Page 31 of A City of Smoke and Demons
‘Only a recent acquisition of knowledge, but yes.’
Lira reached for Analise’s hand again. ‘Yes, I knew what you were, and it was your magic that drew me to you in the first place. But then it wasyou, Analise. I got to know you, and—’
Analise pulled her hand free. Heat swept over her and for a moment, she couldn’t see.
Across the table, Ezra was watching her.
‘And you?’ She directed her emotion at him, not knowing what else to do with thefearthat was coursing through her. There was something in the way he was looking at her thatcaused every muscle in her body to tense. She bit back the instinct to run. ‘Since we’re all sharing, what secrets are you keeping? Are you a member of this organisation as well? Did you know what I was?’
‘No.’
Analise kept her eyes pinned to his face. ‘You’re something though, aren’t you?’
Ezra’s expression didn’t change.
She opened her mouth, but Jem cut across her. ‘The demon marks are increasing. The bodies you’ve come across, Analise, are a piece of a much bigger puzzle. Another marked man was pulled from the river this morning.’
‘I see,’ Analise said faintly. ‘But none of this—secret organisations, demon hunting—explains why you’ve put me in here.’
‘For your safety, like I said,’ Jem replied.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that.’
Jem and Lira exchanged a glance. Jem rubbed his face. ‘The person following you is not a person at all, but a Familiar, a—’
‘I know what a Familiar is,’ Analise ground out and they all looked at her. ‘There must be dozens of them in this city, mine can’t be the only one—or are you keeping people in safe houses all over London?’
Safe houses belonging to The Order of the Dawn, not the Gendarme, as she’d been led to believe.
‘As you’d know then, Familiars follow those who’ve entered into deals, reporting back to their master, who, if people don’t pay up, sends his demons after them,’ Jem explained.
‘I’ve not entered into any bargains with Asmael,’ Analise said. ‘I’m not a fool.’
‘I know,’ Lira said. ‘Which is why we can’t work out why a Familiar has attached itself to you.’
‘Especially because a Daughter of Lilith can free a Familiar from Asmael’s influence,’ Jem added.
Analise had never heard that before. Her anger slipped for a second. ‘They can?’
Lira frowned. ‘You didn’t know that?’
‘I don’t know anything,’ Analise said, her voice rising. ‘Everything I’ve ever done has been instinctual.’ A thought struck her like a punch. ‘Do you mean I could have gotten rid of him years ago?’
‘Years?’ Jem echoed, his voice sharp. ‘You’ve had Familiars following you for years?’
‘The same one, actually.’ Analise was exhausted all of a sudden; her temples ached. She rubbed them, then caught the terrified look Jem was giving his sister. ‘What? What does it mean? I swear, if you don’t tell me, I’ll curse your soul to wander the space between worlds when you die.’
‘I’m sure the nuns told you that Asmael vowed to get revenge for being cast out of Heaven, and he swore he would walk the earth in his true form with his army of demons and every man, woman, and child would belong to him,’ Jem said.
‘The Daughters of Lilith have been the shield of the world since Asmael’s Fall. God gave Lilith the power to not only guide the dead, but to commune with them,’ Lira explained. ‘And she gave the Daughters the power to create the amulets, but now, they’re not working, and people are dying. We think—’
Analise held up her hand. ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more.’
The amulets weren’t working?
‘Analise,’ Lira began.
‘No,’ Analise said forcefully; her hands were shaking again. Fear tunnelled through her, replacing the rage, the hurt, and twisting her insides. ‘Not now.’
