstopped bleeding, and any exhaustion she now felt was unrelated to demon venom. But her hair was a mass of tangles and there were smears of blood on her arm. She washed herself brusquely and changed into her last clean shift, though it was agony to raise her left arm higher than her shoulder. Finally, she reached for her hairbrush and pulled it through the tangles, ready to succumb to the siren song of her sofa, when she heard a light knock on her door.
Aurelie was so startled she dropped the brush, which clattered on the wooden floorboards. There wasn’t anyone left on campus. She’d seen the Iron Guard members leave. Kiara would never be out this late at night. And the only campus guard was dead. A lump formed in her throat. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but she had the sudden horrible thought that Willoughby was on the other side of that door, his intestines pooled at his feet, his eyes full of accusation and betrayal.
“Open up, Aurelie. It’s me,” Des called from the hallway.
Blood and bones, he still hadn’t given back her blasted key! “What are you doing here?” she replied, reaching for her robe. Her shift was indecently short, and he’d seen more than enough of her earlier. The last thing she needed was one of Des’s lectures, but she had a feeling that was exactly what he was here for.
When she opened the door, Des was leaning against the frame, looking as shattered as she felt. She knew she’d put him through hell tonight. What she didn’t understand was why he wasn’t in bed, asleep. “I needed to speak to you.”
“I thought we agreed to continue the conversation in the morning,” she said as he shuffled past her, collapsing onto her sofa as she had done mere minutes ago. He was so large there was no roomfor her to sit down, so she perched on her desk chair, hoping this would be quick.
“This isn’t about Everard,” he said, glancing with half-hearted interest around the room. When he flinched and pushed himself back against the sofa cushions, Aurelie’s gaze followed his to the corner.
The corner where Mephisto was nosing around in its empty bowl, searching for cockroach remnants. Would the dratted demon never learn when to make itself scarce?
“It’s all right,” Aurelie said, stooping to pick up Mephisto, which snarled as she attempted to wrangle all its legs. “As long as I feed it and don’t try to cage it, it’s perfectly harmless.”
Des looked horrified as she approached, almost as squeamish as the boy she’d had to “rescue” from a mouse in one of the classrooms several months ago. “Keep it away from me.”
Aurelie couldn’t help the grin that quirked her lips as she dangled Mephisto in Des’s face. “Aw, come on. A big, strong almost–lieutenant commander can’t possibly be afraid of a little demon.”
Des scowled at her, but she’d learned that he was more bark than bite. Even if he despised her for getting him into this mess, she was confident he would never hurt her. Not after saving her life twice.
“Oh, very well.” She set Mephisto down and it scuttled off through a crack in the wall. “Better?” she asked.
Des nodded stiffly, a faint blush staining his cheeks. She knew she shouldn’t embarrass him like this, not when she needed him on her side, but it was so tempting. When he wasn’t being an insufferable ass, he was almost charming. Almost.
“If you’re finished fooling around, I have something serious to talk to you about.”
Aurelie returned to her desk and sat down, doing her best to look as solemn as Des.
“First off, I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier.”
She arched an eyebrow in question.
“I don’t think I could have killed that demon on my own.”
The compliment was so unexpected Aurelie could only blush and murmur, “You’re welcome.”
His mouth twitched in a half grin. “Someday you’ll have to explain how you learned to throw like that.”
“Of course. Just as soon as I come up with an answer.” Their eyes met for a moment, something unspoken passing between them. His jaw was shadowed with stubble, his hair mussed, and there was something in his gaze that made her want to comfort him. He looked lost, so young and yet so weary at the same time.
He blinked first, as though the prolonged eye contact was as difficult for him as it was for her.
“What did you want to tell me?” she asked.
“I had some free time earlier, so I went to the archives in the Iron Fortress to do some research.” He noticed her raised eyebrows and scowled. “Yes, Aurelie, even clods like me can do research.”
“For the record, I don’t think you’re a clod,” she said. “I tend to get a little carried away with my words when I’m upset.”
“Go on. You can say it. You’re not the first person to tell me I’m stu—”