Aurelie rose again and stepped closer to Des. “I donotthink that,” she said, more vehemently than she intended.
“No?”
She shook her head, reeling a bit. She told herself it was thewhiskey, though it had been hours since she consumed it. “No. I’m not so sheltered and naïve as to think there is only one kind of intelligence in this world, Des. Besides, there areplentyof clods at this institution.”
He stared at her for a minute, his expression inscrutable. “At any rate, I felt—what I said at the café, about being an orphan...”
She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. I overreacted.”
“...it led me to look at the demon-related deaths from the year you were born.” He sighed and held out a piece of paper. “I found this.”
The parchment was scrawled with handwritten names and dates. Aurelie skimmed it, wondering what could possibly interest her about this, when her gaze snagged on the nameBlake. It was written twice.
Once for each of her parents.
Dr. Claudine Blake; Dr. Liam Blake. Cause of death:veritaattack.
Aurelie scanned the paper over and over, as if some other explanation would materialize. “I don’t understand,” she said finally. “My parents died in a carriage accident. I was there.” True, she had been unconscious for much of it, but she would have remembered a demon. Besides, Uncle Leo had confirmed it when he picked her up from the police station that evening. It was what everyone had said at the funeral.A tragic accident. A broken harness, a frenzied horse. There was nothing anyone could have done.
“I don’t know for certain what happened,” Des said, his voice gentle in a way Aurelie wouldn’t have expected. “But my guess is that your uncle didn’t want you to end up in the Iron Guard, so he bribed someone to let you stay with him. It’s happened before.”
Aurelie tried to swallow down the tears clogging her throat,not wanting to cry in front of Des. He already thought the worst of her; what must he think now that he knew she’d dodged her duty to Wisteria? She handed the paper back to him, her hand trembling. “I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. I just wanted you to have all the information before you decide what to do next.”
“What to do next? From what you’re saying, my uncle has done far more for me than I could have ever imagined. I have to save him, Des.”
Instead of responding, he ran his hands through his hair, which had grown long enough that he looked a little less like a soldier. He had gone back to the barracks and changed into a tunic and breeches, though he still had his sword with him, and Aurelie had the impression that no matter what Des did, even if they somehow managed to eradicate demons, he would always be this way. He’d been a guard since he could walk. Perhaps he didn’twantanything else. “I just thought I should be the one to tell you. I thought you had a right to know the truth.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
He shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe you’ll decide to join the Iron Guard after all. You know more about demons than anyone I’ve ever met.”
She winced, guilty as charged. “I’m hoping that won’t be an issue, once I complete the portal.”
Des’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. How can you trust that Everard is who he says he is? What if he’s lying to you? He’s obviously using dark magic. He can make his house disappear at will. He has athrall, for Aciano’s sake.”
“A thrall that could very well be his weakness. Everard said—”
“Another lie!”
Aurelie dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t go over all this again. Not without a lot of sleep and even more coffee. “I don’t know, Des. But he has my uncle, and the only way you’ll stop me from trying to save him is by locking me up. So if that’s what you have to do...” She took another step toward him, holding her arms out in front of her. “Arrest me now.”
Des exhaled through his nostrils. “You know I’m not going to do that. I don’t even have the authority to do that.” He rose, towering over her, reminding her once again how much bigger he was. “I should get back. It’s been a long day and tomorrow will be no different.”
She planned to walk to the door and let him out, but her feet weren’t cooperating. She craned her neck to look up at him, suddenly unsure if she even wanted him to go. Ever since her uncle left, Aurelie had been in a heightened state of awareness, subconsciously vigilant for danger. But when Des was nearby, she could relax, if only a little. If there was any danger, he would handle it.
She thought she hated how small she felt around him, but she wasn’t so sure now. Perhaps she felt a pull toward him not in spite of his size, but because of it. He had the power to ruin her life, and yet she felt so safe with him. It made no sense. In a laboratory experiment, she would never be able to duplicate these results. And yet here they were.
“Thank you,” she said again. “I know you didn’t want any of this, that I’ve made your life worse in innumerable ways. It was never my intention.”
“So you’reunintentionallya huge pain in my ass? Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
Aurelie glanced up to see that he was smiling down at her, and something about his kindness made tears well in her eyes. Tears she hadn’t even seen coming. Before she could murmur an apology, Des’s hand rose, tentatively.
“Hey,” he said, one calloused finger sliding against her cheek, catching her tears as they fell. “Don’t cry.”
“I didn’t mean to,” she said, laughing at her own foolishness, hardly able to process the fact that he was comforting her. “I think it’s all just been too much lately. And now my uncle, the only person who cares whether I live or die, is in danger...” She broke down completely, her entire body racked with unanticipated sobs. She turned away in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. I’m a blubbering mess. You should go.”