Chapter 32 Aurelie
Aurelie
In the morning, Aurelie stretched languorously, having spent another night dreaming of Des. It was better than dwelling on
her uncle in a cage, or Everard’s demon sniffing about the university, or the trouble she could be getting the demon hunters
into at this very moment.
Des hadn’t said he was falling for her, but he also hadn’t contradicted Jasper, and the look he’d given her had made heat
pool in her chest and flow like molten lava to her core. If she could have found a way to manufacture and bottle that feeling,
she’d be the wealthiest woman alive, no matter how many demons she spawned in the process.
She knew that demon hunters didn’t marry. She knew that the odds of this portal working and demons being officially eradicated
were so slim as to be negligible, because if it were possible, surely someone would have done it before. Which meant that she would likely die alongside her uncle, and Des should be the furthest thing
from her mind. But she was eighteen. Her frontal lobe wasn’t fully developed yet. And what was death compared to falling in
love?
As she began to boil water for coffee, she noticed that Mephisto hadn’t touched its dinner last night.
She couldn’t remember the last time it hadn’t finished a meal; if anything, it generally demanded seconds.
She pulled the jar of cockroaches out of the armoire, slowly unscrewing the lid, a sound that normally acted as a siren song for the demon. But there was still no sign of it.
Puzzled, Aurelie searched along the floorboards and even in the Load Lightener, but Mephisto wasn’t here and likely hadn’t
been all night. A horrible feeling crept over her. What if Everard had taken it? Or used his link to demons to summon it?
She’d known Everard wanted the creature for his own purposes, whatever those were. And she had been too busy living in a fantasy
world—one where she had friends over for dinner; one where she had friends—to realize it was missing.
She swallowed her tears. If she completed the portal, Mephisto was going to be summoned back to the demonic realm. It might
be happier there, where it belonged, among its own kind. But even as she had these thoughts, she knew they were untrue. Mephisto
was happy here, with Aurelie. It was yet another sacrifice in her path to saving her uncle.
Until recently, she had thought of herself as someone curious and methodical, inquisitive and wise. But the painful reality
was that deep down, she was a girl of hope and heartstrings, too. Love would break her as sure as it would any other girl,
if she let it.
She finished her coffee and removed the bandage on her wound, relieved to see it was scabbing over. She let her shift fall
to the floor and stood before the full-length mirror on her armoire door. The juxtaposition of her smooth, pale skin and the
ragged scratches across her chest was jarring, ugly even. She’d never thought much on her physical appearance before, but
now, imagining Des seeing her like this, she wondered if the scars would forever remind him of her traitorous actions.
Illegal inventor. Demon consorter. A brand she would carry with her the rest of her life.
She had known the demon hunters wouldn’t come until well after nightfall, and yet she realized she’d been hoping Des would come earlier anyway by the disappointment she felt when he didn’t.
But there was no time to waste. Using a tool she’d found in Mr. Morel’s workshop, she took a sheet of copper and began to practice engraving shapes in it.
It was so much harder than it looked. The burin, a tool with a round wooden handle and a metal shaft leading down to a diamond-shaped
tip, was easy enough to hold. But it took years of practice for a skilled metalworker to wield it with strength and finesse,
to create the curves and intricate details needed for Elder Vansion. Aurelie’s first attempt looked like that of a child practicing
their letters: wobbly, crooked, and unrecognizable.
Afraid she was going to ruin a noticeable amount of Mr. Morel’s copper sheets, she decided to work on her own copper kettle,
which she’d soon covered in dents and chicken scratches that were so embarrassing she knew she’d have to scrap the kettle
altogether. This was impossible. What she needed was someone with excellent penmanship and strong forearms. Someone good at
keeping secrets who wasn’t busy today.
She needed Kiara.
Around lunchtime, Aurelie headed out into the city. The streets were crowded with last-minute shoppers, so blithely unaware
of everything swirling through Aurelie’s head that she resented them their trivial worries. If only finding the perfect gift
for her uncle was her biggest concern.
The Morels lived in an apartment above a carpentry shop Mrs. Morel managed. It was closed for the week, as were many businesses. Aurelie rang the bell, hoping that Kiara would be the one who answered, because it would lead to far fewer questions.
