Page 109 of The Girl Who Inherits the Dead

“She’s not a dog,” Maison shoots back, immediately standing up. “She wasn’t there because she wanted to be.”

“That didn’t stop her from almost killing Delina!” Gurlien says. “That didn’t stop her from blowing up the bar, from fighting you, from disappearing the first moment she could! She’s probably back there now, telling them where we are and how to get us for more of the Necromancer!”

“Calm down,” Chloe says, softly, but her gaze is hard. “We can create the demon circle again. We’ll pick the next property on the will.”

“I’m not leaving,” Delina says, and once again, everyone falls silent to look at her, so she sits up even though her stomach still churns. “The demon can’t get us in here, and she might not even want to tell them where we are. For all they know, Korhonen took a demon out of whatever prison—” Maison flinches at that, “—and he didn’t come back. They might not even know why.”

“You can’t seriously be taking the demon’s side in all of this,” Gurlien replies, turning to sarcasm that obviously masks some fear. “You were a few random zaps away from being dead because of her.”

“And she didn’t even want to be there!” Maison all but blows up, and it takes Delina a few seconds to track that he’s still a little drunk, despite all the action and magic. “She was obviously just another victim.”

Gurlien scoffs, and Maison’s shoulders tense, his arm pulling back, and—

Delina catches his hand, right as his hand clenches into a fist.

“Sit down,” she orders, and they both stare at her. “No, both of you. Sit.”

“Thank you, Delina,” Chloe mumbles, as they sit on opposite sides of the couch.

“Anyone who wants to leave, can leave.” The very thought of it turns her stomach, along with the alcohol and the horror. “I’m staying here, it’s my cabin, they don’t know exactly where it’s at. That means it’s safe.”

Chloe ducks her head down.

“The two of you are probably safe to leave, they’re not tracking you,” Delina says, pointing to Chloe and Gurlien. “But we can’t make a decision right now, not while…”

Not while the bone crumbling away sticks in her mind.

She swallows, hard. “Maison, do you think she could track us down here? To this cabin? Even if they forced her?”

Gurlien scoffs again, but quieter this time.

“No,” Maison replies, staring hard at Gurlien. “She can’t see beyond the demon circle and couldn’t get in.”

“Okay,” Delina says, and her voice wobbles. “Then I’m staying, at least until tomorrow.”

“We should plan for tomorrow,” Chloe murmurs, like she doesn’t want to contradict Delina, but wants to be anywhere but in the room at the moment. “We should have a plan in case they knock on our door.”

“Not a bad idea,” Delina says, but the horror rises up in her stomach again.

She killed someone. Someone who was previously alive, and no amount of necromancy could bring back the dead like that.

She swallows it down again.

“I’ll sleep out here,” Maison says, and Gurlien squints at him. “If they come through the door in the middle of the night, they’ll deal with me first thing.”

“Or you’ll just give yourself up at first chance,” Gurlien shoots over. “Whoops, welcome in, have my ex without a fight, the other two sleep over there, leave the cat alone if you can, I’m just gonna go with you and back to my cushy life where everyone believes I’m a prodigy and—” He cuts off, abruptly swallowing, before he buries his face in his hands, breathing raggedly.

Without the yelling, the silence churns in Delina.

Delina glances up at Maison, and instead of the anger, there’s something else on his face. Something between pity and resignation.

Chance the cat pokes his head around the corner again, at the sudden quiet. At Chloe, holding a damp towel to her shoulder with a pale face, at Gurlien, not looking up. At Delina, who probably doesn’t look that great either, and Maison, who’s still bleeding from the cut across his face.

Maison shifts, and instead of any punch or any violent motion, just clasps Gurlien on the shoulder.

Gurlien flinches, but doesn’t open his eyes, before he relaxes, exhaling.

“We’re not giving up,” Delina says, and each time she speaks, she just hears the shriek from Korhonen, before his lungs caved in.

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