Page 7 of City of the Lost
There was a lump in my throat again, but for altogether different reasons now. “Okay, good to know.”
He graced me with a slow blink. “We’ll find the Shedim base. It won’t come to that.”
His earlier anxiety now made sense. His concern for my welfare, for the pain that would be inflicted on me. He was afraid he’d have to be the one doing the inflicting, and his optimism now was a clever front to soothe me. Why did I have to be so damned perceptive?
I sat on the nearest seat with a thump and took a gulp of the fragrant tea—unsweetened and clean, just the way I liked it—and echoed his words. “It won’t come to that.”
A small figure dashed past the kitchen, leaving the echo of sobs in its wake. The thud of footsteps running up the stairs followed a moment later.
Miss Hamilton entered the room soon after, her lips turned down in disapproval.
I put down my cup. “What happened?”
“Kids being cruel.” She glanced heavenward. “They’ve been teasing little Amber about her resemblance to Noir again. They’ve decided she’s his unwanted spawn.”
“Was that her hurtling upstairs a moment ago?”
Matron pressed her lips together and nodded.
Indignation flared in my chest. “I hate bullies.”
“I know.”
“You mind if I go up and talk to her?”
She shrugged. “Be my guest. I’m sure Azren and I will find something to talk about.” She smiled fondly at the Shedim, which was crazy considering she could see his true form. She shooed me out of the kitchen. “I have lemon cake when you get down.”
Oh, God, love me some lemon cake. “Can I move back in?”
Her cheeks flushed pink. “Get away with you.”
I left her to converse with Azren and headed up the two flights of steps to the second floor, where the kids were housed. There were five rooms in total, and each housed two children, but the sound of heartbroken sobs led me to the tiny room at the far end of the corridor—a single room, my old room. Nostalgia squeezed my heart and stung the back of my nose. It was a strange coincidence that this out-of-place child should take up residence in my old haven.
This room held so many memories, happy and sad, and I’d been lucky it hadn’t ended up being my final resting place. The fever had taken me just after my eighteenth birthday. I’d never seen Matron worried about sickness until that night. Heck, I’d never been sick before. But being sick had felt like dying, and then the angel had come—eyes like cold fire and fingers like ice. His hair had been silver light, and his lips, when they’d brushed against mine, had tasted of cinnamon. The next morning the fever was gone. And two days later, the letter from the law firm had landed on the doorstep. Thank God I’d lived long enough to collect my inheritance from a relative who hadn’t bothered to claim me when he’d been alive. Matron had speculated that maybe I’d been the product of an Arcana and neph union, but with no Arcane ability to speak of, it was unlikely.
Well, with that trip down memory lane over, I focused on the sobs filtering through the door. Poor kid. If there was a way for me to make it better ...
I rapped on the door and the sobs halted abruptly. “Hi, my name’s Wila. I used to live here. In this room, actually. I was wondering if we could chat?”
There was a deep, contemplative silence and then the sound of muffled footsteps. The door opened a crack and a tear-stained face peered out, eyes wide.
“Hi.” I raised a hand in greeting.
“You’re Wila Bastion? The Wila Bastion who catches monsters?”
“The one and only.”
She opened the door a little wider. “Why would you want to talk to me?”
Oh, man. She looked so much like Noir that it took everything I had not to stare. Instead, I gave her my best confident smile and crouched down to her eye level. “I heard the other kids were being a little mean to you.” I winced. “I really don’t have time for bullies, and I just wanted to check that you were okay.”
Her lips tightened. “You were bullied?”
I sighed and nodded. “Yep. In fact, this used to be my room when I lived here.”
Her eyes widened. “It did?”
“Yep. I think some of the others were jealous I got a room to myself, to be honest.”
