Page 46 of The Girl Who Only Died Once

Chloe leans close to the edge of the mirror, so close she can see her own pores. More of the writing disappears behind the mirror, like he took it off the wall to bespell protections, and within the letters are…something for self-esteem? Something for confidence? That those who look in the mirror will feel good about themselves?

Can demons even see their own reflections?

Chloe studies herself, and she definitely doesn’t get any additional boost to her emotions about the wreck of her appearance.

Sure enough, her phone is off and plugged in next to the sink, her compass sitting right next to it, still pointing south.

Her compass. It had been in her pocket, and he had dug it out.

“Gross,” Chloe mutters, then splashes some water on her face, which doesn’t help at all, while her phone boots up.

The beeps fill the room as she attempts to wrangle her hair into another bun, but she’s in obvious dire need of a shower. There’s still some dried blood—both hers and demon—and sandstone grit underneath her fingernails.

But her stomach pangs, and despite the sleeping she would guess she probably is at nowhere resembling enough power, soshe grabs her phone and flops into the other room, ignoring the demon standing stock still against the wall.

DELINA (3:45 AM): I can tell you’re still alive but nothing else. Check in so people stop freaking out?

AMBRA (4:04 AM): Where are you?

MAISON (4:56 AM): Do you need us to come rescue you? We will figure it out.

Chloe flips the phone back to its main screen. It’s been about ten hours since the last text.

CHLOE (3:02 PM): Hi, guys, I’m fine, working with a demon who briefly knocked me out. Just woke up in a safe house of his in Canada.

It’s not gonna help the panicking, but her phone won’t give her any more details on where exactly she could point them to, all location tracking completely on the fritz.

Then, after a moment of thought.

CHLOE (3:03 PM): Gurlien, I’m really okay.

Of course, the phone fills up with beeps again, and she gets a side eyed glance from Killian when she tucks it into her pocket.

“You said food?” she asks, again attempting to be cheerful, but utterly failing.

He nods, then lifts up a hand. “Go in your room and shut the door!” he calls down the hallway, and there’s a resulting shuffle and a slamming of a door. “In the kitchen.”

“Wait, someone else is here?” Chloe asks, perking up. Someone else means information, company, and more people to talk to than just the taciturn demon in front of her. “Who?”

He crosses his arms again, remaining silent.

“Another human? Another demon? A Wight—I can see those too now—or a spirit? Who?”

“You’re in no danger from them,” he says, and the panic is more pronounced, almost wavering in his voice. “Don’t go past the kitchen doorway into that hallway.”

“Uh, no,” Chloe replies brightly, not having to fake it this time. “I’m super curious, just so you know, that’s why I break into things.”

He sighs, then disappears, startling her, but reappears in the open doorway of the other side of the kitchen, blocking her line of sight down the hallway.

“Or you could do that, I guess,” Chloe says, then pokes her way into the kitchen.

There’s an olive-green fridge, stocked with way too much chocolate milk and applesauce. A neat stack of pocky boxes sit next to it on the brown and yellow tile counter with a bag of dried strawberries, a few bags of the spicy chips that Ambra seems to enjoy, and a truly alarming amount of cup of noodles spread in cleanly organized lines.

“Huh,” Chloe replies, tilting her head at it. “Alright, not what I thought.”

Killian shifts, like he doesn’t like whatever conclusions she’s coming to.

“I take it you’re not a demon trapped and forced to consume human food, right?” Chloe asks, gesturing at the spicy chips. “I take it this is for someone else?”

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