Chapter 12
MORBID CURIOSITY
DAYS PASSED—IT WAS ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO SAY HOW many in Hell—and the time for the next attempt of the spell was fast approaching. Surely having Suyin’s willing sacrifice would be the extra boost Murmur needed to finally break through. It had to be.
Yet strangely, he found his usual driving urgency was lacking.
Currently, he leaned back in his chair, drumming his claws on the desk, watching Suyin work from the corner of his eye. The fire had been fed and burned brightly, permeating the library with a comfortable warmth.
After discovering the clothing his minions had procured for her, Suyin had come to the library and, instead of thanking him, spent an hour cleaning years of soot and grime off the window.
He’d pretended not to notice, but instead of focusing on his work, he’d watched her, strangely transfixed by the sight of her diminutive form scrubbing at the glass, lithe muscles shifting along her back and shoulders.
Afterward, the glow of the red sky entered the room and actually managed to brighten it. Suddenly, he could read his messy writing a little easier, and he found he enjoyed looking out the window while he tried to organize his thoughts.
So, after Suyin had returned to her rooms, he’d cleared off one of the tables for her to use. Not to express gratitude, he assured himself, but as an exchange of favors. So they were even.
He’d made it clear she wasn’t to encroach on his workspace, but that table was being used mostly to store scraps of disorganized paper, and seeing her hunched over on the floor all day was distracting in its own right. It couldn’t be good for her spine to have it bent like that.
Not that he cared. He just didn’t want her distracting him.
Now, Suyin sat at her new worktable—for which she’d thanked him with a surprised look that made him uncomfortable—her nose buried in a book. And he watched her.
It seemed she hadn’t lied when she’d told him she was hungry for knowledge. At first, he’d been convinced her desire to access his library was part of a foolhardy plan to soften him up.
But every time he came here, he found her diligently studying. She never said a word to him except to bid him good morning or night before she retired to her chambers—though he was sure she’d lost all sense of the time.
When Murmur had cleaned off the table, he’d left an empty notebook for Suyin to use for note-taking, and she’d already filled half of it. He wondered what she was working so determinedly on.
She’s probably searching every single book for the easiest way to kill you.
He scoffed at the notion of a tiny thing like her causing him harm, but then his eyes narrowed suddenly. What was she up to?
She couldn’t actually try to kill him, as per the terms of their bargain, so he wasn’t particularly concerned about mutiny. But she was in his library, reading his books, sitting at his table. He had every right to know what she was doing.
He rose from his desk suddenly, and she didn’t so much as blink, remaining engrossed in her work. Silently, he stalked across the room and came up behind her.
Her thick hair cascaded down her back. It was pure black, no hints of brown. A good color as far as human hair went, he decided. His gaze moved to her tiny hands. She was currently copying a sigil into her book. The page opposite was filled with notes.
He leaned over to see what she was doing, and his lips curved slightly.
Anti-demon wards.
After he was done with her, she’d probably be even more paranoid than he was. Of course she’d want to learn ways to protect herself.
He nodded with approval at her careful but succinct note-taking. She was smart to copy down what she had. She wouldn’t be taking any of his grimoires back to Earth, and this was a good way to ensure her memory stayed sharp.
Unfortunately, the book she’d chosen was elementary at best. He straightened and stroked his chin with a foreclaw.
He crossed the room to the furthest corner, left of the doors.
Gripping the ladder, he rolled it over several feet and then climbed to the second-highest shelf.
Trailing his claws along the spines, he scanned each faded title until he found the one he sought.
He pulled it out and descended the ladder.
Coming up behind Suyin, he dropped the grimoire with a heavy thud onto the desk in front of her.
She jumped and her head snapped up. Twisting around, her eyes flared when she saw him standing behind her.
“If you want wards to keep out demons, you won’t find a better book than that,” he said, pointing at the volume.
She stared up at him, mouth slightly open.
He turned away and returned to his desk, flicking his claws in a dismissive gesture.
“Marax is a buffoon, but his knowledge is vast.” He dropped into his chair and smiled thinly.
“I’d kill to see the look on his face if he found out how many of his grimoires I’ve stolen for my collection over the ages. ”
Suyin still watched him mutely.