Unfortunately, it was Mr. Morel who came down the stairs and unlocked the shop door. “Aurelie! It’s so lovely to see you.
We were very disappointed when Kiara said you couldn’t spend the week with us.”
She ducked her head, hating to add another lie to her teetering pile. “I was, too. But I decided it was better for me to focus
on my studies this week. I’ve gotten rather behind in everything this semester.”
“I see. Is that what brings you here today? I assume you want to see Kiara?”
Aurelie nodded. “I was wondering if she could help me with something at school. Is she free?”
“Is she free? That girl hasn’t lifted so much as a finger for a week! I’ll send her down. Give us a few minutes. I think she
might still be in her nightclothes.”
Aurelie thanked him and stomped her feet to keep them warm while she waited. She was watching a family of five navigate an
icy patch, laughing to herself behind her gloved hand, when she saw a familiar tall, spindly figure walking toward her.
Attached to Miles’s arm was none other than Lavender Applebaum, pressed against him in a way that was clearly more than friendly.
“Hello, Aurelie!” Lavender said when she saw her. “We wondered if that was you! No one has seen you in ages.”
Aurelie cringed and did her best to turn it into a smile. “Yes, it’s been a busy few weeks. What are you doing this afternoon?”
“Shopping for Lavender’s Yule present,” Miles said, straightening his fogged glasses with his index finger. He didn’t seem
particularly pleased to see Aurelie or to be out shopping with Lavender.
“Oh,” Aurelie said. “Are you two . . .”
“We’re engaged!” Lavender exclaimed, pulling off her glove to thrust a massive diamond ring in Aurelie’s face.
Aurelie could only blink in response.
“Well, congratulate us,” Lavender prompted.
“Of course. Congratulations to you both.”
Miles was watching Aurelie as though expecting . . . disappointment? Envy? Honestly, one would think he’d know her better
than that by now. “And you?” he asked. “What are you doing at a . . .” He glanced up at the sign. “A closed carpentry shop.”
“Just waiting on Kiara.”
“Oh yes, the groundskeeper’s daughter.” Miles peered down at Lavender over the rim of his glasses. “Aurelie works with her.
Don’t you, Aurelie?”
“Yes, I do. We’re both bricoleurs.”
Lavender cocked her head as though the very idea was foreign to her. “I thought you said you were a student?”
“I am. People can work and study, you know.”
Lavender laughed. “Well of course they can. I just can’t imagine wanting to!”
Aurelie couldn’t read Miles’s expression behind his glasses, but his derisive tone of voice made it clear what he thought
of her. “No one is as industrious as Aurelie Blake.”
To her extreme relief, Kiara chose that moment to open the door to the shop and step outside.
“True enough! And now she’s forcing me to join her.
” Kiara twined her arm through Aurelie’s and waved over her shoulder.
“Happy Yule!” she called. Then, leaning into Aurelie, she said, “Now tell me what the hell we’re doing today, oh industrious one. ”
“I will. As soon as we’re back on campus.” Aurelie wondered if she was supposed to be jealous of Miles so quickly turning his attention to another girl, but she only felt profound relief. He wasn’t going
to waste his time spreading rumors about her when he had found someone who clearly relished his attention.
“I’m surprised to see you,” Kiara said as Aurelie unlocked the campus gate. “Does this mean things are going well?”
So much had happened that Aurelie wasn’t sure where to begin, but she recounted as much as she could, including what had happened
to poor Mr. Willoughby. Kiara didn’t know the guards personally, but she welled up just the same. “Oh, Aurelie.”
“I know. I’ve managed to make a mess of everything.” Finally, she explained about the runes, though they seemed so trivial
compared to Willoughby’s death. “Do you think you can help?”
“I can certainly try,” Kiara said as they settled on the sofa in Aurelie’s lab. “But something tells me you left out a few
details of your week so far.”
“What details?”
“Details about you and Des.”
Aurelie avoided Kiara’s eyes. “I told you everything.”
“Aurelie.”
“Fine, almost everything.”
A grin spread on Kiara’s face. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Aurelie had told Des as much, just the other night. But now like seemed much too simple of a word for what she felt. It wasn’t love, of course. But she could imagine how easy it would be to fall into it, into him.
