Demon Heart (The Darkworld Series Book 3) (13 page)

“Unless someone else is using the same name,” said Cyrus.

“But the fortune-teller seemed sure it was him,” I said. “This is too confusing. Who’s the enemy?”

“You automatically believe everything she says?” said Berenice. “She keeps more secrets than anyone else. How do you know
she’s
not playing us for fools?”

I hated to admit it, but I didn’t know that woman at all, not even her true face. All the same, she’d seemed genuinely scared of
something,
and the fortune-teller was usually indomitable.

“Well, the Venantium are convinced, and whether it’s true or not, everyone will believe what they say. Their word is law,” said Leo bitterly. “And dear old Dad is their spokesperson.”

“Yeah,” said Cyrus. “Face it, little brother, we have one fucked-up family.”

“I know that,” said Leo tightly. “Small pity that Jude didn’t take out him instead of Melmoth.”

“
Leo
,” I said, shocked.

“What? I have no affection for the guy. Let him rot in hell.” In that moment, for the first time, Leo wore the same cold, dead-eyed expression as the man who was, by blood, his father.

And it terrified me.

“Leo doesn’t mean it,” said Cyrus.

“Yes, I do,” said Leo.

“Well, you know it’s only because of Mum that he―”

“Stop talking,” snapped Leo. “I don’t want to discuss that bastard anymore, okay?”

“All right,” said Cyrus, raising his hands in a “chill out” gesture. “So what now?”

I didn’t want to go back to campus. It didn’t feel right, chasing normality when everything was falling to pieces. The fortune-teller a prisoner. Jude―or Mephistopheles―on the loose. Shadow-beasts in Redthorne. Leo and Cyrus’s father refusing to acknowledge them…

“Let’s see if Madame Persephone left her tent unguarded again,” said Claudia. “I want to see if she left us any kind of clues to get her out of there.”

We walked down the narrow alleyway to the town square. Without the market, it always looked bare, with the single angel statue in the centre like a lone worshipper.

“It’s not here,” said Cyrus.

I walked around the outskirts of the square, checking every corner, but the black tent was nowhere in sight.

“I’m going back to Howard’s,” said Berenice.

“Well,
I
intend to find a pub and get raging drunk,” said Leo.

“There must be something we can do,” I said. “She wouldn’t just have let herself get taken in like that.”

“Unless she’s planning an epic jailbreak,” said Leo. “Come on, you remember the mind-tricks she used to get us out of the shit a couple of weeks ago? She completely got us off the hook. She can run circles around them, and they know it.”

“She went under testing then,” I said, frowning as I recalled the interrogations. “What more do they want from her?”

“Maybe they know she tricked them to get us out of trouble,” said Cyrus. “They can detect subliminal magic, can’t they?”

“Yeah, but it’s always been pretty obvious she’s using it,” said Claudia. “I know for a fact she’s using magic to enhance her appearance.”

“That’s not illegal,” said Cyrus. “Just hard to do. Like a mass-influence. No, it must be what they said. What happened twenty years ago?”

“Well, it was before most of us were born,” said Claudia. “My parents have never mentioned it before, but they don’t really like talking about what happened when they were in the Venantium.”

“Well,” said Leo, “we all know the best place to look. I think now’s the perfect time for a ninja operative.”

“You’re mental,” said Claudia, shaking her head.

“You can’t seriously be thinking of going back down there,” said Cyrus.

“Well, why not? I already read Melmoth’s accounts, but there has to be more about this Lucifer guy.” Leo had already turned around and headed back in the direction of the cemetery.

“Fine, I’m off,” said Berenice, and stalked away, presumably back to Howard’s.

Cyrus hurried after his brother, with Claudia and me close behind.

“Leo, wait!” I grabbed his arm before he could climb over the wall. “Look.”

Several
venators
stood in small groups around the graveyard. They were plainly still discussing the announcement.

“Fine. We can go underground, then,” said Leo.

“Can’t it wait for another time?” I said. “They’ll be running around like crazy under there.”

“Okay, good point,” said Leo. “Come to think of it…” He frowned. “Some of those documents I found in Melmoth’s study. There wasn’t much on Lucifer, but he didn’t mention Madame Persephone at all, as far as I can remember. I’ll have another look.”

“As long as you don’t do anything reckless,” said Cyrus.

“Who, me?”

“Seriously,” I said. “Be careful.”

He sighed. “Yeah. Sure. Careful.”

He didn’t say much on the walk back to campus, which was unusual, but none of us really felt like talking. Claudia said goodbye tactfully, leaving the two of us alone.

“You doing anything tonight?” he said. “I’m guessing you’ve already started your essay. I should probably do the same.”

“Yeah,” I said, hesitant. Why could I never think of the right words? “Are you okay?”

“As I’ll ever be.” He shook his head. “It’s nothing. It just pisses me off that my own father… he didn’t even ask after Melmoth. He doesn’t care that his kids are pretty much homeless.”

“It’s awful,” I said, and I took his hand in a gesture that said more than words could.

