At the Fields of Fire and Blood

Chapter XI

Kayla browsed through the titles printed on leather spines in golden ink but her mind wasn't absorbing anything she was reading. She had seen all these books thousands of times before, had read most and was only pretending to be interested in them now. What she really needed to do was get angry enough to attract a demon into the city.

The plan had been meticulously laid out by Joshua, with some interjections by Vivien and Darren. Kayla had been mostly silent, speaking up only to offer some insight into the layout of the Fire House's part of the city when the map they were pouring over had proven inadequate. Unlike the others, she wasn't too sure about this. Vivien had assured her that it was safe, that if the demons passed through the seals without breaking them, then it was more than possible that so could they. After all, they weren't demons. And the Archons bound to them were only so through their psyches, they weren't full physical presences. Kayla wasn't so sure that it mattered in this new world, where mind and matter were so intertwined it became hard to distinguish one from the other. Not only that, but she hadn't been able to bring up the strange behavior from the last demon she had fought. Every time she tried, she felt foolish. Words eluded her, she didn't know how to describe what she had seen and, the more she thought of it, the more she realized her apprehension was based on her interpretation of the events. She promised herself she'd tell Vivien alone before she started the experiments, at least. It should be easier than doing it in front of Joshua's judging stare and Darren's worried gaze.

With that problem neatly solved and tucked away, all that remained was the matter of attracting the demon within the timeframe Joshua had given her. She felt her chest constrict with anxiety at the thought, at the prospect of failure. She had been full of wrath after watching Hector die, after seeing the angels mockingly stare at the city before flying away. But all of that seemed to have burned itself away in the past few days. She couldn't find the spark anymore. There was only emptiness. Maybe even that anger had only emerged because the Archon was there to back it.

The sound of soft footsteps approaching her broke her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Ethan peeking from behind a shelf, a stack of books in his hands.

"It's almost curfew, Scion," he said, then looked back over his shoulder, lowered his voice. "I should send everyone out now, but I can give you a few more minutes if you'd like."

Kayla's stomach twisted with a mix of emotions. A flood of gratitude for the kindness. Self-pity at being so grateful for such a small gesture. Anger at Ethan for being more loyal to the House than he was to her, despite all he tried to do for her. Anger at herself for knowing she would mourn him terribly if he were to leave on the Pilgrimage and die, for being thankful that it had been Hector and not him she had watched perish.

"It's ok, I'll go," she said, her voice tamed perfectly, no unnatural sounds to it.

Before he could say anything else, she walked past him without another word. She almost ran down the stairs towards the entrance, would've shot past the door if Nathaniel's voice hadn't stopped her.

"Scion," he called from behind the counter and Kayla froze.

A distant memory rang out in response to that call, of Nathaniel calling her by her name, his tone softer, almost fatherly. An image flashed in her mind, of him wearing the butler uniform, his cane gone, long hair tied back as he bowed and smiled at her.

"Scion?" Nathaniel called again.

Kayla turned her face towards him, hoping it wasn't as drained of blood as she felt it. "Yes?"

"No books today?" he asked with a frown that was almost a scowl.

And she remembered. She remembered softer expressions on his face as he tried to coax her into eating, as he praised her new clothes when they dressed her up for other Houses visits.