Hell to Pay: Urban Fantasy Action with Witches and Demons (Tear Down Heaven Book 3) by Rachel Aaron

Author:Rachel Aaron [Aaron, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aaron/Bach
Published: 2025-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

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WHEN THEY REACHED THE forest, Adrian directed them down, weaving Bran between the dark trees like a nighthawk to land them on the road that ran along the Blackwood’s inland border. His broom had just touched down when the man who was already waiting by the tree line stepped away from the hemlock he’d been inspecting to give them a dazzling smile.

Boston responded by dropping into a hissing crouch and digging his claws into Bran, who protested by dumping the cat onto the pavement. The familiar recovered at once, clawing his way up Adrian’s coat to perch furiously on his shoulder instead.

“Adrian!” he cried, every black hair standing on end. “That’s a sorcerer! Why is there a sorcerer waiting for us?!”

“Because I asked him to,” Adrian said. “This is the ally I was telling you about, the one who’s been helping me figure out how to circumvent Gilgamesh’s defenses.” He paused, taking a deep breath in preparation for the words he’d been rehearsing since he’d left for the Anchor.

“Boston,” he said proudly, “this is Malik al-Fatheen, my father.”

His familiar’s hackles dropped a fraction. “Your father?” he repeated skeptically, looking back and forth between Adrian and Malik, who was still crossing the empty road to join them.

Despite never having seen him anywhere but his island, Adrian wasn’t surprised that Malik looked more at home on Bainbridge than he did. The forest was still damp from this afternoon’s rain shower, but his father was dressed for the weather in an elegant camel trench coat, olive-green Wellington boots, and perfectly stitched buckskin gloves. He looked like a country gentleman out for a stroll on his estate, but his smile was as warm as a kitchen hearth when he walked up to shake Adrian’s hand.

“Sharif informed me of your message just a few minutes ago,” he said. “Thank you so much for inviting me to see your work. I’m impressed you found something so quickly.”

Adrian shook his father’s hand with a grin. “Thank you for coming all the way out here on such short notice.”

“An invitation to the Blackwood is a rare and precious gift,” Malik said humbly before turning his smile on the puffed-up black cat who was still growling at him from Adrian’s shoulder. “But before we go any further, you must introduce me properly to your companion. Is it possible that I have the honor of being in the presence of the Boston of the Blackwood, world-renowned expert on modern magical materials?”

The lavish compliment was enough to make Boston stop growling, but the cat’s voice was still suspicious when he asked, “How do you know about that?”

“Because I am a great fan of your book.”

The cat’s green eyes went huge. “You’ve read my book?”

“I never go anywhere without it,” Malik said, pulling a well-thumbed paperback out of the pocket of his trench coat.

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