With a shrug, he returned his attention to his work, picking up where he’d left off last night before falling asleep in his chair from exhaustion. He’d only woken up because Suyin had kicked one of the ladders loud enough to make a bang and then suggested he go to bed when he glared at her.
He was reviewing the incantation, ensuring everything was correct (though he knew it was) and that he’d used the most effective combination of syllables (though he knew he had). It was dull work, but every step of the spell had to be perfect.
After an hour or so, he looked up again, turning his attention outside.
He hadn’t been to check his boundary wards in days, and he was overdue.
It was the last thing he felt like doing at present, but he felt like fighting off invaders even less.
Such was the burden of controlling a large territory.
His eyes wandered over to his companion. They did that a lot. He’d lost track of how many years he’d spent working by himself. Having someone else here was strange.
But what was perhaps even stranger was how he didn’t particularly mind it. But only because it was her. Anyone else he would surely have killed by now. As a rule, he detested the company of others. But Suyin was … tolerable.
He leaned back in his chair, suddenly wondering about what she wanted to study and how difficult it would be for her to find what she sought. If he were in her shoes, he’d want to learn every trick in the book to arm himself against demons. Especially after having been captured by one.
Suddenly inspired, he stood, chair scraping back with the movement. Suyin remained focused and didn’t look up. He returned to the far corner of the library and climbed the ladder again. Scanning the shelves, he withdrew a grimoire, climbed down, moved the ladder, climbed up, and took another.
He repeated the process until he had a stack of books up to his chin. He carried them over and dumped them on the corner of her desk. Just as before, she jerked upright and stared up at him with wide eyes.
“A collection of texts you might be interested in,” he said.
She looked back and forth between him and the book stack. “Thank you.”
His lip curled, her gratitude irritating him. He much preferred when she was pissed at him. Or better yet, terrified. “It’s annoying watching you look in the wrong sections for things. The books you’ve been reading are rudimentary.”
She pressed her lips together. “Well, thanks for finding me the good ones. I’m surprised you’d want me to learn how to fight off demons.”
He shot her a bland look. “The day I would be concerned about your magic overpowering mine would be the day I deserve death.”
“Pretty sure you already deserve that.” Her eyes crinkled in the corners, and he realized she was teasing him. The audacity. “I shudder to think of all the terrible things you’ve done.”
“Don’t bother. You’ll only give yourself a headache.”
She laughed then, and he blinked, watching her face transform. He didn’t think she’d laughed once since arriving here, unless it was out of bitterness. Strange how he was even aware of that.
Her laughter died quickly, however, and she stared right back at him.
Just as he was about to extricate himself from the interaction, she asked, “Where should I start?” Her gaze darted to the book pile. “Is there an order I should read them in? Which ones are the best?”
His eyes narrowed. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to check his wards. Her curiosity meant nothing to him. Anything that stood between him and his plans needed to be eradicated. And yet …
This is far more interesting than anything else you’re doing today.
Before he could convince himself otherwise, he leaned over and pulled a book from the middle of the pile.
“Start with this one,” he said, setting it beside the grimoire she was already working on. “If you’re going to practice Sheolic magic, you must first learn the dangers and how to circumvent them. That’s outlined in here.”
“Awesome,” she replied, trailing her fingers lightly over the cover.
He grabbed another book from the pile. “Sheolic magic is sacrificial magic. This text covers suitable sacrificial materials, the importance of intention, and the process of selecting and utilizing a sacrifice. You need to have a firm grasp of this before beginning practice.”
Her eyes lit up as he slid the book toward her, and she cracked the stiff spine, opening to faded parchment. “Damn,” she breathed. “Does it explain how to make sacrifices without killing stuff?”
Murmur huffed. “Of course it does. While it’s generally the most powerful form, death is still only one type of sacrifice. But of course it’s the most dramatic, so it’s the only one people talk about.”
Her eyes remained fixed on the ancient pages as she turned each one carefully. He approved of her handling of the books. If she’d been rough with any of them, he’d have thrown her right back into the dungeon.
“And what kind of sacrifice do you prefer to use?” she asked.