Until Death: An Underworld Monster Romance by Ava Hall

Author:Ava Hall [Hall, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

12

MARNIE

If Gluttony was a vibrant, colorful Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, then Greed was a bleak, gray, Dickensian evening in Victorian-era London. Every brick in the buildings, every stone on the cobblestone streets, and even every speck of dirt seemed to exude a sense of misery. There was no color save for the glimpses I saw in the shop windows. The clothing on the demons and their chained souls was vintage yet lavish. Not one item looked like it had been fashionable past 1900, but it all looked exceedingly stuffy and expensive. The demons dripped with jewels and pocket watches under their suits and petticoats. Shopfronts had cracked glass windows and displayed an odd assortment of items. Some windows were filled with glittering jewels and golden coins, which were, of course, tantalizingly out of reach. Others showcased cheap, shoddy goods that still had impossibly high price tags. Everything seemed made to both catch your eye and bankrupt any avaricious souls nearby. A thick fog rolled over the whole scene, and it felt like Jack the Ripper could step out of an alleyway at any second. Once again, at least Gabe was the devil I knew, and despite any lingering reservations I had about him, I quickly gripped his arm tightly.

“You’re sure we can find some good food around here?” I asked nervously.

“We have to go more toward the docks, but it’ll be okay,” he reassured me.

I saw how his eyes snapped to and fro, sweeping the street around us. Gabe had been constantly vigilant since we’d stood near the river. He was paranoid about something, but it was starting to seem like it was more than just my status as a living soul. It almost looked like he was searching for someone specific, but I knew if I asked him outright, he’d dodge my question. I knew he thought he was brushing off my questions easily enough, and I knew my chatter was probably wearing thin, but it was a calculated move. The sort of breezy, flighty thing worked on most men, or at least on earthly men, and it was the things Gabe wasn’t saying that were telling enough. I knew he was hiding more than one big secret, I knew he hadn’t just happened upon me at the river, and I knew there was more than one thing we were running from. I had the impression that Gabe was on the run from something bigger than both of us, some kind of situation he’d managed to get himself in even before I arrived. I was going to get it out of him, eventually. Like it or not, I needed him, and he’d been an ally so far. I needed him with me, and I didn’t want him to be distracted.

The cobblestone streets were winding and disorienting, like a Burton-esque nightmare that zigged and zagged with no apparent order. Everything seemed slick with perpetual drizzle, and I slipped more than once while we headed toward the docks. I noted a thick sludge lake in the distance, the color of the water as crude and black as motor oil.

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