Chapter 31 Des
Des
When Des reached Aurelie’s laboratory, he found Jasper and Daisy staring at hard lumps of acacia resin, scratching their heads.
“Do you know how to make this into glue?” Jasper asked. “Because we have no idea.”
Des held up a piece of parchment on a makeshift desk. “Instructions, right here. Aciano’s beard, no wonder she thinks we’re
all daft.”
“She didn’t call us daft,” Daisy said. “Did she?”
“Not in so many words, no.” Des glanced around the room, trying to see it through Aurelie’s eyes. It was dark and dingy, mostly
empty aside from some wooden crates and the simple frame standing in the middle of the room. It was large, taller than Des
and equally wide. He still didn’t understand how a magical portal would somehow open up in this very room. Half of him didn’t
believe it would. And yet seeing Everard and his thrall, he knew that if anyone was capable of it, it was that gods-forsaken
man.
Why had he chosen Aurelie? The question had plagued him last night as he lay in bed, his hands folded chastely on his chest to avoid temptation every time he closed his eyes and saw her, half-naked, kneeling on a desk in front of him.
No boyhood fantasy could have ever conjured such a sight, especially not when the women he was surrounded by slept in the same tunics the men wore.
Aurelie presented so many newly discovered desires, things Des could have never dreamed of for himself.
And the worst part was, he knew now what he had been missing. What he would continue to miss for the rest of his life. As
much as he wanted to believe that this portal would do what she said it would—he believed she believed it, or else he never would have agreed to help her; at least if she conjured any demons, he’d be there to kill them—he
had seen firsthand what happened when people messed with things they shouldn’t. She was desperate to save her uncle. She’d
do anything for him, Des now understood. Which was why he’d put his own plan in motion behind Aurelie’s back.
Gareth had insisted on helping with the portal, and Des knew the kid would continue to pester him if he didn’t have some other
job. Even Daisy and Jasper didn’t know about his “secret mission.” Gareth was going to do some reconnaissance on Everard,
learn if there was any way to get to Leopold Blake that didn’t require Aurelie fulfilling this deal with the devil. If he
was confident they could accomplish it, he would alert Commander Yew. Whatever Everard was capable of, Des could never accept
he would be able to outsmart the entire Iron Guard.
Still, it pained him to betray Aurelie like this. He licked his lips absently, desperate for another taste of her. Demons
take him, she was sweeter and softer than anything had a right to be. But it was her mind he’d fallen for, and the very idea
was so ridiculous he almost laughed out loud to himself. He’d never met anyone more obstinate, more curious, more brilliant.
He could have listened to her talk about adhesives until he grew old and feeble and died a happy man.
But Aurelie had an undeniable connection with demons, beyond her inventions.
Everard had been able to exploit that somehow, spying on Aurelie with his own thrall, maybe even Mephisto.
There had to be other inventors in Wisteria City.
She claimed she’d killed every verita she created, but he’d faced verita many times, which meant there were other sources. Why Aurelie?
And why, in some twisted way, was he grateful? Because otherwise, they never would have met.
The entire time he and Jasper moved those blasted stones—which, they realized after their first three attempts, were not all
perfectly even and therefore could only be slotted into the frame through a process of trial and error—he daydreamed of her
delicate hands against his face, his chest, his abdominal muscles, as though she’d never felt anything more intriguing. He
wanted to let her study him like one of her books, page by page, as slowly and thoroughly as she wanted to.
Blood and bones, he was jealous of her fucking books.
When she appeared in the room, he wondered for a moment if he’d conjured her, if his aching thoughts had somehow reached her
across campus. At some point while they were working, Des had removed his breastplate, followed by his tunic, because despite
the freezing temperatures outside, it had grown warm from the fire Daisy started in the massive fireplace to melt the acacia
resin. And now Aurelie was here, staring at him with her front teeth absently pressed to her lower lip, her pale cheeks flushed
pink, her hands idly fisted in her skirt.
If they’d been alone, he would have devoured her whole.
“Everything okay?” he asked, a smirk curling his lips.
“Yes, fine,” she said, blinking. “I was going to run to the post office and wondered if I could pick up something on the way home to make for dinner.”
The thought of her cooking for him was absurd, and yet he wanted nothing more than to have dinner with her in her uncle’s
cottage. All right, there were definitely some things he wanted more, but he wanted that, too. He wanted all of it. All of her.
“Des should go with you,” Daisy said, before he could form a response. His initial instinct was to glare at her, but then
he realized that he wanted to go to the post office with Aurelie. Anything if it meant more time with her.
“Oh, I’m perfectly capable—” Aurelie stopped herself, shook her head as if to clear it, and then nodded. “Yes, that would
be nice.”
Des thought he saw Jasper roll his eyes, but he couldn’t blame him. He’d have done the same thing if anyone else was acting
this moony.
While Des redonned his tunic and breastplate, Aurelie was telling Daisy something about the metal plates, and he watched in
astonishment as the tiny demon, Mephisto, circled Daisy’s ankle like a cat. A small, bizarre, entirely deranged cat. He had
hated the creature on impulse, but if he hadn’t known what it was, he might have found it . . . cute? And it didn’t behave
like any demon he’d ever seen. It was curious, almost playful, deceptively innocent. But he’d seen what its seeds produced.
