Page 86 of The Girl Who Only Died Once

“Do you trust these people?” Killian asks, voice deep, but it’s directly to Chloe.

“What?” Chloe asks. “Oh yeah, absolutely.”

Alette’s eyebrow twitches at that.

He nods, his jaw tight but his eyes intent, before he tosses his attention back to Alette. “I assume Zoel has other questions for me.”

“He wants me to figure out which demon you are, besides just your name,” Alette replies smoothly. “To see what protections we need to give Chloe once this is all done.”

He dips his chin low, staring at Alette, and to Alette’s credit, she winces at his expression.

“You know that someone’s going after bases, right?” Alette asks, leaning forward and lowering her voice. “They don’t just break out of them, they slaughter them.”

“Slaughter?” Chloe asks, her skin prickling.

“They don’t release any prisoners, they don’t evacuate anyone, just…destroy the whole thing.”

Killian makes a disquieted noise in the back of his throat, but Alette keeps eye contact with Chloe.

“They don’t allow anyone out. No research, no knowledge, no innocents. They destroyed an alt school, one of the ones against the college, too. They took down a safe house of Wights out in Kansas, killed everyone, completely destabilized the lines in the area.”

“I’m sure Zoel would have issue with that.”

“They killed a demon,” Alette challenges him. “There was one living with the Wights, offering protection. They slaughtered her, too.”

Killian stills, his face a frozen mask, and Chloe’s heart jumps. “It’s not easy to kill demons without proper force.”

“And yet they did.” Alette sits back crossing her arms. “It’s not a Necromancer, that’s all we can tell.”

“Well, tell Zoel thanks,” Chloe interrupts, and she knows she’s awkward but this is something else. “Tell him to stop being so cryptic and he might get answers.”

“Frederick is Alerin’s son, correct?” Killian asks instead, and Chloe gets the sudden realization that she never knew Maison’s demon parents’ name. “Does he have a lot of contact with them?”

“Not really,” Chloe says, though once again, she doesn’t know that’s terribly true. “I mean, I know they’ve spoken a few times, but it’s not like he speaks positively about him or anything.”

Killian gives her a smile, a smug smile, despite the fear and frustration she’s picking up from him. “Then I’ve met your HalfDemon before, back when he was a young adult. Ask Zoel if that’s enough information.”

“This is…so very vague,” Alette says, and it’s almost a complaint, almost a break from the personality of put togetherness that Alette projects at all time. “But okay, sure. I’ll tell him.”

Killian tilts his head at her, his eyes flat. “Do you have protections against blanket scans in that jacket of yours?”

Alette opens her mouth, then closes it. “What?”

And he sighs, before gripping Chloe’s hand and grabbing Alette’s wrist, and his power floods through them.

Chloe’s at least prepared for this one, breathing out of her nose, leaning into the sensation of suddenly being thrust under water, but Alette gasps, something quick and cut off, before she audibly schools herself.

And this scan is over before it begins, and Killian releases the power and Alette’s wrist, but keeps a hand on Chloe’s.

“You’re welcome,” he replies smugly, then stands, glancing down at Chloe. “How much time do you need with the schema?”

“I’d like at least an hour,” Chloe says, and there’s something so viciously satisfying to see Alette so thrown, so startled. “Maybe more, if it’s hard to interpret.”

As Alette visibly gathers herself, Chloe stands as well, dusting herself off. “That scan is about every eight hours,” she informs her. “You’ll want to be beyond the teleportation bubble before that.”

“Do you know what you're doing?” Alette breathes, and it almost gives Chloe pause.

“Rarely,” Chloe says, not entirely certain what she’s referring to at that specific moment.

---