This girl carries demon books on her person when she sneaks into a council office? Who the hell is she? Keera thought.
"I suppose this means my actions were justified. Not that it matters." Kole stated. "Right or wrong, she was breaking and entering."
"Well, not so much breaking." Royal said. "Entering sure, but as a rat..."
"What should we do with her?" Keera asked, cutting Royal off.
"Perhaps we could fetch her some cheese, Ms. Trean." Tibias suggested. He smiled wryly. "She is a rat girl, after all."
"Tibias, not you too! Enough with the rat jokes!" Keera was exasperated. She was still a bit moody after being put under the spell and was doing her best to cope. Unfortunately, she was starting to reach her wit's end. The angel turned to the only other person in the room she could talk to even though her head was still filled pounded with resentment towards him. "Kole." She said. "What do you think we should do?"
While the other two men in the room had been cracking jokes, Kole's focus was directed at the unconscious body inside of the white prism. Suddenly, he recalled where he had seen the girl's face before. It had been her that-
"Kole?" Keera's voice drummed against his ear. He was forced to abandon his train of thought.
"Yes?" Keera's boss answered her, as if he had always been paying attention. The angel gave him an annoyed leer.
"I was asking what you wanted us to do with the girl."
"Ah, yes. The girl." Kole replied slowly, still thinking things over. "She should be reported to the council at once and sentenced for her crimes."
Keera had waited for an answer, any answer, but now was a bit unsatisfied. "We're going to report this so soon? What are her crimes other than stupidity and bad timing?"
With a casual sweep of his hand, Kole picked up Ms. Faroth's copy of The Art of Demon Summoning. "Keera, do you remember when all of the business with this book began? The place that we first encountered it?"
Keera took that as if Kole was insulting her memory. "Of course. The Morgan Fortier case. It was hardly even a week ago."
"That girl was at the scene of the crime before I sent you and Royal there." Kole explained.
Carahya opened her eyes. She was in the same room as before, but there was some sort of white membrane in the way that made everything blurry. She put her hands out and touched a surface that felt wooden. What is this? She wondered. I know it's not glass. She struck against it lightly with her hand. How odd. She hesitated for a moment, then reached into her pocket and felt the familiar metal of the gun. With her hand clasped around it, Carahya took a deep breath. Maybe I'm being reckless. She took another look at the smooth, pallid walls that imprisoned her. On second thought, screw it. She pointed the pistol at the ceiling of her ivory coffin and cocked it. As she pulled the trigger, she winced and shut her eyes.
BANG!
Royal's face turned ghostly white as his body felt limp to the ground. He could see his barrier breaking apart, and Ms. Faroth getting to her feet. His eyes darted to Keera and Kole, who had just heard the shot and were turning to face Ms. Faroth. He couldn't see Tibias, who had been standing behind him before the barrier was broken. Barrier backlash is a bitch. Thought Royal.
"Tibiaass..." He gasped with a rasp. "Taaake covaah, ssshe hasss uh gunn!"
Royal shut his eyes. You're only human, you fop. Please don't get shot.
Carahya was pointing her gun in Kole's direction and taking steps towards the door.
"Do you honestly believe that peashooter is of any threat to me?" Kole said to Ms. Faroth. Despite the man's stony glare and provocations, Carahya's hand did not tremble. Instead she met her opponent's gaze and stood her ground.
"Are you sure about that?" The girl said. "Because it seemed to work on your friend over there."
Kole didn't even bother looking at Royal. As far as the grim reaper was concerned, his subordinate was nothing more than a disappointment.
"I really don't want to call your bluff, shadow ass." Ms. Faroth stammered. "Some crazy shit is going on and I will get to the bottom of it, but I didn't come here to hurt anyone!"
Keera, who had been seething with rage only moments ago felt a tinge of sympathy take hold somewhere deep inside of her. She could certainly remember another young woman who had been mixed up in demonic arts and persecuted by the council. In a short amount of time that young woman had become so jaded that freedom seemed unreachable and every day seemed to be a monotonous and sadistic test of character. It may as well have been a past life. Keera thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kole move towards Carahya.
In the next split-second, a shot rang out and the bullet embedded itself in Keera's extended right wing. The wing itself was covering Kole, as if to shield him. Sure enough, the bullet hadn't pierced through. Kole couldn't see past the wing, but he heard Ms. Faroth rush out the door. He pushed Keera's wing aside and looked through the open door out into the hallway. Ms. Faroth was gone. Kole grunted and closed the office door, not noticing as a very jittery fly made it's escape through a half-open window.
He took a look around to observe the damage. Royal was still convulsing on the ground, Tibias was behind the desk holding Royal's gun, and Keera... was yanking the bullet out of her wing without any sort of complaint or wince. Kole looked at her with what he would have presumed a human would call astonishment.
"Come now, Keera. That was just foolish." The Grim Reaper growled deeply. "Taking a bullet for me was a pointless gesture. Still, if you meant to convey loyalty by it then so be it. I merely forbid from doing it again."
"It was a reflex." Keera said. "My body did it on it's own."
She was telling the truth. It had been involuntary on her part. She had no idea whether she instinctively shielding her loathsome boss or instinctively obstructing his view, thereby allowing a kindred spirit to escape his grasp.
It may as well have been a past life. Keera thought. But it was mine at one point.
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