I can only stare at Lord Robert, aghast.

     " What seems to be the matter, youngster ? "

     " You're ... You are definitely a member of her family. "

     " Her ? Now that is incredibly vague, Diamond. "

" The Fairy Godmother. " I send my thought so that a non-psychic won't hear it but a telepath would perceive it. " Indeed, I am. Which begs the question : how did you know ? Either you knew her or you managed to find that information by entering this brain of mine. " I hesitate, I've got no reason to be honest except I don't know why I'd lie. Either way, I can't gauge the extent of his powers without delving deeply into his mind, so ... Just in case he can sense when people are lying, I might as well tell the truth.

     " I met her once. She ruined my mother's life and like that wasn't enough, she had to keep tabs on her, make sure she could come back one day and taunt her, observe how low she had fallen. " Narbeth's face expresses his surprise. What's his deal ?! Anyone with half a brain knows Drizella Tremaine never got her happy ending. Well, maybe my mother delusions herself into thinking she did, but... I surely wouldn't consider her position a "happy" one.

     " That doesn't sound like... "

I scoff and cut him short.

     " Look, Lord Robert, I'm not interested in having you try to convince me otherwise. "

I do not get along with the woman who brought me into this world, but I have very little respect and compassion for the people who destroyed her. Deep down, I believe it's their fault she turned the way she is today... A bitter, desperate, cold, spiteful human who hates her own daughter while willingly living, hidden from all and unknown by her so-called subjects, in an isolated ice palace with the cruel, villainous creature who knocked her up.

     " We all need time to realize some things and come to peace with... "

     " Please, just... Don't. Don't treat me like some little evil kid that you're wishing is suddenly going to become a saint because you showed them to believe there's always hope. You know what ? Don't even talk to me ! Speak with your favorite orphan of the month, okay ?! "

I walk away hurriedly, the wallpaper is now aggressively bright red with darker red lightning bolts. I hide behind a ridiculously tall potted plant with massive yellow leaves. Maybe this is for the best. That guy never would've let me, and maybe not even Narbeth, into the room. Still, how am I supposed to get Winnie's file ? Even if I sneaked into the Happy Ending Archives, I would have a hard time finding what I'm looking for... Finding something I'm looking for... Lucifer ! I'm guessing the time for him to prove his worth has come. I'll be able to get a better handle of his powers, see him in action... I hastily open up my bag and pull my Teleportation Sceptre out. I never go anywhere without it. It's not the kind of thing someone can forget on their dining room table or on the backseat of a taxi. It's an artifact that saves hundreds of lives every year and, if lost on Earth, would expose the supernatural and magical as being real. Obviously.

I picture our school, the glass slipper painting from the New Way, my dorm room... I'm trying to be as precise as possible, I hope my sceptre won't let me down. The longer we use any enchanted object, the more it knows us. They regularly don't have a soul, but there's no denying the bond between a magic user and the items they enhance with their powers. I feel the usual breeze across my body and open my eyes. I'm standing in the centre of my dorm room. I silently walk over to my bookcase. I get on my tip-toes and reach out for the glued-together book spines. My fingernails start crossing the soft blue veil of the Disguise Spell when the door opens up very suddenly in my back. I freeze on the spot and it closes carefully, whoever just saw me doesn't want to alert anyone. I spin around. Of course...

     " Hey, Diamond. Playin' fugitive right after your best friend was murdered isn't exactly how I'd go about to prove my innocence. "

     " I don't have to prove anything. I've got absolutely no motive and an alibi... Kind of. "

I distractedly bite my lower lip. Ace steps closer to me, then closer, and closer, and closer, and closer... My words stay stuck in my brain before even making their way to my vocal cords and his right hand lands exactly a centimetre over the rim of my jean's back pocket. The fingers of his other hand push away a streak of my hair from over my right ear and he leans in, to whisper.

     " I really do want to help you, but you're making this harder than it has to be. Trust me, I'll deal with this my way and... "

     " No. " I cut him off, shaking my head. " I don't need Satan's son to become my knight in shining armor or something. Also, I don't trust shady demons who I've only met a few days ago ! " He backs away with a sneaky grin.

     " It's not as fun when they fall for it right away... You sure you don't need anything, though ? "

     " You've 'helped' me enough already ! I'm not telling you anything, so you can leave. "

" Do you feel it ? "

I reluctantly answer him : "Feel what ? "

" The connection between us. I know all this seems sudden and messed up, but you feel it, right ? "

I sigh. The mere thought of his wine-colored eyes staring at me, in that way no one has ever achieved before, twists my stomach in eight. But that's just physical attraction. This is some kind of weird Stockholm syndrome fantasy since I've got villain blood running through my veins and I decided to kiss a possessed demon in an attempt to save my life. Nothing else. Plus, even if it's something deeper than that - which it isn't - I don't care. I disregard my feelings all the time, starting to pay more attention to them in the middle of investigating Heather's murder wouldn't really be described as a smart move. To put emphasis on how unconnected and formal we should be from now on, I end our conversation aloud.

     " I don't know what you're talking about, Azzoxan. "

Oh yeah, I also use his demon name instead of his human nickname. I give him a cool look and he finally gets out, slamming my door behind him. I roll my eyes and grab Lucifer. Without further delay, we teleport out of the school and back to behind the ginormous potted plant. I whisper, after scanning our surroundings to make sure no one is going to sneak up on him and I :

     " Hey. Time to show me what you're made of, buddy. "

     " I  c a n  d o  a n y t h i n g  f o r  y o u ! "

     " Great, I'll need you to find something for me. That's your ability, right ? "

     " Y e s ! "

I straighten the light grey bow tied around his neck and reach for my cellphone out of my back pocket. Except it's not there. Where..? I'm an idiot. I have an almost flashback of Ace holding me earlier. I sigh, frustrated. If I go back there again, I'll either lose way too much time or fall into a trap. I was going to use my phone to read out an Invisibility Spell, but looks like I'll have to make do with my knowledge. Right, Invisibility Spell... It's not that hard... Just have to remember it... Everything's relying on my brain. C'mon, Diamond, you can do this... I'm smart, right ? Yeah, I'm smart. I memorized the whole Demon alphabet, which is composed of 98 symbols, in the right order, too ! That feat can be compared to knowing about three different alphabetical systems by heart. I came here to find out about Winnie's family ties, I'm not going to give up because my memory isn't cooperating quite as well as I'd like it to.

     " Hey, Lucifer..? "

     " Y e s ? "

     " Can you enter a closed, maybe locked, room ? "

     " O f  c o u r s e, b u t  I  a m  n o t  v e r y  s t e a l t h y ! "

Then, I still need to make him invisible... Even if Narbeth gets Lord Robert far away from the door to the Archives, there's a high probability there are other employees inside there. Time is ticking, who knows if we'll get a chance like this again ? They might ban us from their grounds if we're caught breaking in or if they realize Ice used his orphan friend to dawdle around the orphanage... The more I think, the more I come closer to making a conclusion that I'm truly not a big fan of. I recall something the Fairy Godmother's relative said earlier : "... or you managed to find that information by entering this brain of mine. " I fear there's only one way to cross that enchanted golden-handled door...