I limped back to the ballroom where we left, sidering the rotted remnants of Hawkins littered about. Gregory and others had elimihe leftover Infernal energy so it had stopped actively deg, instead now left scattered about. ks of pale white flesh oozed as it tinued a more natural process of deposition.

  Dead Infernals still dotted the sea of white flesh, hardened bck bits breaking it up. No one had bothered to gather them up for burial yet. Had any even survived this assault?

  I’d only visited an archway, and it had been clear. That was hardly the only way in or out of the estate though, and the Watch had probably been the more merciful of the groups perf -up.

  I doubted the gers had pnned any escape routes for them.

  Lady Karsin hadn’t lied about the stench, the mixture of rotting Hawkins and charred Infernal bining for an assault on the sehat made my stomach . I ed a sleeve off one of the dead guards over my nose.

  It didn’t help much, but it was enough. I didn’t feel like emptying the tents of my stomach all over the pce.

  There were still Watch here, around the edges of the ballroom he various exits and the shattered windows. They all had impromptu masks on as well trying to block out the smell, and quite a few watched me as I limped towards the middle of the room.

  If we were to talk, I’d prefer as little ce of people thinking I was talking to the air. iven what they’d withat I was talking to a devil.

  They weren’t wrong, but I did not want a musket ball through my grey matter.

  “Alright, Imp,” I whispered. “What do you want?”

  I am owed girl, the Imp said in my head. I am owed-

  “Cows, yes,” I snapped. “I am aware, Imp, and I won’t deny you deserve all of them. I’ll arra.”

  It is appreciated, but it’s not what I refer to.

  I froze. It wasn’t testing the boundaries of the tract, was it? Mouth dry, I limped forward, aiming for one of the ground-level hallways. If I started leaking Diabolism because of the Imp’s as, I couldn’t evehem if they took aim. Or hells, if the Imp started trying to manipute my body, made it look like I was ging into something more Diabolic-

  Stop. Moving. I am not about to try and push the boundaries of the tract.

  I paused, then tried to make it look like I’d taken an i in a nearby piece of ger flesh.

  “Finally admitting you read my thoughts?” I muttered.

  I ot. One of the more infuriating parts of the tract your brother forced on us to make you weak. I tell when you are so btantly obvious of what you think.

  I chuckled nervously, deg to py along for now. “Or perhaps he appreciated my privad didn’t want you peering through my head?”

  There are ways of setting it up to allow unication and not let me sift through your every errant thought. Your brother did it to limit our ability to unicate without him knowing. It’s why I insisted on a code, but you were too svishly devoted to him back then like you now insist on pursuing someone else to repce him in that manner.

  I clopped angrily through a sea of half-rotted flesh, sidering kig some of it as that st bit sank in.

  “Do not eveely insinuate something like that ever again, Imp,” I said. “paring those two.”

  Perhaps a step far in a dire for one, but how well do you really know the little bck sheep? But that is irrelevant to what I am owed.

  “Ten cows,” I said, generously adding a few extra onto it to try and appease the little devil.

  Not relevant! They are what I am owed for aiding you in your ckluster performance of the craft, since everything you do when not being directly instructed by me or copying out of a book be summed up as rot, fme, aizing yourself in an effort to keep your body put together! A cow for that, for keeping it from iing your flesh too deeply.

  I did not like the sound of that ‘too deeply’ added to the end there.

  I warned you to take the Focus. And you . I told you at the start they would be unworthy of trusting with your life, and they have proved it. The noble? Selling you out to the crowd outside to save his reputation. The Watch Captain? Has all but said only his professionalism is keeping him from taking revenge for his dead rades.

  “Malstein has been nothing but professional,” I said carefully low so no one in the hall could hear me mention their captain’s name. “You exaggerate Imp, and twist to make it seem like the whole world is against me.”

  Am I? I would hardly be the only ohe detective you put trust in isn’t even here. Instead, a Kitsune has decided to try and make you her puppet on a string.

  “That Kitsune is the farthest thing from a string-puller,” I tered. “She is a shit-stirrer more ied in prodding my buttons than anything else.”

  She has admitted to practically drowning you in gmour, while the good doctor watches on and makes the barest efforts at restraining her. And who has helped you? You said you wouldn’t need Diabolism to fight the gers, that others would help? What others?

  “Gregory helped,” I said. “Amna and Tommy as well. I was hardly alone.”

  And did you not use the pranted by your father’s blood? Besides, the two Watch? Who did essentially nothing? Gregory? Who left you amongst his own kind to be poked and prodded like the curiosity you are to them and him?

  I scowled. “You are wrong oer, you hateful little thing.”

  Am I? Or am I simply not projeg a fantasy on top of him like you are so dedicated to doing? Indulging in some escape from reality and choosing to ignore whatever is inveo that end? Or that he is not doing the same?

  “Be quiet,” I hissed and realized too ter I’d veoo close to a Watan, a tall half-elf who was siderihe way one might a cloaked stranger following them at night.

  “Apologies,” I said quickly. “Just thinking out loud, that was not directed at you.”

  She nodded slowly, but her unease didn’t end. It's not hard to uand why a Diabolist arguing with voices in her head wasn’t much better than one snapping at you.

  “The sweeping of the manor, has it turned up any more bodies?” I asked.

  “Not at this time,” she said, a forced sense of calm to her tohe kind you told when you weren’t sure what kind of response you might provoke, so you aimed to cause all. “The occasional body but typically hurt at the hands of well.”

  Her eyes flickered to the half-roasted corpse of an Infernal he stairs, and I nodded before wandering back toward the middle. Where Watch would be less likely to hear me, although this one’s eyes would probably be on me for the rest of my time in here.