It was dangerous. And if it fell into the hands of Everard, they were all in serious trouble.
When he was ready, he and Aurelie walked into the chill afternoon.
They had to leave tonight for their shift.
They all did. But gods he liked the way she pressed into him as they crossed the main courtyard toward the front gates.
As brave as she was, he had the impression she felt safe in his presence.
That she knew intrinsically he would take care of her, no matter what. And she was right.
“So, the post office?” he asked.
“It’s the runes,” she said. “I think I have the correct sequencing, but there are still several I haven’t translated yet.”
She opened the unsealed envelope and showed the piece of parchment within to Des. He read the words, but they meant little
to him:
Spill ancient ___ , ___ the fated thorn,
A quest for balance, through ___ reborn.
One ___ to extinguish destiny’s might,
Renewal through ___ , one soul to make right.
In the shadows lies the ancient ___ ,
Transformation, ___ , to set ___ free.
At ___ dark, the portal will ___ ,
Creation from ___ , the bond we shall break.
“What is a fated thorn?” he asked when he finished reading.
“I have no idea. The portal will what? It could be anything. I don’t want to bother Professor Sheldrake on his holiday, but he might be the only person who can
help.” She pointed to a cluster of runes at the bottom. “I haven’t translated these yet.”
“Do you need to translate the runes to make the portal work?”
She bit her lip, distracting Des briefly. “I don’t think so. But Professor Sheldrake said I’d be an utter fool not to translate
them before activating the portal, and with everything Everard may be lying about . . . I may be irresponsible, but I’m not
a total fool.”
“When will your letter get to him?”
“Tomorrow, if we’re lucky. But I’m afraid even if he responds right away, there will be no mail for the holiday. I should have written sooner.”
“You’re doing the best you can, Aurelie.”
She turned to gaze up at him as they crossed the street to the post office. “It’s not good enough. I’m not good enough.”
Des had said the same thing about himself a thousand times, but to hear Aurelie say it about herself made something clench
in his chest. “You are the smartest person I’ve ever met. You can do this.”
Her eyes glittered when she looked up at him, as though he’d given her the greatest compliment imaginable. Truly, he’d never
met anyone like her. If someone had asked him to design the perfect woman, he would have never been able to dream her up.
And yet she was the most delightful thing he’d ever beheld. If only she weren’t so cozy with demons.
They mailed the letter and stopped at the grocer’s to buy carrots, potatoes, onions, and mushrooms for a stew Aurelie was
fairly certain she knew how to make.
“Have you ever cooked?” he asked her as they headed back to campus.
“Not exactly. But I’ve watched our cook make stew at least a dozen times. How difficult can it be?”
Rather difficult, as it turned out. Fortunately, Daisy had learned to cook from her cousin, and she was able to salvage the
stew into something semi-edible, though the carrots were hard, the potatoes were mushy, and the mushrooms had been abandoned
entirely.
It was the first time Des had ever eaten in a proper home, at an actual dining table with real silver and crystal.
Aurelie had insisted on serving, and as she’d ladled stew into his bowl, her hands trembling a little, he couldn’t help smiling at her and whispering good girl under his breath just to watch the flush creep up her neck.
When they’d finished eating, Daisy helped Aurelie clear the dishes while Jasper and Des returned to the workshop to finish
the second row of stones. Daisy had affixed a third of the metal plates to the stones in the order of Aurelie’s diagram. Soon,
she would be ready to engrave the runes. Just so long as she had everything translated.
Finally, around ten o’clock, Daisy yawned so wide Des heard her jaw creak.
“It’s time to go,” Jasper said. Aurelie had gone to her laboratory to feed Mephisto while they finished in her workshop. “I
can’t believe we have to work tonight.”
“I know.” Des wiped the sweat from his brow, astonished by how quickly the hours had passed. They were nearly finished with
the stones. It had been a successful day’s work. If he didn’t think about it too hard, he could almost convince himself he
hadn’t abandoned his principles entirely.
“You’re worried about her here alone, aren’t you?” Jasper asked.
“Are you saying I shouldn’t be?”
“I don’t know,” Daisy said. “She handled that demon pretty well yesterday. I think she can take care of herself.”
“But she shouldn’t have to,” Des said.
“No. No one should.” Daisy stretched up to pat him on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”
He scoffed. “For what?”
“For being open-minded enough to listen to Aurelie, to understand that there’s a different way of being in this world from
the one you’ve always known.” She handed him his breastplate. “Most of us didn’t grow up in this. We got to see a world that
wasn’t only about demons. You didn’t have that privilege.”
“Serving in the Iron Guard—”
“Is a privilege,” Jasper and Daisy said in unison.
“We know,” Jasper added. “But Daisy is right. I’m not saying it was your best idea ever to fall for a girl who conjures demons.
But it’s nice to see you happy for a change.”
Was that what this feeling was? Happiness? Des looked up to see Aurelie standing in the doorway, watching him. She may have
heard what Jasper said, that he was falling for her. And for reasons beyond his comprehension, he wasn’t humiliated at the
thought. Maybe he’d never get to marry or have a family, but for the rest of his life, he would be able to say he knew what
it felt like to lose his mind over a girl.
Pretty fucking fantastic.