The Underground City (The Lily Harper Series) by H.P. Mallory

Author:H.P. Mallory [Mallory, H.P.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2014-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

“Envy and arrogance and avarice are the three sparks that have all hearts enkindled.”

– Dante’s Inferno

NINE

Just as Alaire promised, we found the Jag waiting for us outside his office building. As soon as we climbed in, it drove us through the Underground City, dropping us off at the gates that would return us to the Dark Wood. None of us said a word during the trip. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if the Jag was bugged, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it must’ve been. So I decided to postpone my questions for Tallis about everything that went on in Alaire’s office until we were far away from any possible eavesdroppers. Since Tallis wasn’t much of a talker anyway, I couldn’t say his silence surprised me. Bill’s reticence, on the other hand, alarmed me until I concluded that Bill was probably just as exhausted as Tallis and I.

Once we crossed through the Underground City’s main gates and were “safely” ensconced in the darkness of the haunted wood, I caught up with Tallis. As usual, he had a good six-foot lead on Bill and me. “So, what was that all about?” I inquired, finding it difficult to keep up with him. The path we were on wasn’t really a path at all. It was more like an obstacle course of dead tree limbs scattered here and there on the uneven terrain of the forest floor.

Tallis didn’t reply right away. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on the ground until I wondered if he’d even heard my question at all. Or, for that matter, if he noticed that I was walking right beside him. In the bright light of the moon, which filtered through the dead branches and trunks of the skeletal trees, I could make out the redness of his cheeks. His jaw was still as tight as it was in Alaire’s office. Any way I looked at him, Tallis had the overall appearance of a man who seemed extremely pissed off.

“Um, hello?” I continued, wanting, no, needing the answers to the questions that incessantly plagued me. First, I was dying to know about the hushed conversation I partially overheard between Tallis and Alaire. More specifically, what Alaire was talking about when he appeared to be making some sort of deal with Tallis concerning me.

“Whit was whit aboot?” the Bladesmith replied, never taking his eyes off the ground. I noticed his hands were balled up into fists at his sides and his knuckles were so white, the skin looked like a cadaver’s. Yep, something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark, or Tallis’s head, whatever the case may have been.

“What just happened with Alaire!” I demanded impatiently, throwing my hands up into the air with frustration. “What else would I be talking about?”

Tallis shook his head and sighed before casting the briefest of glances my way. He’d been scowling for so long, the ghosts of frown lines remained on his forehead, despite his now neutral expression. “Naethin’ happened with Alaire.”

“Nothing?” I repeated, sounding unconvinced and possibly dumbfounded.

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