“He could have written it at any point. And he wants me tostopyou.”
Everard shrugged. “Of course. But I also know you won’t.”
Hot tears slipped down Aurelie’s cheeks. “I despise you.”
Everard sighed and stepped around her, approaching the portal. “I’m impressed,” he said, as though she hadn’t spoken. “I knew you were clever, resourceful. But I did not have faith that you’d pull it off.”
“What choice did I have?” she demanded.
“You could have done it all by yourself, and then I have no doubt you wouldn’t have finished.”
Aurelie’s stomach sank at the implication. “You know I had help.”
“Of course I know. I already told you, child. I know everything. I was surprised when I realized the Iron Guards were helping you, though perhaps I shouldn’t have been. There is something about you that I imagine people find appealing. Your single-mindedness is refreshing in a world of compromisers and settlers.”
“Are you going to hurt them?” Aurelie asked, her voice shaking, her hands clenched in useless fists at her sides.
“There’s no need.” Everard glanced at the final metal plate waiting for its engraving. The one that looked something like an eye. The one that she now knew meantwake.“Now, am I going to have to force you to complete this, or are you going to comply like a good girl?”
Something about Everard’s words struck a nerve deep inside Aurelie, the mocking echo of Des’s very real praise, Everard’s clear disregard for her humanity. She was a tool to him. Nothing more.
“Who are you, really?” she asked.
“I think you already know the answer to that, Aurelie.”
It had nagged at her from the start, his flame-red hair, his in-depth knowledge of Wisterian history, his near-reverence for invention. “Prince Florian,” she whispered, as the dread inside of her widened from a slowly creeping wormhole into a deep, unending chasm.
Before he could respond, a terrible howl split the silence, causing every hair on Aurelie’s body to stand on end. “Is that...?”
“Kobal. Yes. Your friends have grown desperate.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Come, Aurelie,” he said, taking her by the arm. “They won’t get to you in time. Finish this, before they’re all dead and you have nothing left to save.”
“What have you done?” she asked, wrenching free of his grip.
He studied his fingernails with the callous detachment of a man without a soul. “How can I put this?” He looked up at her and smiled. “Well, let’s just say your little demon friend has eaten well this week.”
Chapter 37
Des
To think, it had all come down to one fucking key.
Des hadn’t slept last night, going over the rest of his plan detail by detail, convinced that if he imagined every possible outcome, he could somehow control the future. And he may well have, if it hadn’t been for the damn key.
When had Aurelie swapped it? he wondered. It could have been at any point; he’d been so vulnerable around her, so trusting. Of course, he’d been so racked with guilt at all the ways he was betraying her that he hadn’t stopped to think she might also betray him. Or worse, that she didn’t trust him in the first place.
He had gone to the university gate as planned with Daisy, Jasper, and several Iron Swords. Commander Yew and the rest of the team had gone to Everard’s house to arrest him, assuming they’d find him in a weakened condition given Kobal’s entrapment.
But as soon as Des arrived, he knew something was wrong. There was a feeling in the air, a heavy foreboding that he didn’t think was simply fear. They were early, and yet it felt as though he was far too late for whatever was about to happen next.
They had planned to go and check on Kobal first, before Everard’s arrival. Des removed the key from his neck and tried to fit it in the lock. At first, he was sure he was inserting the key incorrectly. Daisy had even sighed in exasperation and tried it herself.But after her third attempt, she had turned to look at Des with a pained expression.
“Des.”
He swore, kicking the snow. “Why would she do this?”