Chapter 20 Aurelie
Aurelie
“Damn. Damn, damn, damn!” Aurelie paced up and down the room, her hands fisted in her hair, her mind racing at a million miles
a minute. Why had Mephisto chosen that moment to come out from hiding? As soon as she’d entered her lab, she’d hidden the
few pieces of incriminating evidence, including her sketchbooks, in the Load Lightener, but Mephisto had been nowhere to be
found. She’d even scattered salt near its hidey-holes, hoping that would prevent it from making an unwanted appearance. She
had been almost certain she was going to put Des and Daisy off her scent for good, to draw a close to this wretched evening
and go to sleep. Almost certain she had actually gotten away with everything.
Until she’d heard Mephisto’s telltale scuttle on the floorboards.
She couldn’t be sure Des had seen its eyes in the dark, but she strongly suspected he had. The change had been subtle, but
the tone of his voice had shifted, and his hands had clenched in his lap. Mephisto had left again immediately, clearly sensing
that it was in danger, but the damage was likely done. Aurelie would either have to get rid of Mephisto or leave the university,
which was impossible. It wasn’t as if she had somewhere else to go. But Des and Daisy would be back. Soon. Likely with Commander
Yew.
When she’d exhausted every possible scenario, she sat down on her sofa, put her head in her hands, and cried.
She knew it was foolish, that she never should have let herself get so attached to a demon, but it had been a part of her life for eleven years.
She’d been a child when she conjured it, a lonely, orphaned girl with no friends.
She’d never deliberately killed anything in her life up to that point.
Not even a fly, thanks to her mother, who had explained the necessity of pollinating insects to Aurelie at an early age.
There had never been any possibility of her harming Mephisto.
And now what? If she released it off the university grounds, she had no idea if it would survive. How could she have been
so stupid, allowing any of this to happen? She didn’t understand why demons were following her any more than Des did, but
she couldn’t deny that he was right. And now she’d as good as killed her friend.
A small squeak near her feet caused Aurelie to wipe her tears and look down. Mephisto was there, staring up at her with its
cursed red eyes. She held her cupped hands out, not knowing if the creature would bite her or climb aboard. Tonight, fortunately,
it seemed to understand that something was amiss, because it clambered onto her hands and spun in a little circle before settling
on her palms. Its long, slender body was covered in bristly white fur, its pink flesh visible beneath them. It released a
sigh through its nostrils and closed its eyes, and Aurelie felt a fresh wave of hot tears slide down her cheeks.
She laid it in her lap, hardly daring to run her fingers over its long back, feeling the delicate movement of its breath.
Mephisto may be a demon, but it was far from evil. Anyone would see that, if they bothered to look.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against its head, earning a small growl and a squeaky yawn.
Aurelie sniffled and set the demon on its pillow. For this week, at least, it would get all the cockroaches it could eat.
On Tuesday morning, Aurelie did what she should have done from the start. She told Kiara everything.
“I know it’s all completely mad,” she said when she’d finished. “And I should have come to you sooner,” she added, before
Kiara could say so herself. “But I’m terrified, and I don’t know what to do. I need your help, Kiki.”
Kiara, who was sitting on Aurelie’s sofa with Mephisto curled up next to her, hadn’t said a word for the entirety of Aurelie’s
speech. She blinked a few times, chewing on her lip. “I don’t . . . I can’t . . .” She leaned forward so abruptly Mephisto
bolted from the sofa. “What the hell were you thinking?!”
Not once in the eleven years of their friendship had Kiara yelled at her. Hot tears sprang into Aurelie’s eyes, which was
completely ridiculous. She deserved to be yelled at for what she’d done.
“I wasn’t thinking,” she cried. “At least not with my scientist’s brain.”
“Well, whose brain were you using, then? Because they are an utter pillock!”
“I know!” Aurelie rose and began to pace around her office. Some part of her had been hoping for reassurance that things weren’t
as bad as she feared. But the rest of her had known they were worse. Otherwise she would never have dragged her best friend
into this. “I’m done for, aren’t I? No matter what I do from this point on, I’m going to prison, and Uncle Leo will never
speak to me again, and Mephisto is going to die.”
She collapsed onto the floor, somehow finding a reserve of tears despite all her crying last night. Thank goodness it was only seven o’clock in the morning and the students wouldn’t be here for at least an hour.
She felt Kiara sit next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry I shouted. I’m just worried for you, that’s
all. Besides, I’m partly to blame.”
“What do you mean?”
“I meant to ask my father ages ago about this Everard, but I only just remembered this weekend. Father has never heard of
him, Aurelie. Which means not only did that man lie to you, but we also have no idea how he learned of you in the first place.”
Aurelie’s back prickled with a cold sweat. Some part of her had known that all along, hadn’t it?
“But let’s remove one concern from your plate. I’ll take Mephisto to my grandparents’ house. I’ll release it into the countryside,
where it will have all the grasshoppers and field mice it can eat.”
“Really?”
“Really. In the meantime, it can live in your other workshop. No one goes in that building.”
“That’s a good idea.” Why hadn’t she spoken with Kiara sooner? She would never have let Aurelie get so wrapped up in this
mess.
“As far as the Iron Guard is concerned . . . Well, they haven’t turned you in yet. Maybe they’re not planning to. But either
way, you have to tell this Everard person you can’t build his portal. It’s far too dangerous. And I love you too much to let you lose everything
over this.”
“But—”
Kiara leveled her with a flat gaze. “Aurelie, if you don’t, I won’t help you with anything ever again.”
Aurelie lowered her head. She knew Kiara was right. She should never have accepted in the first place. Her life had been a
disaster ever since Uncle Leo left and Everard showed up at the university. Before then, everything had been going well. Her
grades were fine, her relationship with Uncle Leo was changing but not in a bad way, and she was keeping her inventing manageable.
She’d let her pride take over these past weeks, when she had always been so logical, so practical. For heaven’s sake, she
still didn’t know what the portal was truly for, only a vague idea of what it might be meant to do. Still, all that hard work for nothing. The schematics, the hours wasted
on Elder Vansion. Not to mention the risks she’d taken and the people she’d endangered, with nothing to show for it in the
end.
She took a deep breath. This was the right decision. Everard would be disappointed, but he’d find someone else to do the job.
At least Aurelie wouldn’t have to see it. And at least she’d know she had tried.
“All right,” she conceded as Kiara pulled her into her arms. “I’ll tell him by the end of the week. I promise.”
Aurelie spent the rest of the week constructing a cage for Mephisto in whatever time she could spare, one that was portable but large enough that it wouldn’t feel too restrictive.
She crafted a shoddy cover for the cage—sewing was not her strong suit—and concocted a lie that she’d captured a juvenile least weasel and was keeping it for the zoology department until after Yule.
No one would mistake an eight-legged demon for a weasel, but at least the color and size were close.
By Thursday, she was breathing a little easier. There was no sign of the Iron Guard, Miles Viridian had a boil the size of
a small kingdom on his nose, and her professors were all in good moods because of the upcoming holiday. She even managed to
get an extension on a paper for her requisite philosophy class, which she’d hardly paid attention to all semester.
There was just one loose thread hanging over her. At some point during the chaos of the other night, she’d lost the key to
the front gate. Mr. Morel had a new one made for her, but she didn’t like knowing the other was still out there somewhere.
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 forced herself 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