Page 87 of The Demon's Discovery
Rylan glanced at me, eyebrow raised. My instincts were instantly on high alert. I’d begun to wonder if I was imagining things.
“The three of you, take him to the infirmary at the conclave. If you disobey my direct order for any of his misguided whims, there will be consequences. And I will require a full debrief later.”
The three young stone kin, including the woman who’d fetched him, all muttered their compliance, grabbed onto the fallen general, and took flight. His protests were loud, but they seemed happy enough to ignore Gaius rather than face Magnus’s wrath.
“You!” he called out to another. “Follow them. Take these.” He gestured to what I realized were Gaius’s limbs. One forearm, and one lower leg, both already discolored to a deep gray with black streaking down from where they’d been severed. The young woman flinched but did as she was told.
“How many lost?” Rylan asked.
Magnus shook his head. “None.”
“Injured?”
“That need care? Only a handful, thank the saints. But nearly all will be giving over to stone sleep the moment they get somewhere safe.”
“Send the worst to d’Arcan so they don’t have to travel far. The observatory is open to them.”
Magnus nodded. “Thank you. I’m going there myself, I want to check in with Grace. I’ll be sure to look around. We’ll join you back at the conclave soon.” He turned to leave, but I stopped him, a hand on his shoulder.
“The red-haired man… I saw him in the city the other day. I cannot say for certain, but I suspect he’s someone I’ve been chasing for quite some time.” Magnus nodded slowly, and I explained my history with him, the book, even my curse. That Greta had seen him in her memories as well. “He’s mine,” I asserted, the words bitter in my mouth. “For what he did to Greta. And me.”
“Fair enough.” Magnus nodded. “If we catch him, you get first rights.”
“We’ll find him. We’ll figure it out,” Rylan said confidently. “We always do.”
“Always as in the one time it’s happened before? Granted, that was a very important occasion, but it does not a pattern make,” I groused, frustrated that this man was running around causing more havoc, not at my brother.
“Then we’ll make it one, yes?” Magnus rolled his shoulders back and extended his wings.
Residents had started to filter in, calling to one another as they discovered the damage to their shops, the missing items, and broken windows.
“We need to leave,” Rylan said.
As the sun crested the horizon, we took flight, two demons and one massive stone kin, the demons headed for the conclave and the stone kin general headed for d’Arcan.
Strange times indeed.
Chapter 35
Greta
Iblinked awake in the gray light of predawn to the sound of Belmont tapping on one of the windows and cawing as quietly as he was able, which, sadly, was not quiet at all.
We’d woken sometime in the middle of the night to help Lovette tend to some injured stone kin, the night feeling somehow both terribly short and unusually long.
“Good morning, Belmont,” I greeted him, eyes still closed. A softwhoojoined Belmont’s knocking sound, and Calla grumbled into her pillow. “I don’t have any treats just yet.” I rubbed my eyes and sat up, finding them both perched in the same window.
“Yes, treats are in short supply for you as well, Archimedes. I thought you left with Rylan?” The owl fluffed out his feathers, turning his head to watch her as she folded up her blanket. “Is everything alright?” Tension stilled her movements. He made a series of noises that seemed to put her at ease. “Good. Well, if you see Morticia, send her my way, yes? I expected her to come up last night, but she never did.” He hooted. “Of course she did. Well, I’m glad you’re all well fed, but she was missed. I’ll get you all something later, alright?” Hewhooedand flew away, Belmont following him.
I watched the interaction in awe, wondering if she truly understood what he was saying. It would be wonderful to actually know what it was Belmont was trying to communicate without all the guessing.
She caught me staring and smiled. “He’s Rylan’s, but we’ve been practicing. I can hear him pretty well now, almost as well as Morticia. I can teach you some tricks maybe, if you’d like?”
As I was nodding that I would appreciate that, Lovette walked in the front door, bright and shiny despite the rough night.
“Did you both get some rest?” she asked. “I got a little nap after we came back up but couldn’t stay still for long. I get that way when there are patients downstairs.”
Calla and I both agreed that we had while Lovette made some very strong coffee. Cups in hand, we ventured down to the meetinghouse where breakfast was set up buffet style. We grabbed a plate on our way to the infirmary, the conclave eerily quiet in the half-light of dawn.