Her silence must have been all the confirmation Kiara needed, because she didn’t press further. Instead, she began to practice
engraving on a sheet of copper. She promised she’d replace them all without her father knowing.
Already, she was better than Aurelie. She felt terrible for dragging her best friend into this mess, but having Kiara here
was grounding. In Des’s presence, she was untethered; if she wasn’t careful, she could float away altogether. But here, in
the moment, was where she belonged. Nothing could matter more than saving her uncle. Nothing could matter more than this.
When Kiara was confident she could carve the runes, they made their way to Aurelie’s other workshop. She spent a few minutes
searching for Mephisto there, but the demon was still nowhere to be found.
“What is this made of, do you think?” Kiara asked as she studied a metal plate. “It’s not gold or copper. I’ve never seen
a metal like it, in fact.”
“I know,” Aurelie said, peering over her shoulder. “I couldn’t find anything about it in the books I read, either. I suspect
it’s some type of alloy, electrum perhaps.”
“Electrum?”
“Green gold. A gold-and-silver alloy.” With the metal plates already affixed to the stone, Kiara had to work with them vertically.
Some runes were far more complicated than others, and with thirty-six of them, it was going to be more than she could handle alone in one day.
“I’ll try one of the simpler runes,” Aurelie said, glancing at her translation.
“Hopefully we can get most of this done today, and then I can finish when Everard comes.”
They worked for hours with painstaking slowness, lest they make a mistake and ruin a metal plate. There were no spares, and
Aurelie knew Everard wouldn’t accept failure, despite the impossible task he’d set before her.
By dinner, they’d finished all but the last of the runes. They stepped back to look at the portal, Kiara’s chin on her fist,
Aurelie pushing her magnifying spectacles up onto her forehead.
“It doesn’t look magical, does it?” Kiara said. She was wearing coveralls and a kerchief to keep her hair out of her face.
“Of course it doesn’t look magical yet,” Aurelie countered, but inside, she’d been thinking the same thing. It was large,
bulky, and it was rather evident which of the runes Aurelie had carved, because they looked like they’d been scrawled by a
squirrel. “Once we finish the last rune, it will work. It has to.”
“And you still don’t have it translated?”
Aurelie shook her head no. She’d gone to the postbox by the front gate at midday to check, but Professor Sheldrake hadn’t
written. The mail wouldn’t come again until after Yule.
“Aurelie, it’s not too late to stop this, you know. Your uncle wouldn’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way for him.”
Aurelie was exhausted from having this conversation, but she also knew that Kiara would want to have it at least one more
time before she left today. “I know. But I refuse to let him die for me.”
“And your parents?”
At that, Aurelie turned to look at Kiara, stung. “What about my parents?”
“Do you think this is what they would want for their only daughter?”
The words caught her off guard, stealing her breath. She didn’t often consider what her parents would think of her life now,
because she had always believed they would approve of it. She was a scientist, like them. She worked and studied hard, and
she was a dutiful niece, aside from the whole illegal inventing bit.
But would they expect her to sacrifice Uncle Leo to save herself?
She knew the answer instinctively. They were her parents. Of course they would put their child above all else. That didn’t
mean it was right.
“I’m sorry,” Kiara said when Aurelie didn’t answer. “I’m just afraid you’re being led into a trap.”
“You’d do the same exact thing if your parents were in a cage in a madman’s basement.” To her surprise, she found her eyes
filling with tears. “Wouldn’t you?” she asked, her voice cracking.
Kiara sat down next to her, stroking her fringe away from her forehead. “I’m sorry. I know there’s no easy answer here. I’m
just worried.”
“And I’m sorry I ever got you involved in any of this. But even if Everard didn’t have Uncle Leo, there is clearly something
going on with demons, Kiki. And Everard said that if the veil thins completely, it can’t be put back. Ever.”
She was quiet for a long moment. “Then I guess we’d better keep working.”
Aurelie smiled through her tears, feeling indescribably fortunate to have such a loyal best friend.
She had to believe she was doing the right thing, that Everard, who’d said himself that demons couldn’t be trusted or controlled, had no interest in hurting anyone else.
But deep down, she had a terrible feeling that Kiara was right.
That this was a trap, and she was about to run headfirst into it, sacrificing far more than her uncle’s life in the process.