Page 50 of A City of Smoke and Demons
‘It always is.’
‘Can we leave with them out there?’
She nodded, wondering if she should take her favourite tea cup as well.
‘You done?’ Ezra asked. ‘I’d like to get back before anyone realises we’re not tucked up in our beds like good citizens.’
Analise gave her room one final look—a goodbye of sorts—and followed Ezra to the door. At the bottom of the stairwell, he stopped so suddenly she ran into him. She scowled and rubbed her nose.
‘Back up the stairs,’ he urged.
Analise shoved past him, finding herself face to face with her Familiar.
She gasped. She’d never been this close to him before. His coal-black, soulless eyes bored into hers, like he was trying to see inside her. His skin was paler than snow, with a greyish hue, his hollow cheeks deep. Bloodless lips curled, making her magic scream in warning.
Like that night she followed a ghost, a chill ran down her spine at the look on his face.
Anger.
Ezra’s Familiar, a blonde, well-dressed woman, stood close.
‘Analise,’ Ezra hissed. ‘Move.’
She did, heart hammering, dread coating the back of her throat. What was happening? Why was this different? Ezra’s footsteps pounded the stairs behind her. When she fumbled with the key, he took it from her, then flung the door open and they both rushed in. He slammed it shut and locked it.
‘Can they get in?’ He looked like he did that night he’d come to the morgue, and she suddenly understood why he’d been so terrified. Those things outside had been following him. ‘Analise?’
‘I have no idea,’ she whispered. Fear filled her as she realised how utterly stupid she’d been to risk herself, risk the both of them, for a pile of fucking clothes.
‘They’re human,’ Ezra was saying. ‘Maddog told me they were still human, so I can hurt them. Got a weapon?’
She nodded, dropping her bag and hurrying into the kitchen, where she found her favourite blade, her gift from Morgan, on the bench. She handed it over to Ezra without a word. She could use it, but guessed he was better with it. The way he flipped it in his hands expertly confirmed it.
They waited, Analise’s muscles tense, her heart racing, but no Familiars came charging through the door. She edged overto the window. ‘They’re back where they were,’ she breathed. ‘I think we’re going to have to stay here until dawn.’
‘They’re nocturnal?’ Ezra asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ she admitted. Another thing she didn’t know. ‘I only ever saw mine at night, but possibly because I slept all day.’
‘Alright,’ Ezra said. He angled the armchair to face the door, then sat down, her knife held firmly. ‘You may as well have a sleep.’
‘What?’
‘I’m sure you miss your bed, so have a rest. I’ve got this.’
Numb, Analise nodded, climbing onto her bed and scrambling beneath the covers. It was colder than she remembered, or maybe it was the situation they were in. Shivering, she pulled the blankets tighter. Her teeth were chattering audibly.
‘I’m freezing,’ she complained. Ezra was dressed in a thin shirt. ‘Aren’t you cold?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I’d rather be cold than dead.’
Analise continued to shiver. They hadn’t relit the lamp, but enough pale moonlight made its way through the thin curtains that she could see Ezra’s silhouette.
She couldn’t fall asleep, not while her bones were aching with the cold. Rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them did no good. ‘Ezra,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t think they’re coming. Get in here.’
His head whipped around so fast she was surprised he didn’t break his neck. ‘What?’
‘I don’t have any more blankets. We’ll catch a cold and die. While I don’t care about you, I’d like to stay alive a while longer,’ Analise said through her rattling teeth.
