Up In Smoke
Page 74

Jim whistled. ‘‘Dragon? Are you sure?’’
‘‘Yes.’’
‘‘Ah. Baltic,’’ Jim said, nodding.
I glanced down at the demon. ‘‘Why do you say that?’’
‘‘He studied with a famous archimage named von Endres. Antonia von Endres, I think. Everyone knows that mages have the ability to overcome most types of magic,’’ Jim said with complacence. ‘‘If it’s a dragon in the beyond, it’s gotta be Baltic. He’s the only one who has the ability to get in there. Which . . . Oh, wow, that means he probably is hunting you.’’
‘‘Me? I don’t see why, unless it’s for the shard, and if it really is Baltic, then that won’t make sense since he was the one who stuffed the blasted thing in Kostya’s lair to begin with.’’
‘‘What makes you think that?’’ Jim asked with a little curl of its lips.
‘‘Well, someone who had the shard to begin with must have done it, and who else would have taken it from Kostya only to return it?’’
‘‘Dunno, but I don’t think who used to have it is as important as who will be trying to get it now.’’
‘‘Good point. And the sooner we get out of here, the safer the shard will be. Do you know if Bael’s palace has a physical manifestation in our world?’’ I asked Jim.
‘‘Yeah. House in England. Aisling went to it once. I think there’s also a London house.’’
‘‘Which means there’s probably one in Paris, too, if he’s maintaining multiple entrances from the real world to Abaddon. Let’s hope we can find it quickly, before we’re spotted.’’
It took some time, but we managed to make our way up to a level that seemed to have access into the mortal world. One was blocked by a bevy of female demons sporting wicked-looking swords, and another bore curses and spells that made the portal glow with black light.
‘‘Third time’s lucky,’’ I said softly as we crept down an empty hallway toward a promising door.
‘‘The only luck in Abaddon belongs to the master,’’ a female voice said behind us.
I spun around and beheld the sight of another wrath demon, this one wearing the body of a pretty, but muscular, dark-haired woman. It strolled toward us with apparent nonchalance, but there was no mistaking the fact that it was probably capable of breaking both Jim and me in half if it so chose, quite possibly both of us at the same time.
I resisted the instinct to shadow and stood my ground as the demon approached, absently noting that there was a huge sword strapped to its back.
‘‘Eep,’’ Jim said, pressing into my leg. ‘‘Wrathy at twelve o’clock.’’
‘‘So I see. Good afternoon. I assume I have the somewhat dubious pleasure of addressing one of Bael’s elite guard?’’ I asked with the formal tone that folks in Abaddon seemed to prefer.
‘‘I am Jecha. The lord Bael wishes me to inform you that you are now his prisoner. Your attempt to free his prize has not gone unnoticed, and you will pay the price for your actions.’’ A nasty smile curved the demon’s lips. ‘‘I’ve never tortured a doppelganger before. This should prove to be enjoyable.’’
With calm disdain I looked down my nose at the demon, which, given that it was several inches taller than me, wasn’t particularly easy, or I fear effective. ‘‘Do you know who you address, demon? I am May, consort to Lord Magoth, sixth prince of Abaddon. By rights, you should kneel in my presence, but I will be gracious and allow you to stand.’’
‘‘Ten out of ten for style,’’ Jim said sotto voce, rubbing its head on my leg. ‘‘But something tells me you’re going to have to win the swimsuit competition to get the big prize.’’
The demon smiled even more. It caused a muscle in my cheek to twitch uncontrollably. ‘‘Effrijim, demon sixth class, speaks the truth. You, however, do not, doppelganger.’’
‘‘What do you mean?’’ I asked, frowning. ‘‘I am Magoth’s consort. Bael cannot order my torture without violating the very laws he upholds.’’
‘‘You were Magoth’s consort . . . but with your act of insurrection against Lord Bael, Magoth has been excommunicated from Abaddon.’’ Evil amusement danced in the demon’s eyes. ‘‘Which means that you’re no longer a consort to a demon lord and, hence, are an interloper and a thief. Do you know how Lord Bael deals with such?’’
Fear chilled me. Not a faint, worrisome fear, but the sort of freezing fear that slows your brain and locks your body into a statue of absolute, complete terror. Bael had kicked out Magoth?
‘‘Jim?’’ I asked, blinding reaching my hand out for its head.
‘‘Right here.’’
‘‘You remember what Aisling said?’’
‘‘Yup.’’
I figured it hadn’t forgotten that Aisling had commanded it to follow any and all of my orders without exception.
‘‘Excellent.’’ One part of my brain started back up, rather sluggishly, but enough to trigger self-preservation. ‘‘Destroy!’’
A large, black furry shape lunged upward from the floor as Jim threw itself at the demon, taking it by surprise. The demon fell over backwards, immediately pulling the sword from its scabbard. I stomped down hard on its hand, causing it to scream in pain, Jim taking advantage of the distraction to clamp its teeth down on the demon’s other arm. I snatched up the sword, intending to disarm it and escape to the shadow world, but wrath demons are not so easily taken advantage of.
It spat out a few words, and instantly the ground was crawling with imps, nasty rage imps whose bodies were covered with a type of acid.
‘‘Go!’’ Jim bellowed as it flung itself off the demon and onto the mass of imps that had risen as one to strike me.
I didn’t wait to debate the point, not while the wrath demon was preparing to spring at me. I twirled around and left that reality for the shadow world, the demon’s heavy sword still clutched in my hand as I raced away until I was sure it could no longer see me.
Instantly, I was aware of two things: one was Gabriel’s presence, and the other was that he was absolutely correct—there was another dragon there.