Chapter 24 Des
Des
By the time they returned to the Iron Fortress, Des was exhausted. They’d killed two other verita in the three days they’d been gone, both the result of inventions gone awry, when typically they saw only a handful in a
month. The third inventor was a woman in her fifties. Unlike the other two, her creation was no accident. She had set fire
to her laboratory before they arrived in an attempt to hide the evidence, but what remained was damning. She had been arrested
and brought back with them and was now awaiting trial.
Every night when he tried to sleep, Des’s thoughts turned to Aurelie. Had she been arrested, like this woman? Or was she still
working alone in her laboratory, producing demons? Or was she innocent, as Daisy believed she was? The questions gnawed at
him like rats as he tossed and turned in unfamiliar beds.
Now, just a few days before his promotion, Des had been told to take some time off. It was customary for the guards to get
an extra day to themselves during Yule week, but Des typically gave his day to Daisy so she could spend more time with her
family. This year, she insisted he keep it. As the two caught up, Des tried to casually bring up Aurelie. Daisy, as per usual,
wasn’t fooled.
“Go check on her,” she said as she packed her bag. Her aunt was coming to pick her up soon, and night was already falling.
“Commander Yew told me to stay away from the university,” he said as he cleaned his boots, muddy from riding in the country. “Anyway, I thought I might do some research tomorrow.”
“All day?”
He grunted in response.
“All right, then after you do this vital research, you could perhaps get yourself a hot chocolate. And if you happen to pass
by the university on your way home . . .”
He set his boots down and gave Daisy a kiss on her cheek.
“What was that for?” she asked, touching the spot where he’d kissed her. “In case I haven’t been clear, I’m not interested
in you that way.”
He huffed in indignation. “Don’t flatter yourself, Shaw. I was just saying goodbye. I’m looking forward to having you off
my back for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Don’t get too excited. I’ll be back for your promotion.”
“You’d better be.”
He went back to cleaning his boots, then bent over to tuck them into his trunk. As he did so, the iron key slipped out of
his collar, dangling before his eyes in what felt like a pointed manner. The key had become something of a talisman the past
few days. He found himself squeezing it before bed each night, praying to something he didn’t believe in that Aurelie was
safe.
The next evening, after exercising, studying, and making a trip to the library, he found himself with hours left before Daisy
returned and nothing to fill them. Cursing his friend for putting the idea into his head, he headed for the café with the
disgusting hot chocolate.
The entire walk, he told himself he had no plans to visit anyone.
He was merely killing time, since he had nothing better to do.
But he was struck by how quiet the city was.
It had snowed over a foot, and in the still night, the only sounds were the occasional crack of a branch collapsing under the weight of its snowy shroud, or a bark of laughter from one of the nearby pubs.
The café was busy, though not quite as busy as the last time he’d come. He perused the menu, ignoring the stares of the other
patrons. A wave of melancholy washed over him, and he ordered Daisy’s ridiculous concoction, then proceeded to hardly touch
it. It was so sweet it was practically inedible. He left ten minutes later, pretending, as Daisy had suggested, that he just
happened to pass by the university, but he couldn’t lie to himself. He needed to know what had become of Aurelie. Otherwise,
he’d wonder for the rest of his life.
He approached the guardhouse in what he hoped was a casual manner. Perhaps the grandfatherly guard was on duty and would remember
him. He could find out where she was without ever alerting her to his presence.
A scream cut through the night, raising all the hairs on Des’s body.
It was coming from campus.
Without thinking, Des yanked the leather thong off his neck and unlocked the gate, letting himself inside. He listened intently
but could hear no other sounds of distress. He checked the guard tower only to find it cold and empty, before setting off
through the campus.
Des froze when the cottage came into view. There wasn’t a single light on there, or anywhere else on campus that he could
see. Without the aid of the moonlight, he would be in total darkness. Perhaps no one was here this week. Aurelie could have
gone somewhere with her uncle for the holiday. They might have given the guards the week off.
Another scream, this one garbled and guttural, coming from near the hall where Aurelie had her laboratory.
Des broke into a run, noting the small sets of footprints leading toward the building. Someone had been here within the past
few hours, at least. Someone with tiny feet. And only one person he knew had feet that absurdly small.