  “What do you want, Imp?” I whispered. “Provoking me over this isn’t making me more charitable to your viewpoint.”

  I want you to resume your lessons in Diabolism.

  I scowled. “No.”

  Are you not even going to sider it? Your defeat of this creature was by a thread. And you clearly are no longer entirely opposed to it’s use.

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” I replied. “And excuse me my ck of enthusiasm for not wanting to explore a method of spell-casting that risks letting the Hells in whenever I use it.”

  Do you think that part of the art has never been sidered? The Imp said.

  “My uanding was it was always sidered more of a be than a drawback,” I replied drily. “Letting a little more of the Hells into the material didn’t seem an issue to most I entered.”

  Because your brother is a fearful little creature who wants an excuse to put down any who get too powerful, The Imp snarled. All his pns and his schemes a what gnaws at him is that he never ied the craft.

  “Making a lot of assumptions I don’t see being supported too well Imp,” I said. “People don’t spread rumors about him being one who has hidden it so well for no reason. I wouldn’t be shocked if he proved capable.”

  Irrelevant. He tried to shackle those who work under him.

  “And you didn’t mention this at any point before because?”

  What would your rea have been to me saying that? You stopped listening to me, far before you stopped listening to him. Again, you attempt to evade the point. You clearly have lost your qualms about using it iain instances, so be willing to let yourself be more than blunt hammer ramming into objects!

  The Imp sounded….well, passionate, which it rarely did about anything besides food. And much like that versation iic, it had stretched the truth some.

  “I decide where the lessons cut off,” I told it. “Which means no summoning.”

  The arsenal is reduced by that, but fine. We begin tomorrow, in the evening. But I want my cows first.

  “You’ll get them.”

  I’d talk to Dawes about seeing some cows delivered tomorrow m. Then take the remnants of my dress off, and take a long, warm bath and maybe some tea.

  I’d need another oomorrow, but I wao at least sleep feeling .

  Speaking of leaving, Dawes had just run inside, a mixture of fury and arm on his face. He beelined for me.

  “Things outside not going well?” I asked as he stopped, panting slightly.

  “They are not,” he said iween gulps of air. “Tagashin tried tering Lord Montague’s points. It did not go well.”

  “Maybe should have muzzled her,” I suggested.

  “If Voltar did not defend himself from the accusations of others, it would look even more suspicious than putting up a lesser defehan he normally would,” Dawes said. “Admittedly, she could maybe try to match Voltar better. It’s not goiirely poorly. That might be an exaggeration on my part, but she’s certainly not winning.”

  “Do we have much time?” I asked. “I do need something of a head start if we o flee here, an angry mob on our tails. How experienced are you at that art, Doctor?”

  “Far more than I wished ten years ago,” Dawes said, his breath easing some. “Captain Malstein offered me the use of a Watch Carriage out of here if we needed one. You and I.”

  “Not Voltar?”

  “His opinion when asked, and I quote, was ‘There’s no saving some people from themselves’.”

  “She’s getting worse at impersonating him, isn’t she? You mentio when I found out, but without gmour clouding my eyes, it bees harder and harder to ignore. Have you sidered letting her off the a little?”

  “sidering how badly she acts when ed, I hesitate to sider how she would aed.”

  “Not too badly, I’d think,” I said, getting an annoyed look from Dawes. “Not lying. I definitely uand the anger people had over her imitating them by request of whoever she slept with, and I hardly expect she kept those photos out of wanting some memories. Still, if she hadn’t been caught in the form of Her Majesty, would this be so heinous? Let’s not joke about why Intelligence wao keep her on a leash.”

  How many fey of that caliber came to Avernon? Maybe once a year if they were fortunate? Actually catg one would be even more unlikely. Of course, that left the only question as to why she was running around with a pair of detectives instead of doing something more substantial.

  “Yes, well, with the situation we are in now, I thiing her off would end poorly for either of us,” Dawes said. “It’s almost resulted in very personal issues for me thri as many weeks.”

  “She’s a fey,” I said. “Fey get bored; they poke at things, hoping for a rea. She’s gone malicious because she’s surrounded by the people holding her leash. Maybe let her off a little?”

  “And have you end up wanting her dead?” Dawes said. “Her needling of you led you to near-assault when you thought it was Voltar himself. Where will that end up if she’s given more sck?”

  “Fair enough,” I muttered. “Probably a versation to finish at your house. Personally, I’m looking forward to a good night’s rest.”

  “A while off for me,” Doctor Dawes said. “I do o keep her safe, as much as it might chafe me to do so, I’ll be off to try and vince Captain Malstein to help me get her out as well, assuming it’s ed.”

  It didn’t sound like it. The yelling from outside wasn’t of the kind you heard with a mob, nor was there the sound of fighting. Just that of two very stubborn people arguing with each other.

  “Maybe you should let it tinue if it hasn’t,” I muttered. “Let them spend their time ramming against each other, not us.”

  Dawes sighed as he looked back towards the entryway. “As tempting as that is, Tagashin is doing so disguised as my friend, and for the sake of his reputation, I should probably try to end this. Will you be taking the Watch carriage back?”

  “I’ll find my own way,” I replied. “I am somewhat averse to getting into a Watch carriage, I’m afraid. I have my own experie walking the streets at night.”

  Dawes frowned. “Y is broken.”

  “A I still walk. I will be fine, Doctor; how about you go keep your other charge safe? She sounds like she needs it a lot more than I do.”

  The doctor sidered saying something else, but eventually went out the door. Watg him go, I limped over to the servant’s exit.

  It was going to be a long walk back.