It did fit better in her palm than Shaw’s, it was true. And she had him entirely now—she didn’t need his knife anymore. She tucked the rare dagger away.
“Devil below,” he said, picking his way through the garden. “Look at that door.”
Lux squinted into the darkness. The door was recessed, protected by a stone arch, and she thought he pointed out the tree that had grown around it, clinging gently to the overhang.
But then the light shifted, and a grotesque devil stared back at her.
She studied it as it studied her, and she realized then, in its life-sized rendering, while it did look similarly to the illustration in Shaw’s book it also appeared like the nightmare of her recent days. It did not have her face. But the essence, the posture, the…teeth.
As the tunnel door below Mothlock showed a Saint, this door to Grimrook House showed the Devil.
Lux’s nails dug into her wrists. “They’re trying to frighten us away. We’re on the right road. I know it.”
“So long as one of us does.” Shaw moved nearer, until he stood beneath the archway and the tree. “It’s a good work of art, from that perspective.”
Lux swallowed her unease.If anything in Mothlock should be faceless to imagine oneself in its place, it should be this monster. The society are devils, not saints.She asked, “Is it unlocked?”
Shaw glanced over his shoulder. “You’ll send me in first?”
“What good is your size if you don’t use it to brush away the webs?” When she could practicallyfeelhis responding shudder, her conscience pricked. “I’m not being serious. I’ll go first.”
But he was already at the door, bowing before the devil and inspecting the lock. A rattle sounded when Lux came up behind him. She held out the key.
“It’s the same as the one before,” he said, but he took the key anyway. After several tries, he returned it to her. “I think it’s made to be opened by only one person.”
Lux frowned. “Kent opened the other. Is he the only one who can open the house, then? The lock looks as old as the door, but he’s not a Grimrook.”
“It doesn’t matter much now. We want to get in and we can’t this way. The windows are barred in front, but maybe—”
They startled in unison at the crow’s caw. “Devil’stits,” she hissed. “That damn bird is trying to kill me.”
The crow landed above them outside their line of sight. Lux heard plenty of rustling as it settled into the wayward tree. It cawed again.
She glanced toward the gnarled trunk beside her, following it up and overtop the stoop. “If you insist,” she grumbled, and wedged her foot.
“What are you doing?”
“Climbing. Clearly that creature has a plan, and since we don’t—”
“Ihad a plan,” said Shaw, but when she looked down, he’d come to stand at the base. He tugged back his sleeves.
“Hurry up,” she told him. “Or I’ll explore without you.”
She heard his scoff and indistinct mutter, because he likely thought she’d said it in jest. But she was serious. A surety grew in her chest, warm and reassuring, and it began to chip at the disgust leftover from the devil on the door.I’m meant to be here.
Lux reached the top of the tree, found footholds between its branches and the stone arch, and breathed a quick breath of relief. She peered up and over the roof.
She searched for the crow and found it—perched atop her cackling nightmare.
Maybe it was the suddenness of it. Or maybe it was the unexpected clashing of reality and not. But Lux screamed.
Lost her balance.
And toppled from the tree.
Chapter thirty-eight
“Holdontome.”
