“Don’t you think it would be a shame to let Irvene disappear again? And what if another powerful demon summons her after some time and she ends up under the influence of another evil master?”
“I guess we wouldn’t want that to happen…”
“Of course not!”
Alexi considered the shaman’s words for a minute, and the man waited patiently. “Lure Academy could use a hellhound,” he thought out loud. “Irvene could help us guard our prisoners, or we could use her to sniff out demons. Yes, I see how she could become an asset.”
“You’re finally thinking straight, my dear boy. See… it’s not enough to know your job and do it well. When you encounter an obstacle, you first have to ask yourself if there’s any way you can turn it into an advantage, and eliminate it only after you’ve exhausted all other options.”
Alexi smiled tensely, almost sarcastically. It was a good thing the old man couldn’t see him. He hadn’t been lectured on anything, or given unnecessary advice for too many years for him to be able to take it lightly now. “Do you know how to do it?”
The shaman took a deep breath. “No. But if you tell me who Irvene’s new master will be, I’ll leave this house right away and go find my old book on hellhounds.”
“Find it? Where?”
“Where I’ve spent half of my life in trance until that wicked thief stole the phial from me. You need not know the place. All you need to know is that there is an ancient book on demon hounds which contains everything about them, including the spells to summon them and bind them to a master. It was one of the first I collected. I had to go all the way to Greece to find it, and you can’t even begin to imagine how much I had to pay for it… in spells, not money.” He fell silent for a long minute, allowing his mind to wander to a faraway land and an indefinite time in the past. He sighed and slumped in his armchair. “The details don’t matter. Just leave everything to me. All you have to do is decide on a master for Irvene, then bring me some fur from the hellhound and a few strands of hair from the one who will become her master.”
“… or mistress,” said Alexi. An idea had just come to him and it was perfect. “Sophie. I think we should bind Irvene to Sophie. It makes sense. Out of the three of us, only Sophie has seen the hound, so she’s the only one who can reach her the second time. The Count won’t be able to tell a thing because he and Sophie are together most of the time, so she can control Irvene while making him believe he is still in charge. This is brilliant!”
“Yes, yes… It might work.”
Alexi stood up, eager to set everything in motion and run back to the mansion. He had left Kain there to keep an eye on Sophie, but even if he trusted both of them, he didn’t feel comfortable leaving them alone with the Count and all his demon guests. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
“Tea. We’re waiting for the tea.”
?
Alexi found Kain in the gazebo, pretending he was reading a book while keeping an eye on the two dark-haired demons, Casimir’s guests, who were talking to a young maid.
“You can’t protect everyone, you know that.” Alexi took a seat next to the blond and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
Kain took a second to enjoy the feel of his partner’s breath on his skin, then turned his eyes away from the unpleasant scene. “They asked her to bring them something to drink and now they’re not letting her go back to the kitchen.”
“They won’t do anything until the Spring Celebration. She’s safe.”
“For now. Five more days and no one with human blood in their veins will be safe anymore. Did you find the shaman?”
“He was waiting for me at the priest’s house.”
Kain closed his book and turned around to face Alexi. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was relieved he was back. He had been edgy all morning. Unable to find his place, he had walked around the mansion, visited the greenhouse, made small talk with the other guests, then investigated the garden to make sure everything was all right. He hadn’t seen Sophie and he was pretty sure she was in the Count’s chambers. It frustrated him that he couldn’t approach her. Alexi’s presence put him at ease. If anything were to happen, at least he wouldn’t have to deal with it by himself. Kain had always been a tough cambion, but even he was aware this time there were simply too many demons involved.
“So, will he help us?”
Alexi smirked. “Not only that, but he came up with a pretty good idea.” He stood up and motioned for Kain to follow him. “Let’s go back to my room and I’ll tell you all about it. The minute I got here I asked Leila to take a message to Sophie. We’re going to need her help.”
The blond followed his partner reluctantly. Going past the two guests and the young maid, he made sure to smile and nod. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth and he wondered if it would ever go away. No, this was one of those cases a cambion could ever forget. He increased his pace to catch up with Alexi, but they kept silent all the way to the guest house. Once they were in Alexi’s room and the door was locked, they could finally talk about their plan.
Kain listened to Alexi carefully. He had to admit it was a good one. Freeing Irvene would have alerted the Count and ruined everything. Maybe he would have canceled the Spring Celebration or rushed things. Either way, it would’ve been bad. However, if Irvene became loyal to Sophie, she could easily control the beast without alarming the Count or his assistant, the demoness Berith. Then, when all this would be over, they could take Irvene to Lure Academy and have her serve the good guys for a change.
“This will work!”
Alexi was slightly
taken aback by the blond’s enthusiasm.
“It has to work. I mean… it’s perfect. Also, it’s the best news we’ve had so far and I really needed it today.” He took a step towards Alexi and their eyes met. Finally, it seemed they were headed in the right direction and, for the first time since they got the case, he didn’t care about Alexi’s stupid secret and the mysterious demon mark on his back. He just wanted to hug him. “We can’t see Sophie, and it’s driving me insane. Knowing she is with D’Argyle almost all day… What if the Count breaks his own rules and starts feeding off her energy before the Spring Celebration?”
“She’s okay, she knows how to take care of herself…” The combination of hope and fear he saw in the blond’s blue eyes melted Alexi’s heart. He brushed Kain’s hair off his left temple and looked at the thin, white scars around his eyes. He had to tell him everything when all this was over. He simply had to. Kain had entrusted him with his dark secret, so why couldn’t Alexi return the gesture? He felt his mark burn at the simple thought of telling someone about it.