Page 170 of A Soul to Touch

“That, I’m not sure about,” she sighed. “I only know that the Demon King has a vast amount of power and that he is half-El...” Her words faded out as her brows drew together tightly to knot the centre of her forehead. She tilted her head with her eyes turning hard. “I never wrote his name in my message. How do you know it?”

“Is sunlight the only weakness you’ve come to learn about the Demons? Is there anything more you have learned about their possible weaknesses?”

He evaded my question.

“No,” Mayumi stated with a clipped tone.

Cordon’s eyes squinted at her before they darted down to Mayumi’s tightening hold on her hilt. “Do you know where the portal he has leads to and if there are people there that will aid us?”

“It will take us to an Elven world, but I already told you of the Elves,” Mayumi said before she chuckled, realising he’d pretended not to know who or what the Elvish people were when she’d definitely wrote about them in her message. She ran herfingers through her hair in disbelief. “You knew. You already knew all the information I gave you. Didn’t you?”

“We have gathered some information from Demons we have tortured, yes,” Cordon confirmed.

Mayumi threw her head back and laughed. “Then why the fuck are you really here? I doubt I have any information that could be of use to you. I told you everything in my letter.”

“Watch how you speak in front of our Head Elder,” Margo snapped with her high-handed, bitchy attitude. She even pulled on her hilt to reveal part of the blade of her claymore sword.

“Calm yourself, Margo,” Cordon said as he threw his hand out. “I only wanted to know if you knew anything more. I doubt you were able to write all of what you learned in a message your bird could carry.”

“I have given you all that I know of the Demons and the Veil. If that is all you wished to learn, then please leave. Your presence is no longer welcome, and the longer you remain and saturate your scents into my clearing, the greater the likelihood that you’ll bring forth an army of Demons upon my home when night falls.”

“I do have a final question,” Cordon said. Mayumi didn’t trust the pause that followed or the way she could see his jaw tick under his tight mask. “How did you come to learn all this?”

“By myself,” she said while folding her arms. “You could say I had a bit of a death wish after I was shamefully discharged and thought I would go for a wander through the Veil for a bit. I wrote my message when I returned and was able to fetch my bird from the nearest pigeon station.”

“Doubtful,” Jace piped in as he elbowed the woman next to him. “No human has been able to walk into the Veil and return.”

“We must know who you obtained this information from, Mayumi,” Cordon stated. His tone was flat, which didn’t match the beseeching façade he was attempting. “They may have more we can use.”

She snorted a laugh, knowing they wouldn’t leave and instead would pester her until she gave them a name, any name. She needed to make it believable too.

The best way to do that was to spin a half-truthful lie.

“You want the truth?” Mayumi took in a large breath before she sounded it out. “I obtained this information from a cat-skulled Duskwalker.”

“I beg your pardon,” Cordon stuttered.

“He decided to share some information in exchange for me saving his life from Demons.” She lifted her hand to convey bashfulness as she scratched at the back of her neck. “Guess he took a liking to me after I patched up his wounds. He knew I should try to finish the job, and he could have killed me within the blink of an eye, but we found an unlikely companionship within that moment. It was a truce, especially since I was out in the dark by myself and there were Demons around. I needed his help as much as he needed mine.”

Silence bled between them for a few pregnant minutes. Cordon turned his head to the other Elders, assessing their reactions by their eyes.

“How do we know you’re not telling a lie?” Claudia asked.

“Why would I lie about something like that?” Mayumi asked in disbelief. She even twisted her hands upwards, so her palms were facing the sky and used them to shrug. “No human would be able to give me this information. Only a monster from the Veil would know the inner workings of it.”

“If that’s true–” Cordon started.

“It is,” Mayumi interrupted as her back stiffened. “It’s why I didn’t say who gave me the information in the letter. I befriended a Duskwalker when I should have killed him, and I didn’t really think the guild would believe me.”

“If that’s true,” Cordon repeated more firmly. “And you have given us everything you know, then we are done here. I have nothing more I need to ask of you.”

“I guess we are,” she answered, feeling a breath of relief expiring out of her when he waved his hand to make them turn around.

Good. They are leaving.

Faunus was safe.

A whistling sound caught in her ears.

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