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It growled, “Where to?” as we slid onto the box seat
The Iht for a second “Toward the Barrens I’ll let you knohen”
“People usually give me an address,” the cabbie muttered
“You’ll earn your tip,” I put in
Redskin sniffed the air appreciatively, and said in a bass ru? Want to—”
“Drive,” Chance said softly That was all
That was all he needed to say Soh he didn’t alter in appearance, he gave the i, as if he held power enough to snap the cabbie’s spine
“Yes, boss”
Greydusk regarded Chance with new respect “What did you do?”
“Nothing”
It wasn’t, but I didn’t press Neither did the demon, which spoke volu In a way I couldn’t nail down, he was different here in Sheol Not hi less Chance andhimself, but hopefully, we’d be in and out before he yielded everything that ot out of Sheol, he should return to normal
Shouldering the poles, the Hazo took off, weaving into traffic with kamikaze intent The other vehicles weren’t like those in the human world Some were obviously Klothod-powered, and others were pulled by deic/e next to us had a pair of spindly legs that didn’t look strong enough to bear the weight, but they clattered on, running, running It and rea’s house
We passed by aI would’ve liked to have taken a look, as I could iine the kind of items for sale in Sheol But at Chance’s direction, the Hazo ran on It was incredibly strong and fast, and I re down Cailimpsed outside the city circled in the air above us Greydusk had called them quasits
“Left”
The turn carried us into a narrow alley between buildings On the other side, the neighborhood deteriorated swiftly In big cities, it was often like that Two or three blocks coulda different world How odd that it would be the same in Xibalba More twists, until I was hopelessly lost These serous characters And you’d get a lot worse than ed if you wandered off alone
“Stop,” Chance said at last “She’s nearby, I think I should get a better fix if alk from here”
Elated, I slipped from the pedicab while Greydusk paid the Hazo Into his shovel-size paluessed those were coins, but they didn’t look like any I’d ever seen The cabbie growled a farewell, leaving us in the Barrens As he lued it with a gesture
“Who runs this part of the city?” I asked, noting its influence
“It’s neutral ground Each caste controls its own territory with the exception of the Mhizul We came from the Luren sector, which is called the Mirror”
“Because they’re obsessed with the is shiny?” I asked
The demon bared its teeth at me in an appreciative smile “Both”
Chance had his eyes closed, circling It wasn’t exactly like the dowsing that witches did to find water Instead the luck drew hiht direction, which would in turn put us onto so that would help us in the case For the first time, I wondered why he hadn’t just done that to find his mother, why he’d needed my help at all So I asked
“I can’t effectively turn it on people I love,” he answered “I tried whenBut it was erratic and ot in the way”
“Would you be able to use it to find me if I was in trouble?”
“Not a chance”
Crazy, but his reply sent a thrill through ot a fix and I trailed after hiht toone de us for a snack The Chihuahua growled and then graduated to yapping; his ferocity wouldn’t deter this creature, which had the look of a deforh thin lips, it licked sharp teeth and took a step toward us
“Do not interfere, Noit”
Was that the thing’s name or caste? I waited to see what the other deht Since our arrival, he had becoressive…and it worriedtype, at least not in this way; itto the pervasive presence of deick What would he turn into if we stayed?
“Not interfering I sees things Knows things” The Noit did a little jig at our feet, edging closer
Greydusk took a step forward “Be advised that you bargain with your life Do you still wish to trade?”
Shit, it was going to kill the Noit if it didn’t go away That shouldn’t bother me It was a demon, after all, even if it was short and had a crazy-playful look in itsmy reasons, I put myself between them
“Wait Let’s hear what it has to say”
“That may prove a mistake, Binder The Noit are notorious for their mischief”