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The de that istered e “You are fa uninvited”
“Where’s Shannon?” I demanded
On second glance, I saw that the broad pads of its fingertips were curved, almost like little suckers They appeared perfectly suited for draining…so Best I’d opted not to touch it
“I auide only To survive the descent, you must do precisely as I instruct”
The…descent? That did not sound healthy I glanced at Chance, who stepped forward, both fists clenched “Where’s our friend? I won’t ask again”
“Sheol,” Greydusk answered At ate, where you ain”
The Descent
“You want me to cross over?” Fear clamored in my head
As if in response, Butch whined I knew the feeling I should’ve left hiood or ill, he wasIf he couldn’t talk me out of an adventure, then he always accompanied me So I settled him in my purse and crossed the strap over my body
“What I want is irrelevant,” the creature said “But if you irl, you must follow me”
I reone as to be beyond his range entirely Or dead If they’d taken her to Sheol, that explained why he couldn’t sense her That seemed to bear out their claioose chase
“How do I know you have her…or that she’s still alive?”
The demon offered me a small circular object “This token will function but once Are you certain you wish to use it now?”
On closer inspection, I saas a mirror “Yes, show me Shannon”
He whispered a word in an unfalow kindled within the glass It was dark and shadowed; I couldn’t see where she was being held, but that was definitely Shannon Her breath sounded quick, distressed with fear, and she was curled up, arms about her knees
“You bastard”
“I am not responsible for my employer’s actions, Ms Solomon Will you come or not?”
“Let’s go,” I said
Greydusk turned and climbed a few steps, its movements too limber and loose, but when Chance followed me, the demon stopped “My contract provides only for the Binder”
That was a naht of Hell I’d defeated in Peru had echoed it Supposedly, I caave me power over demons I didn’t scoff at that notion as much as I once did Too much had happened to make me believe
“It’s not negotiable,” Chance said before I could reply “You take both of us”
In the glow froht, his features were fixed, determined It would come to violence if I tried to hand him my keys and send hiht happen If the demon was er, we er an earthquake
Greydusk considered, weighing factors to which I wasn’t privy At last, it replied, “The godling ree to the new terms”
Godling? Wide-eyed, I stared at Chance He lifted a shoulder in a shrug that claimed he didn’t know either But it opened the book on all kinds of questions, the one foremost in my mind: Who the hell was your father? Stunned, I hurried to keep up with the de up the mountainside
It was a long, steep clien as ent up Eventually Greydusk reached a plateau that ended in a sheer rock wall Above, the trees grew spindly, thinning with the altitude Below, everything was lush and green, with a blue thread of a brook running through it—or I i the day At this ti just enough light to render the low from my athame only added to the eerie atmosphere
“This way” As the deiant stones
This cave ht couldn’t penetrate the shadoithin; it had to be two hundred feet wide by one hundred feet high, and I couldn’t tell how deep it was I’d read that Mexico had some of the deepest caverns in North America, and that many of the systems hadn’t been fully explored yet For obvious reasons, this chilled my blood
I asked, “How far is it?”
“Let’s see…how to parse it so you’ll understand” Thisother than the metric system “Ten kilometers horizontally, and one kilometer down There we shall find the entrance to Sheol”