He smiled at me, and it all but broke my heart. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Sure,” I said.

iredness dragged at my limbs, and when I got to my room, I more or less passed out fully clothed. I slept most of the day, only waking when my phone buzzed again. 5:00 p.m.

Yawning, I checked my messages. I had a text from Leo, inviting me to a party at Howard’s that night. Apparently, Howard had recovered enough to want to “celebrate being alive.”

My neck ached from the angle I’d been sleeping at, and I had a pounding headache. I was also pretty sure I hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. Groaning, I got dressed and showered before heading to the kitchen.

Sarah, Alex, and Mandeep had been in the middle of a conversation, which abruptly cut off as I entered.

“You feeling alright, Ash?” said Alex. “You didn’t answer your door this morning. We thought―” She exchanged a glance with Sarah. “We thought you were at Leo’s.”

“I didn’t get any sleep last night,” I said, examining the contents of my cupboard with distaste. I really needed to go shopping; all I really had were a few ready-meals and some pasta. I tipped pasta into a pan, which was at least clean. “Guess I was more tired than I thought.”

This was pretty normal for me, but Alex frowned. “Were you out?”

“No,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Are you coming to the English Lit social tonight?” said Sarah.

“I’ve been invited to a party,” I admitted. “Not sure if I’m really in the mood, though. I should probably catch up on those lectures.”

“Well, we’re heading out in an hour,” said Alex. “Is it Leo’s party?”

“Nah, it’s at his friend’s house,” I said.

“Ooh. Get you. Your first
real
party.”

“What does that mean?” I said.

“Hello? Getting shitfaced and making out in the spare room?”

“How is that different from any other student party?”

“It’s in a
house
,” said Alex, and laughed at the expression on my face. I couldn’t even begin to guess what was so funny.

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t want to walk into town…” I almost said
again
, but caught myself just in time. Living a double life got confusing sometimes.

“Never turn down a party invitation.”

My phone buzzed again.
R u coming tonite?

xx

Sure
, I texted back.

Alex watched me carefully. “It appears we’ve been replaced,” she said.

“What? You told me to go.”

“I’m only joking, you ass,” she said. “Jesus, go and take out your sexual frustration on someone else.”

Like
that
was what bothered me. Still, if Leo and I hadn’t been interrupted the other day…

But was that the way I wanted it to happen? I’d always thought of sex as the ultimate expression of trust in another person. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Leo―far from it. But I hadn’t been completely honest with him about who I was, and as long as I kept secrets, could I guarantee that he’d forgive me if he found out the truth?

My nerves prickled as I waited outside the flat for Leo, ready to leave for the party. I was glad both that I’d brought a coat and that I hadn’t bothered doing anything fancy with my hair, since the wind assaulted me as soon as I stepped out the door, whipping my hair around my ears and biting at my bare legs. I’d picked a short denim skirt and my nicest black top and wore the only pair of heels I could walk in. They had nothing on Claudia’s six-inch platform shoes, but I had no intention of face-planting the floor in Howard’s house. I didn’t particularly want to see Howard or Berenice, but it’d be nice to have one night where we could hang out as a group without anyone nearly dying.

“Hey,” said Leo, greeting me with a kiss. “You ready to go?”

We caught the bus to the far edge of Blackstone, since Howard lived some way from the town centre. His was one of many brick houses identifiable as student accommodation by the signs in the windows―in this case, a cardboard cut-out of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I rolled my eyes when I noticed a sign advertising the “Sex Dungeon” in the basement.

Leo rang the doorbell, which was unnecessary as Claudia had already spotted us from the window. “Hey!” she called. “Glad you guys could make it!”

She stood on a table, half-gone already. God alone knew how she kept her balance on those heels. Howard let us into the house and led us into the living room. A game of Ring of Fire was underway, and the furniture had been moved against the walls to accommodate the crowd. I couldn’t take a step without falling into someone or knocking drinks over, and the smell of sweat and cheap beer was almost overpowering.

“We’re hitting Redthorne later!” Howard yelled at the crowd. “Gonna thrash the shit out of Satan’s Pit!”

Several people cheered.

I stuck close to Leo as we moved through the crowd and found two free chairs next to the table where the game of Ring of Fire was still underway. In the centre of a mass of playing cards, a pitcher was full of what looked like absinthe mixed with seven kinds of beer.
Yeuch.

“I’ll sit this one out,” I said to Leo. “I have no intention of projectile vomiting.”

“Good call,” he said, handing me a glass and rummaging in the bag he’d brought with him. He tipped some cola into the glass and started measuring vodka shots.

“Cheers,” I said.

Observing Howard’s friends was kind of like watching animals in a zoo. Claudia challenged a guy to a game of battle shots and proceeded to drink him under the table―then
danced
on the table herself, to catcalls from Howard’s friends. I stuck with Leo; Howard’s crew were the sort who tried to grope girls from behind in nightclubs and pass it off as an accident. Thankfully Leo kept his arm around me in a “back off” gesture.