Chapter 31
Thirty-One
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Sadie was wearing the sapphire. Technically, Nicholas could have carved the glyph into a different stone, something she could carry in her pocket. Something perhaps not as attuned to mental glyphs, but good enough.
He hadn’t wanted to settle for good enough, though. Not for Sadie.
Besides, he enjoyed seeing her wear his ring. One day, she’d accept a ring for her other hand, and everyone would know that she had accepted him. But for now, the charm ring would have to suffice.
With his demon-detecting charm ready and Sadie’s focus charm finished, it was time to seek out Beatrice.
Unsurprisingly, they found her in the library.
She had made herself comfortable in the far corner by the floor-to-ceiling window that let in a maximum of natural light while sacrificing a minimum of shelf space.
There had always been a well-padded chair by the window, but at some point since Beatrice’s arrival in Marstede, a desk, overflowing with books, had been added.
Nicholas wondered where the desk had even come from.
It wasn’t the one from his study, and it wasn’t any of the small side tables scattered throughout so many rooms in the manor.
For a second he wondered if, instead of a lap desk for writing correspondence, Beatrice traveled with a full-sized desk shoved in the carriage with her.
Sadie stifled a laugh as she walked next to him, and he suspected she had seen his thoughts. Did that mean the charm he had made wasn’t helping her?
I haven’t tried to focus my power yet, her thoughts slipped into his mind, and you were picturing Beatrice crammed into a carriage with a desk rather “loudly.”
Nicholas grinned. He liked being able to communicate with Sadie privately.
They’d have to establish some signal so that he could initiate the communication once her telepathy was under enough control that she didn’t hear even his “loud” thoughts accidentally.
If she didn’t bring it, I really don’t know where the desk came from.
Sadie rolled her eyes, but her small smile quickly gave way to seriousness. I’m going to focus on her now, in case I can hear the demon, though my protective charm isn’t reacting at all.
The new charm Nicholas had engraved for himself that morning had started vibrating multiple times. But each instance corresponded exactly with when Sadie spoke to him telepathically. He didn’t think it was alerting them to a demon. Nor was it working as he had hoped.
It still might detect the demon, though.
“Beatrice,” Nicholas said softly, not wanting to startle the woman who hadn’t noticed their approach, she was so absorbed in her book. “Sadie and I were hoping to ask you a few questions.”
Beatrice looked up from her book, frowning.
Nicholas glanced at Sadie, and she answered his unspoken question mentally. I don’t hear anything amiss; I think she is just annoyed we are interrupting her.
“Questions about what?” Beatrice asked politely, though her frown didn’t smooth away.
“Demons, if that’s a topic you know anything about,” he answered.
Every iota of irritation in Beatrice’s demeanor vanished. She closed her book and sat up straight. “Demons? Why?”
“Because we think there might be one at Marstede. We are hoping you might have read something that could help us determine if our fear is well-founded, and if so, how we can handle the situation.”
“Given the books in this library alone, I’d say your fear is very well-founded.” She gestured at the books covering the desk.
Nicholas looked at them, but they were mostly leather-bound tomes without titles. His ancestors’ journals and other old books he’d never had much interest in.
“Those are all demonology books?” Sadie stared at them with wide eyes.
“I wouldn’t classify most of them as demonology texts,” Beatrice answered. “Most are diaries and a few are histories of the area. A handful are grimoires. Only one is a true forbidden demonology tome.”
“I own a forbidden demonology tome?” Perhaps he should prioritize cataloguing his library. Though he’d need someone as phlegmatic as Beatrice to do the job, or he’d risk getting in trouble if there were any other forbidden texts lurking about.
Beatrice pointed at a particular nondescript book in dark brown leather.
“The Demon Realm and Its Inhabitants, which really shouldn’t be banned, as it gives a clear picture of exactly how dangerous demons are and the hidden dangers of dealing with them.
If more people understood those points, they wouldn’t be as tempted to think they could benefit from interacting with demons.
But, it could also probably be used to work out how to summon demons, so I suppose I see why it was banned. ”
Nicholas looked from the book to Beatrice to Sadie. “I think we need a couple more chairs. It seems we have a lot to discuss.”
