Destroyer of Worlds (ARKANE Book 8) by J.F. Penn

Author:J.F. Penn [Penn, J.F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

It was nearing lunchtime as they hit the outskirts of Delhi and the traffic was pretty much as expected for the gigantic Indian city. The sound of horns and Bollywood music permeated the cab even through the windows. The highway soon narrowed into smaller roads as they wound their way towards the central area.

"I am to drop you at the Jantar Mantar," the driver said. "Is this correct?"

Morgan looked at Jake, a question in her eyes. She had never been here before and she was still relatively new as an ARKANE agent, whereas Jake had been on global missions for years. He hadn't spoken of any past experiences in India, but then, they still knew so little about each other.

"Yes," he said. "By the main entrance will be fine."

They emerged into the heat of the midday sun in front of the Jantar Mantar, a huge complex of architectural astronomy instruments completed in 1724 by one of the Maharajas. The usual rush of merchants and beggars crowded about them as Morgan and Jake walked towards the entrance.

A man in a white lungi sat cross-legged on the ground playing a wooden pipe. A woven basket lay in front of him and a small cobra peeked its head out, undulating to the music.

"A real snake charmer," Morgan said as they passed. "I thought perhaps they were an urban myth."

"No fangs," Jake smiled. "All the tourists love a good snake charming. Come on, the ARKANE entrance is inside, away from the hordes."

They walked past the giant instruments, the terracotta shapes incongruous against the backdrop of towering office blocks that had sprung up in the wake of India's phenomenal economic growth.

"We're only a short distance from Connaught Place," Jake said. "The former location of the headquarters of the British Raj. The ARKANE office here was established at the same time as the British Empire. After Independence, ARKANE went underground but even as some of the biggest companies in India developed buildings here, we still retained a foothold. This country has more than enough mystery to keep the local agents busy."

He led Morgan to the very end of the complex, where a shabby breeze-block building sat, ignored by those who only had eyes for the ancient monument. It looked like a disused electrical plant or an abandoned guards' room.

Jake pushed open the door to reveal a storeroom with discarded garden equipment and piles of old boxes. Morgan stepped inside and as she closed the door behind her, the room shifted and changed. Lasers flashed from the walls and scanned their bodies. After a moment there was an audible clunking noise.

"This way." Jake opened a cupboard to reveal a lift inside.

They descended quickly and Morgan felt her ears pop. As in Oxford and London, the ARKANE offices were deep below the earth. It occurred to her that she could really do with some sunlight after way too long underground today.

She pushed that thought aside and focused instead on Trafalgar Square and how that had been breached. Were

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.