Queen's Shadow || Kingdom at the End of the World - Book II

[32.2] Finding Heart

Gabriel Todd paced down an empty hallway. His steps carried an uneasy echo, the wan whine of old floorboards disturbing the quiet that had fallen the building overnight.

There were rooms on either side of the hallway, four to a floor. Gabriel peered into each in a perfunctory manner, no longer expecting to find anyone inside despite clearly knowing them to have been occupied but hours prior. Most of the beds were unmade, the blankets pulled aside – as if the person sleeping had only just gotten up and would soon return.

Gabriel's frown deepened. Not a single living soul remained in the building, save for that shared between him and Dimitri. He considered and dismissed the possibility of a trap. If enemies lay in wait, they had long missed the opportunity to catch him unaware.

The alternative was no less troubling.

Gabriel stilled. A soft sound caught his attention, so slight it would have gone unnoticed if not for the unnatural quiet and Gabriel's own heightened senses. The demon raised his head. There was only the roof above him. He considered the ceiling, eyes catching on a path of shadows tucked in a corner. A moment later, a cat darted up the wall, disappearing into the hole in the paneling with a swish of its red tail.

The space above the ceiling was damp and cold. The roof pressed close overhead, unpolished beams crossing in uneven segments, some rotten through – a skeleton sagging under the weight of age. Gabriel's eyes glistened in the dark, narrowing on a lump of shadows.

Another pair of eyes blinked open.

Gabriel assumed his human form. Some distance away, so did Horus. The pile of blankets and pillows the hawk had gathered into a makeshift nest billowed up to accommodate his larger form. It was a comical sight; the hawk's head had initially only just protruded between two pillows, feathers ruffled. Horus' human head was similarly mussed by sleep. Had Gabriel not been besieged by worry, he would have mocked the man mercilessly for his filching habits, no doubt learned in his adoptive family of crows.

"I have a message for Valeri," Gabriel said instead, quick to adapt and attempt to turn the chance meeting into his favor.

Horus did not reply. His large, lidless eyes bored into Gabriel without a hint of interest.

Gabriel suppressed a surge of annoyance. "Please," he ground out.

The hawk cocked his head. "You are different," he observed. "Is it the human?"

"Call Valeri back," Gabriel said, refusing to acknowledge the question. His affairs were his own, and he owed no explanation to others. "Tell him that his patient is running a high fever and that I am well on my way to becoming truly upset."

The last sentence was meant for Iavor. Sweet Valeri had no frame of reference for most evils that walked his world, but Iavor knew well what it meant for a demon to lose control.

"Valeri cannot help him," Horus said, unmoved. "Complete the bond. It is the only way."

Gabriel opened his mouth, but found no words to express his conflicting thoughts. In the end, he simply shook his head. He was yet to ask Dimitri – yet to explain the significance of the soul between them.

The longer he was in the man's presence, the more difficult the question appeared. Gabriel was yet to find the right words when Dimitri's persistent illness worsened.

"The fever has affected his mind. He cannot consent," Gabriel said at last.

"That has not posed a difficulty for your kind in the past," Horus said.

Gabriel almost lunged for the damned bird. He gouged the floor instead, fingers turned into bloody claws. "Watch your tongue," he hissed.

Horus was not at all cowed. "I am simply stating a fact."