Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

Author:Rose Wilding
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

TWENTY-FOUR

Nova

10th January 2000

Lou Alderman’s bedroom is exactly what you’d expect of a teenage occultist, though the rest of the house is not. The house in general is painted in muted peaches and creams, fake bouquets of white roses and sunflowers are tastefully dotted around in nice vases, and the curtains hang just so, as if they’ve been ironed in perfect pleats. The day outside is gray but the house is bright.

In contrast, Lou’s bedroom walls are a shade of purple which is almost black, and the curtains are drawn. Dried bunches of herbs and flowers dangle from the ceiling by strings, and candles clutter various surfaces in a way that makes Nova nervous that the room is going to catch fire. Incense is burning on a shelf and the room is unbearably stuffy and fragrant. A framed drawing of the cult’s sigil hangs on the wall above Lou’s bed.

“I take it you’re not going to deny your involvement, then?” Nova asks, and nods up to the frame. Lou just smiles and clears a tangle of scarves and a black cat from an armchair for Nova, and then sits cross-legged on her bed, the cat settling in the space between her knees. Nova sits on the chair and leans forward. She doesn’t know why she was surprised at first that the entire thing was coordinated by a teenage girl—of course it was. They’re powerhouses, and always underestimated.

“Look, I’m not here to arrest you,” Nova says, and Lou leans back against the wall.

“Well, I mean, why would you?”

“Theft, for one. Destruction of public property. The list goes on,” Nova says, and Lou tilts her head in acknowledgment. “But I don’t want to arrest you, like I said. I’m willing to let it go—even though it’s caused me countless hours of misery.”

“Why?” Lou asks.

“Why am I not going to arrest you?”

“Yeah.”

“Because you’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and a criminal record isn’t going to help you do what you need to do.”

Lou shrugs. “Everyone round here’s got a criminal record. Doesn’t matter if I have as well.”

“Yeah, they have, and then they end up stuck here. It’s bullshit, because everyone does stupid shit when they’re a kid, it shouldn’t fuck up the rest of your life, but it does if you haven’t got enough money to get rid of your mistakes. You’re clever, you can do well if you push yourself.”

“How do you know I’m clever?”

“How many people you got in your gang? Five? Ten? And you’re in charge. You convinced all those people that slaughtering a sheep and saying some magic words was going to fix their problems. That’s not easy,” Nova says, leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs. “Imagine if you put those brains to good use. You could be anything.”

“Like what? A police officer? Upholding bullshit laws that fuck over poor people and anyone who isn’t white? Nah, mate. Not me,” Lou says, squaring her shoulders. The force of Lou’s conviction takes Nova by surprise, but she can’t help but agree.

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