AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Darius lifts a hand and knocks.
A slit at eye level opens, and poisonous, yellow eyes stare out at us. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Darius of Fumontis and Lady Merripen Cay here to see the Terror from Beneath,” Darius announces.
“One moment.” The panel slams shut.
I turn to watch the stairs leading to the surface level, one hand on the baton at my belt. This rickety set of steps could easily transform into a kill box if the wrong demon notices we’re down here waiting like sitting ducks.
“Will Nickodemus see us without an appointment?” I ask in a low voice, aware of how sound travels.
Darius’s hot hand touches my back. “Curiosity will get us through the door, but we may have to deal with some theatrics so we know our place in his kingdom.”
After several minutes pass, a clunk sounds from within, and the door swings outward, forcing us back onto the stairs to make room. A scent of damp earth sweeps out of the space beyond, and flickering light illuminates the entry.
The same yellow-eyed demon glares down at us, towering above the door frame. Gray skin clings to its androgynous, skeletal body, and stringy, black hair hangs to its shoulders.
Its nostrils flare, and its lower jaw unhinges to reveal three rows of sharp teeth, letting us know we face a fully grown boogeyman.
Long, triple-jointed fingers curl toward us, the black claws at their tips wickedly sharp, while the mouth below its protruding ribcage hisses, “The Terror from Beneath will see you.”
The fire in Darius’s hand snuffs out, and he steps forward, forcing the boogeyman to take a step to the side, away from me. “We are honored by his magnanimity.”
My gaze sweeps over The Cellar as we walk farther inside. The space is little more than a large room carved out of the earth beneath the bar above, with heavy wooden beams supporting the structure.
The earth under my shoes gives with every step as we walk in a circuitous path around small hills of dirt. I frown at the number of mounds. We’re not early enough in the day for so many boogeymen to be slumbering.
The flickering light in the room comes from candles mounted to the rough-hewn beams, which makes it difficult to count how many boogeymen there are. Deep pockets of shadows against the walls speak to more dwellings within the earth.
The king of the boogeymen lounges in a pocket of shadows at the back of the room, his large body sprawls across a rug made of human hair draped over a mound of bones.
He looks much like our escort, though he attempts to humanize himself by wearing a fitted black shirt that ends at his rib cage and a pair of slacks that do nothing to hide the sharp protrusions of his joints.
“Ahh, the royal couple, back together again. How delicious,” the mouth in his stomach hisses.
He bares his front row of teeth at us in greeting. “It has not been long since you last came begging for favors, Darius of Fumontis, and with Lady Merripen at your side. Have you done away with the fire witch, then?”
Darius bows at the waist, dipping a few inches. “Greetings, Terror from Beneath. You humble us with your acceptance of our unannounced visit.”
“Such empty words from such pretty lips,” his lower mouth hisses.
“I agree. Court flattery has no place here.” Nickodemus strokes his pointy ribs. “Be blunt about your business. I expected you months ago. That it took so long for you to come leaves me annoyed.”
Darius straightens with uncertainty. “We did not have a reason to come until today.”
“Not you, perhaps.” Nickodemus’s yellow eyes shift to me. “Butyoudid. And that police captain of yours.”
“We were only informed of the city’s intention this morning,” I tell him. “And we came directly to the Bone Yard.”
“But there were whispers.” He tilts his head to the side to study me. “You had an inkling. Your captain had more than that.”
I pull back my shoulders. “If we acted on every inkling, we’d be chasing shadows with no end.”
“No, instead you chase demons that are not demons.” Before I can question that statement, he waves one clawed hand through the air. “Go ahead. Enthrall me with your negotiation skills.”
This is not how I expected our meeting to go, and I take a deep breath to recenter my thoughts. “The council of Clearhelm would like to make a small part of the Bone Yard safe for humans. It will draw more money into the city, and by default, more business to this district.”
The mouth in Nickodemus’s stomach cackles. “There’s nothing that stops humans from entering the Bone Yard. Let them come.”
