Page 145 of The Girl Who Should Be Dead

“He’s dealing with something,” the girl says, with a nod at Ambra, like it’s not evident. “You’ll be back in there soon, this is just temporary.”

Ambra can’t imagine that the demon wants to be in the stasis chamber anymore than she does, but she moves slowly, digging her fingertips under the tile until it pops up.

Immediately, the child spins to her, her eyes wide.

Ambra holds up both hands to show her she means no harm, and even that action shifts the wound on her chest, sending sharp shivers of agony down her back.

And of course they don’t cease, not at all. Once an injury happens inside of stasis, it stays there.

Boltiex’s daughter looks at her, the other demon, the TV, then at her, like she’s contemplating how she lost control of the situation, and Ambra doesn’t want to scare a little girl, doesn’t want her to suffer, but…

The demon taps on the bars of the cage again, then gestures the child close.

The hair on the back of Ambra’s arms raises. That’s too risky, she doesn’t know this demon, she doesn’t know their intention, but the girl crosses her arms and approaches.

“You’re trying to scare me again,” the girl says, her back fully to Ambra. “That won’t work right now.”

The demon gestures her closer, still indistinct, and Ambra hates it. Hates the situation, hates the danger, hates the fact that another child near her might be hurt, might suffer.

The TV sputters, and Boltiex paces close to Gurlien. Onthe screen, he waves his hand and Gurlien recoils back, some sort of magic that the camera can’t pick up.

Ambra stills. There’s no blood, not visible.

She pulls the tile away, revealing soft packed dirt underneath, then jams the multi tool in it.

Gurlien huddles on the screen, clutching at his hand. The hand with the leash. From the set of his shoulders, Ambra can tell he’s in pain, tell he’s sheltering himself.

The demon says…something…outside of the range that Ambra’s ears can pick up in stasis. If she was out, if she had access to her powers, she’d be able to understand easily, but here, with just her human senses, all she gets is a vague murmur.

“Shh,” the child says, but there’s a glimmer of something mischievous in her eyes, something so foreign on someone who looks so close to Boltiex. “That won’t work, you know it.”

A hint of a smile from the demon, and Ambra shivers again.

On the screen, Boltiex makes another strike, and Ambra digs into the packed dirt. If her heart was beating, it’d stop all over again from the fear.

She can’t stall, she can’t make this subtle, she has to hurry. And the demon outside can’t distract her, and the child…

The child has to be protected but can’t delay her.

Frustration builds in her chest, like emotion always builds in stasis, without any natural releases that come inherent in the human body. She’s injured, she’s at such a disadvantage, she can’t quite stop the wave of despair that threatens to drown her.

And with another jam of the tool, she hits the limit of the stasis spells, tingling along her fingertips. Her ears pop,her heart jumps painfully, blood chugging to movement from her arm upwards.

She coughs, doubling over against her knees, and the girl spins to face her.

“What are you doing?” she asks, with the same fake imperiousness that everyone in the College always uses. “You shouldn’t make noise!”

The demon in the cage settles back, their eyes shining in the dark.

The blood in her veins hits the wound, and despite all the healing she did at the apartment, it glistens in the light.

Ambra attempts to push herself up, but her arms shake all the same, as the blood slowly starting to pump hits her brain.

Prickles of sensation, warring with the pain and the dread, flood the body with adrenaline, and she hisses out a breath.

The little girl glances towards the stairs, like she’s going to make a run for it.

“Wait,” she croaks out, and Boltiex’s daughter freezes. “Stay down here, you’ll be safe.”

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