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Rather than summoning a servant or moving away from Beatrice’s collection of books, Nicholas pushed a divan from the opposite corner of the library over to face her chair. Sadie offered to help, but it was quickly apparent that her dress caused more issues than her added strength could outweigh.
All she could do, therefore, was watch as he worked. When he was halfway across the space, Nicholas looked up and caught her staring.
You can’t look at me like that, he thought at her. He’d mastered the art of projecting his thoughts so that her power was certain to pick them up quickly.
Why not?
Because I’m fairly certain even Beatrice would be scandalized if tossed you on this divan and did all the things that look makes me want to do.
A series of images followed, Nicholas’s thoughts lingering on the one where he bent over her from behind, her hands braced on the back of the divan, her skirts pushed up above her waist.
Sadie blushed, and though she looked away, she sent one final thought in response. You have a similar divan in your rooms, right?
Nicholas’s groan was audible and unmistakable. Sadie did her absolute best not to let her magic loose, not wanting to know what Beatrice was thinking at that moment, watching them make eyes at each other across the room.
A minute later, Nicholas installed the divan in its new spot, nudged Sadie to sit down, and then leaned over and kissed her before taking his own seat so close that their thighs touched.
Beatrice ignored it all, or perhaps she didn’t even notice, since she had pulled open another book. She looked up the instant they were settled, however. “What makes you think there is a demon in the manor?”
Nicholas detailed what they had noticed, omitting only the strange thoughts Sadie had heard.
“You are certain Jane was intentionally brewing a poison, not just making a mistake due to inexperience?”
Sadie nodded. She had given Nicholas permission to share that she was a water-witch, agreeing it was the only explanation they could give short of sharing her telepathy that would satisfy Beatrice.
“Positive. The ingredients and methods had nothing in common with the potion she had planned to make. Even if she had changed her mind, the only benign potion I can think of that she could have possibly been trying to make is so advanced Jane would never have attempted it. She knows she is a novice, and no one writes that recipe down without multiple warnings about how dangerous it is if a mistake is made.”
Sadie added one more detail that Nicholas had forgotten. “Her reactions when I asked her about what she was making were off, too. First she was belligerent that I had questioned her at all, then confused about what she was even doing.”
Beatrice tapped her index finger against the book in her lap. “You think the demon took control, and she wasn’t even aware?”
“Is that possible?”
“Oh, yes, but generally requires a strong demon or a victim whose mental will is relatively weak, or a combination of the two. That’s why demons prefer to make deals with humans, to secure their willing help.
If you are right, that tells us both that this demon is powerful, and that it wants to stay hidden, since it could have more easily possessed Jane without hiding its presence. ”
Nicholas’s hand found Sadie’s, lacing their fingers together. “You know more about demons than I expected.”
“I’m no expert, but I have been working through these books for the past week, and there is a lot of information in the Huxley family journals. Demons have haunted the Gloaming Forest in the past.”
“You’d think that would be something passed down in the family.” Nicholas looked at the books spread across Beatrice’s desk. “Obviously the information was there, but there were no stories about ancestors dealing with demons included in the familial history I learned.”
“Well, the journals I’ve been reading are from over two centuries ago. Your ancestors probably didn’t want stories of demons being told around every heat-glyph. Look at how much trouble the vague stories of hauntings have caused you.”
“True. And we are still hiding our suspicions for fear of panicking everyone. So, Beatrice, what have you learned about killing demons?”
“It can’t be done. Not by a human, at least. Only a demon can kill another of its kind. The best we can hope for is to banish it back to its realm and trap it there.”
“Good enough for me. How do we do that?”
“Can we even manage on our own? It doesn’t sound safe.” Sadie asked, for the first time worrying not that they were taking on an impossible task, but a dangerous one.
Beatrice shrugged. “Demons can’t directly harm humans. It won’t physically attack us.”
“Then what is it even doing?” Sadie frowned. “Why make the effort of possessing Jane in such a way that she didn’t even notice? Why come into the manor?”