(eng) Liz Williams - Worldsoul 01 by Worldsoul

Author:Worldsoul [Worldsoul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Shadow had a splitting headache. The ifrit had gone to ground, hiding deep within. Occasionally she felt a twitch, like a nervous tic, and it made her jump, but she wasn’t sure whether this was the spirit resurfacing or her own nerves.

Gremory perched on the arm of the divan. It looked unbalanced: a human would have toppled it, but the demon appeared to have no weight. Shadow filed that away for future reference.

“Sorry.” The demon sounded remarkably sincere. “Nearly had him but he gave me the slip.” She raised a long, elegant hand and Shadow saw a wisp of smoke emanating from the tip of her taloned forefinger. There was the smell of sandalwood; Gremory inhaled.

“Do you know what he wants?”

“He’s a prince of the air. Do you know what that is?”

“I’ve done my studies,” Shadow answered, irritably. “In fact, it’s what the Shah told me to ask the ifrit in the first place—that was the ruse to get it to talk to us. I suppose he did that because if this thing is also a prince, it would be bound to know, and it was probably interested. They’re true spirits—ifrits, not demons or angels—neither good enough for Heaven nor bad enough for Hell. So they wander, in groups. They have ships.” The Barquess came suddenly to mind: not much difference, perhaps.

“This one is either a renegade, or he’s lost. I say a ‘prince.’ He might be lower in the hierarchy than that—in fact, he almost certainly is. He’s possibly a duke, or something: someone who’s fallen out with the Prince himself and who’s had to go on the run. The Shah found him, trapped him, called you in and now he’s—”

“—in me.”

“Unfortunately, yes.” The demon touched her smouldering talon to her lips. “He’s going to be difficult to dislodge. Knows a lot of tricks. I do know someone who could help, bu—”

“But?”

“He’s out in the Great Desert. The Khaureg.”

After a moment, Shadow said, “Oh.”

“You’ve been beyond the city?”

“Yes, once. My knife comes from the desert.”

For the first time, the demon looked genuinely intrigued. “Does it? That means you won it.”

“Yes. I killed someone for it.”

“Who?”

“No one important.”

“Everyone’s important to someone,” the demon said. “I’m wondering if your knife is connected to the spirit that’s possessing you now.”

“If this is some elaborate plot, then the Shah could just have taken it, couldn’t he?”

“I don’t think it’s a plot. I think it’s a fortuitous incident.”

“Well,” Shadow said. “I won once. And I’ll win again.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.