‘I appreciate your gratitude but those pills weren’t made by me. No, they were from my partner.’
‘You have a partner?’ I say, frowning. I remember the disinterested stranger, sitting at the desk when I first met her. My voice lowers. ‘Oh, the short bald man with the weird eyebrows.’
Heret-Kau laughs, a loud belly laugh. ‘Yes. That’s him. I believe he is going by Vel at the moment,’ she says, managing to calm herself amongst small chuckles. I flush, embarrassed by my own rudeness. ‘They haven’t caused any trouble for you though, have they?’
‘Trouble? No, why?’
‘Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just being overly cautious. They were never intended for long-term use.’ The Goddess waves off the thought, resuming her creation of the currently half-drawn portal.
A loud bang erupts. For a moment I think it’s Heret-Kau’s portal, but I should know better. Xander sits, terrified, in front of the small black box on the other side of the room, a loud static blasting through the speakers. ‘This is where I take my leave,’ the Goddess says before darting through her portal. It closes sharply behind her. Xander stares at the static picture on the screen, frozen in place.
‘It’s a television,’ I say, picking up the cracked remote that he has thrown across the room and attempting to turn down the volume. It takes a few hard presses to register. ‘You haven’t seen TV befo–’
‘I have,’ he bites back. ‘Just not this close. It gave me a fright, that’s all.’
With the static at a manageable volume, I hand back the remote. Xander doesn’t move, instead just staring at my outstretched arm. He is wary of me.
‘Xander, come on. Please don’t be like that,’ I coerce. ‘I had to at least try.’ He understands what I mean but snatches the remote and stalks over to the couch sitting down haughtily to inspect it. Evidently, he must disagree. I sigh, sitting down next to him. ‘I’ll tell you a secret then.’
Xander glances over, a new found spark in his eye. ‘Who’s it about?’
I smirk. ‘Me, and I guess Charlotte.’
Xander grins. The room turns cold. Turning around, the ice demon is already standing at the foot of the stairs. ‘Well?’ he says, his callous stare meets mine. ‘Go on then.’
I swallow hard.
16
She sits poised and elegant amongst her family, hair pinned and back straight, a white gown fitted and pristine; a fine representation of aristocracy, I’m sure. Placing the grained photograph back among the newspaper articles, I slide William a glance. ‘I can see why you liked her. Very pretty. Boring but pretty.’ His face remains unmoved. ‘Though I’m sure she doesn’t look like that anymore.’ A grimmer thought occurs. ‘That photo is old, very old. Wouldn’t she be–’
‘She’s not dead,’ he snaps, an unexpectedly sharp display of emotion. I throw my hands up defensively as if I wasn’t just intentionally provoking him.
‘If you say so,’ I say, lowering my voice. ‘Sounds like wishful thinking to me.’
William shoots a glare, his mouth opening quickly. Instead, his teeth grit and the irritation breathes out of him as a long sigh. ‘Anyway.’ He shoves a selection of photos into my hands. ‘Anything here look familiar?’
I shift through the images, shaking my head. I stop. My eyes linger on an old library, not one that I have seen but it triggers the memory.
‘It wasn’t this particular one, but there was a library – or was it a bookshop? You were there too. Does that mean anything to you?’
Xander glances at Will before locating a particular black and white photo from the bottom of the pile. He hands it over.
That’s the one. Go there.
I freeze. Just now, that voice in my head – is it mine?
Xander walks over and rests a hand on my arm. ‘Siara, are you okay?’
I smile. ‘Uh, yes, sorry, I was just surprised. I think this may be it, I’m not sure. I never got to see the outside of the place.’
‘Should we take her there?’ Xander says, turning to William. The ice demon nods, his eyes unwavering, apparently more suspicious of me than ever. Clearly, it does mean something.
In frozen silence, he portals us to a coastal town and despite my reluctance and prior experience, it barely affects me at all. I guess it’s fine as long as it’s travelling in the same world. Growing more confident with the bizarre demonic magic, I step effortlessly from polished floorboards onto a sandy slatted boardwalk, not fazed by the warping sounds and technicolour involved. A quick glance around ensures I have no unwelcome observers to explain my sudden appearance.
‘This way,’ the ice demon mumbles as he walks off the path and down the busy street. ‘Don’t talk to us, you’re the only human that can see or hear us. Or do, your choice. Being thought of as crazy might make you feel more at home.’
I frown, though it doesn’t last long. I’m sure that was his revenge for my rude comments earlier. I can’t help but break a smirk, though I make sure to keep it hidden. It’s nice to know I got under his skin.
We journey down the street, past beachside cafes and surfing shops. I attempt to look as inconspicuous as possible but it’s difficult. I glaze over their figures as they glide through humans in the crowd, effortlessly and perfectly timed. My mortal body is not as graceful as theirs and on several occasions, I bump awkwardly against passerbys, creating a sporadic and jarring trail of apologies.
Eventually, they come to a stop. The demons stare out at a levelled retail lot, motionless and silent. I join them, waiting for them to say something. They don’t.
‘Do you mind telling me what we’re doing here staring out at nothing?’ I hiss under my breath. A woman must catch my voice, giving me a double take as she passes by. I return a pleasant smile, but she becomes wide eyed and her pace increases. I grimace, catching an amused smirk twitch on the side of the ice demon’s face for the faintest of seconds. I’m glad to know my mortification bemuses him.
‘It’s not here,’ Xander states, as if he doesn’t know what else to say.
I look around, taking advantage of the momentary absence of pedestrians. ‘Are we lost?’ The ice demon grunts at the thought, as if it’s the most impossible thing in the world.
‘No. It was here, and now it is not.’
I groan quietly. ‘When was the last time you came here?’ I say, leaning back on a nearby street lamp. Xander’s eyes furrow to a point.
‘She has a point, Master. It would have been around seventy years ago. I’m sure a lot has changed since then.’
I lightly thud the back of my head against the pole. Seventy years. I should have known better. These demons don’t have a good grasp on time. ‘So it’s a dead end. What do we do now?’ The demons look to the ground briefly.
Xander turns to face me, giving a small smile. ‘Don’t worry. We can visit the other places, see if you remember anything. Maybe seeing images of them wasn’t a good enough trigger for your memory.’ He’s trying to comfort me, which is nice, though I don’t think I’m the one that needs consoling. Will remains with his back turned, still staring at the demolished lot. Unmoving. I reach out my hand. ‘Hey–’
