Shira by Ann Gimpel

Author:Ann Gimpel [Gimpel, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ann Gimpel

Chapter 12

Seeing in the dark is the least of my problems. My low-light vision is exceptional; it’s part of my magic. We passed beneath creaking timbers and into a long rounded channel heading into the side of a hill and angling downward. The dragon had picked this one for a reason, probably because all the action was in one of the other entrances.

Smells of wet earth and decay grew stronger as we moved away from the entrance. Piles of bones, human and animal, lined the walls. Rats scuttled this way and that, the glow of their red eyes impossible to miss as they chittered their annoyance at our intrusion.

Aidyrth stepped on one; the crunch of its bones unmistakable as she kicked it aside. The other resident rodents scurried in all directions. “They’ll stay out of the way now,” the dragon hissed softly. “They’re terrible gossips. If they aren’t around, they can’t tell anyone we’re here.”

Oh good. Speech was back on the menu. “What are we doing?”

“Coming around from the rear.”

“Where’s Grigori?”

“Close. Do not use power hunting for him.”

I reeled in the seeking spell I’d been about to deploy. “Do you know what’s going on?”

She twisted and lifted me in her forelegs until our heads were next to one another. “A gateway to Hell is nearby. I feel its pull. Whatever you do, do not get close enough to the vortex to let it suck you through. Hell isn’t a pleasant spot.”

I’d never envisioned it as a destination resort. In truth, I’d never believed it was real, but the same could be said for dragons. Gateways meant more of whatever had lived inside Bruno. I’d never laid eyes on an actual demon, but I’d felt its foul bleakness polluting Bruno’s essence. The idea anything could corrupt him further was noteworthy since he was a warped piece of work to begin with.

The dragon set me down, and we covered maybe another half mile before she turned hard left and pushed on a recessed doorway I hadn’t noticed. Made sense someone would have created methods to move from one passageway to another without going back to the beginning and starting over.

“Have you been here before?”

She cast a surprised look my way from beneath lowered lids. “Of course. I explored as thoroughly as I could once I identified this as the spot the demon had gone to ground.”

The advantages of having a sidekick reared up and slapped me. Again. Her magic was stronger than mine, and far more versatile. For one thing, she could fly. And teleport.

“Quiet,” her voice rolled through my mind. I took it as a rebuke and put a lid on my thoughts as we backtracked toward the tunnel entrances.

The same brightness that had lit up the night sparked from ahead. A guttural language, heavy on consonants, buzzed, growing louder as we moved nearer. Demonspeak. An enormous wolf fell in next to us. Silver with dark guard hairs, his shoulder was nearly as tall as mine. Amber eyes were hooded. I’d

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