Deadly Wrong by SM Reine

Author:SM Reine
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-03-02T00:02:28.611378+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

RAMELAN WALKED ALMOST TOO quickly for Isobel to keep up with him. She had to scurry to avoid being left behind in the labyrinthine corridors of the Palace of Dis.

All windows vanished about halfway down the tower, and she lost count of the floors after a few more flights. But she had the distinct sense that they had gone underground at some point. The silence was much too weighty. The corridors became narrower. The air warmed.

An elevator appeared at the end of the hall. It was a rickety metal cage, and its floor didn’t quite align with the tile they were standing on, so Isobel could see the greasy pistons underneath. Steam hissed from the gap.

The lift was entirely mechanical.

Actually, Isobel hadn’t seen anything with electronic components since getting into Hell. The clocks all had exposed cogs, the elevator was steam-powered, and even the coffee had been manually brewed in the kitchen.

“Here it is,” Ramelan said, opening the gate and stepping aside so Fritz and Isobel could get in. “Electricity, as you can see, doesn’t work in Hell.”

“It doesn’t work reliably in Helltown either,” Isobel said. Ramelan looked askance at her. “It’s this neighborhood in Los Angeles where demons live.”

“An undercity,” he said.

Fritz led Isobel into the elevator. “No, it’s on the surface.”

Ramelan shut the doors and pushed a lever down. “The demons have colonized a surface neighborhood?” He looked thoughtful as the elevator groaned, hissed, and began to descend. “That’s going to be a problem. I’m surprised you’re allowing it.”

“We have plans for that,” Fritz said.

That was news to Isobel. “You do?”

“The Union does. Don’t worry about it.”

She was going to have to worry about it. She had friends in Helltown. If the Union was planning to invade—well, she might not survive to see it. Isobel couldn’t think about that yet. She pushed it out of her mind.

“I’ve wanted to talk to you about them. The Union won’t leave me alone,” Ramelan said. “They want me to work for their organization.”

“Who can blame them? You’re the greatest kopis. You’re potentially a very valuable asset,” Fritz said.

“I’m a man. I’m not an asset. Will you remind Lucrezia di Angelis of that fact?”

“Frankly, my friend, I don’t think that my advocacy on your behalf would help all that much.”

“What good is being director for an evil organization if not for the leverage, eh?” Ramelan asked.

“The health insurance is pretty good,” Fritz said, totally straight-faced.

The elevator only dropped a few levels before stopping again.

Ramelan pushed his sleeve up, exposing the tattoos that Isobel had glimpsed on the inside of his wrist. “They’re keys,” he explained, waving his arm in front of the controls for the elevator. It began moving again.

“You’ve got access to more of the Palace than I expected,” Fritz remarked.

Ramelan winked. “Lucky for you.”

The lift finally stopped at the very bottom level. When the cage opened, Isobel was facing a dark, windowless hallway painted with murals. Judging by how flaky and discolored the paint was, those murals were probably centuries old, and they depicted fights between demons and angels.

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