He froze when he saw something lying on the steps leading up to the stone building. There was a creature hunched over it,
moving in a way that made Des’s stomach roil. He’d rarely seen a demon feed, and only once on a human. For a split second,
he was sure it was Aurelie lying on the steps, but the body was too large, and he felt a brief wash of relief. The demon raised
its head, a dark silhouette in the moonlight, and sniffed the air.
Des ducked behind a statue, slowly pulling his sword from its scabbard. Where the hell had this thing come from? If Aurelie
had been foolish enough to summon another demon, he was going to kill her himself. He peeked out again and swore when he realized
the demon was gone.
Des approached the body carefully in case the creature decided to come back, his sword raised. He was still several yards
away when he realized that it was the kindly older man who spoke so fondly of Aurelie. His stomach had been torn open, his
entrails steaming in the night. Des swallowed down the burning sting of bile and tried to piece together what had happened.
Then he saw the shattered glass near the base of the building, and he remembered that Aurelie’s basement lab had one single,
high window. He cursed again as the pieces began to fall into place.
The demon he and Daisy had seen must have escaped and killed the guard.
Now it would grow larger and more dangerous.
He could only hope the iron bars were enough to keep it trapped on campus, where presumably there was no one else it could hurt.
Aside from him, of course. He should get back to base and round up more guards.
He took a step toward the gates and froze.
He could have sworn he’d heard a whimper.
There was no light coming from the shattered window, but he ran to it anyway, calling down. “Is someone there?”
“Des?” It was a plaintive voice, tinged with a mixture of fear and relief.
Something clenched in Des’s chest at his name being spoken like that. “Aurelie?”
“It’s me. I’m . . . I’m injured.”
Demons take him. “How badly?”
“I don’t know.” A long silence followed.
“Aurelie?”
“I think I need help.”
Of course she did. And he needed to track down the demon. “Is there anyone else on campus?” he asked.
“No. Just the guard and me.”
“Are the grounds completely encircled by iron?”
“Yes.”
Good. The demon wouldn’t get far, then. “Stay there. I’m coming.” Des ran past the guard’s body and entered the hall, retracing
the steps he’d taken with Daisy and Aurelie. By the time he reached her laboratory, she was sitting outside in the hallway,
the shoulder of her dress torn open to reveal several bloody gashes. “What happened?” he asked, crouching beside her, fighting
to keep his voice calm.
She shook her head and closed her eyes, releasing a stream of tears. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“The guard?” Des asked. “I’m afraid so.”
Aurelie put her hand over her face and sobbed silently. “It’s all my fault.”
Des’s own hands hovered worthlessly near Aurelie’s shoulder. The wound looked painful and angry, seeping blood onto the white
shift beneath her dress. “We should clean you up,” he said, though he knew he was wasting time here. This was why they worked
in twos, dammit.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “I tried to stop it when it went for the window, but it was so strong.”
“How did a demon get in here, Aurelie?” Des was still hoping there was some miracle explanation, that she hadn’t deliberately
been conjuring demons.
“A seed,” she said nonsensically. “It came from Mephisto.”
“Who’s Mephisto? What seed?”
Aurelie attempted to push to her feet and immediately slid back down the wall. Was she hurt somewhere else? If she’d been
a guard, she’d know to report immediately where she was injured, but Aurelie wasn’t a trained soldier. Her face was bloodless,
her hands trembling. She was going into shock.
“I’m going to pick you up,” Des said, then proceeded to scoop Aurelie into his arms without waiting for a response. Her wound
brushed his armor, and she made a small, feeble noise that he wanted to hate, but he found himself readjusting her anyway.
He shouldered his way into her destroyed lab and laid her down on the sofa, then glanced around the room for something to
clean and bind the wound with.
“There,” she said, pointing to a basin and ewer with her good arm. “There are washcloths in the cupboard.”
Des rummaged around, trying not to touch any of Aurelie’s equipment. For all he knew, there were combustible materials in
here, like whatever had caused that explosion.
When he returned to her side with the washcloths and a pitcher of clean water, she had turned toward him slightly. He tried
not to stare at where she’d untied the ribbon at her neck, pulling her clothing aside to reveal more of the wound, which ran