Page 55 of The Girl Who Should Be Dead

“I don’t want to talk to your Half Demon,” she says, but unlocks the phone anyways. “Why would they want to talk to me?”

“Do you want an honest answer?” Gurlien asks, like he’s actually curious, not like he’s mocking her. At her nod, he shrugs. “They feel sorry for you.”

“He’s the one who can’t self-heal,” she points out.

Her pride smarts, just a bit, but she’d pity any other demon forced into her position. Wouldn’t volunteer to help them, wouldn’t put herself in harm’s way, but pity…yes.

She’s seen enough humans operate phones, knows where the apps are, where to send text messages to, but it’s still clumsy in her hands. The body texted obsessively, to the point where Ambra had teased her and made her laugh, but the motions feel foreign with just Ambra operating her fingers.

Still, she pokes her way over to the messages, and sips from the water, musing what to send first.

“I’m assuming one of the experts would have told you already if they suddenly found a way to untie the leash, right?”

“Absolutely,” he confirms, leaning against the other sideof the counter, and the stark white bandage of his arm catches her eyes.

He obviously re-wrapped it while she warded.

AMBRA (7:41 PM): Sorry, he got injured.

CHLOE A (7:42 PM): That’s your first text?

“Already did something wrong,” Ambra says, flipping the phone around so Gurlien can see it.

“That’s not wrong, she’s just being sarcastic,” Gurlien murmurs.

AMBRA (7:43 PM): Seems applicable.

Then, before she can stop herself, she flips over to the other contacts, filling a text with both the experts.

Gurlien’s eyebrows raise, but she ignores that.

AMBRA (7:45 PM): Why does Gurlien think you can help me?

Three dots appear, then disappear, a few times.

“I am,” Gurlien starts, “so glad I don’t have to play translator for you right now. Though…” he trails off, the scholarly expression filtering over his eyes once more. “Who knows, maybe this will be good. Similar conversation styles and all.”

She squints at him, before her phone buzzes.

MEL (7:47 PM): Shared life experiences.

“They’re being intentionally vague, aren’t they?” Ambra puzzles aloud, and Gurlien nods. “There’s only been one other of the Terese experiment and she’s dead, so it’s not that.” She stares down at the words. “It’d be a lot easier if I didn’t have to worry about the College yanking the information out of me.”

“Which is why we’re not confirming anything for you,” Gurlien says, clinical, and she raises an eyebrow at him. “You can have your own conclusions, but they’d be unsubstantiated.”

“And there’s nothing they hate more than untested theories,” Ambra finishes, and gets a half smile in return. “So I don’t have to know anything solidly, and they’ll discount it.”

“Exactly.” The oven beeps, and Gurlien checks it, but ultimately leaves it alone.

“So shared life experiences, some sort of demon or demon-like, now existing in a solid, relatively alive body, whether they’re trapped or not.”

His brows flash up.

“You’re not the only scholar,” she points over to the bookshelves crammed with books. “If the experts have shared life experiences, if you take their words as gold, there’s not terribly many other conclusions to come to.”

T (7:51 PM): And a shared desire to never fall into the College’s hands.

AMBRA (7:52 PM): Good enough for me. Research the perversion of soul bonds split towards control.

---