Hellforged

I set the glass down and wiped my mouth. Everything in the pub was exactly as it had been before I’d gotten sucked into that alternate reality. Tables and chairs were upright, arranged as usual. Bottles lined up in their places behind the bar. The bayoneted rifle hung where it always had. The young couple and the farmer were gone, but it was closing time. I surreptitiously checked for my knife. Missing. My heart lurched and I checked the other sheath, but Hellforged was there, strapped into place and jumping in time with my booming pulse.

“Sorry, Jenkins,” I said. “I guess I lost track of the time.” I stood and carried my glass over to the bar. “Thanks for the drink, Mr. Cadogan.”

“Sure you won’t have another? The pub’s closed, but there’s no reason we can’t have a quick tipple amongst friends.”

Jenkins squinted at me, concern showing in his face. “Vicky looks tired,” he said. “I’m a bit knackered myself. We’d best be getting home.”

“Are you sure? I’ve got another ghost story to try out on Vicky. She can tell me whether American tourists would like it.”

“Let’s save it for another day, Mr. Cadogan.” It would be a long, long time before I was ready to hear another story about Spooky Lil. “I’m probably not the best judge, anyway. I don’t believe in ghosts.”

At least, I didn’t think I did.

25

JENKINS WAS QUIET AS WE DROVE HOME, GIVING ME THE opportunity to talk about what had happened, but not pressing, either. I didn’t feel like discussing it. How could I when I wasn’t sure what had happened?

Second, a battle in the world between the worlds. I’d just fought my way through the second test—that was clear. Wherever I’d been tonight, it was like nowhere I’d gone before, in the human or the demon plane. But what had I been fighting? A ghost? A demon? Both?

At Maenllyd, the kitchen was empty. Rose would be home at her cottage at this hour, and Mab had gone to bed. She left out a jar of the anti-dreaming tea on the table. I filled the kettle with water. When it boiled, I spooned two teaspoons of the herbs into a teapot. I reached for the kettle, then stopped and added a third teaspoon of herbs to make sure the mixture would do its thing. I poured hot water into the pot, got a mug, and waited for the tea to brew.

When the tea was ready, I carried the mug up the back stairs to the third floor. I changed into the warm flannel nightgown and climbed into bed, pulling the covers over my lap and sitting back against the pillows, the mug warm in my hands. I drank it all, then scooted down and closed my eyes. As I lay in my narrow bed, feeling warm and safe, I wondered drowsily about the creature—or creatures—I’d battled at the Cross and Crow. Wondered where, exactly, “the world between the worlds” was. Then the gray haze of sleep enclosed me, and I stopped wondering about anything at all.

A PHONE WAS RINGING. BUT THAT COULDN’T BE RIGHT; MAB didn’t have a phone. Plus I was still asleep, and I’d swigged a whole mug of extra-strong tea to make sure I didn’t dream. Therefore, I reasoned in my sleep, a phone couldn’t be ringing.

Still, the phone rang.

I let my attention probe toward the sound. A black-and-olive cloud appeared and thickened into a dense fog. A dream-phone call. But I didn’t know anyone with those colors. I waited, peering through the bruise-colored mist to see who was contacting me. A figure stepped forward. Pryce.

“Don’t call me cousin,” I said, before he could speak. “In fact, don’t call me at all.”

I concentrated to bring the fog back. To hang up on him, I only had to summon enough mist to obscure his features. Not as satisfying as slamming a door in his face, but it would do.

“Wait.” He extended his hands and pressed downward, lowering the fog I’d stirred up. “I didn’t call you. You called me.”

I scowled, and lightning flashed a couple of times as thunder rumbled. “That’s a lie.”

“You asked a question, and I know the answer.” He bowed. “I hastened to be of service.”

“Well, how about you hasten to get out of here?”

“Don’t you want to know about tonight’s test? I’m happy to explain all. Difethwr will not trouble you tonight. You have my word.”

I wouldn’t trade a gum wrapper for Pryce’s word, but it would be helpful to know what I’d fought so I’d be prepared if I ever had to face it again. “All right. Explain.”

Pryce snapped his fingers and a chair appeared. A ridiculous-looking chair—all golden curlicues and plush red cushioning, like a throne. Pryce the Demon King. Hah. He sat down, crossed his legs, and clasped his knee. “The ‘world between the worlds’ is Limbo.”

“You mean Purgatory?”

“Yes and no. Mostly no. That’s one way the norms have attempted to explain Limbo but, as with most things, they got it wrong.” He sneered. “Limbo is a border region between Uffern and the Ordinary. It is of both but belongs to neither. And so it is the home of things that belong to neither realm.”

“Like ghosts.”

He rolled his eyes and laughed. “Please, cousin, let’s not be superstitious. There’s no such thing as ghosts. But there are forms. Bits and pieces of Uffern or the Ordinary that, for whatever reason, can no longer dwell in their original realm. These things seep into Limbo. Generally, they merely exist there. But they can be put to use.”

“So that’s what you did tonight.” Whatever was left of Lil—or maybe just the idea of her that Mr. Cadogan had fostered all these years—had been used to attack me.

“Strictly speaking, it was Cysgod who did the work. Cysgod caused Limbo to rise around you. Cysgod manipulated the form you perceived as a ghost. When you got lucky with your water gun, Cysgod stepped in to continue the test.”

“Why didn’t it die when I stabbed it with the bayonet?”

“Nothing dies in Limbo. Not even you would have died tonight; you’d simply have remained trapped in the world between the worlds.” He laughed again, with a nasty edge. “Probably that idiotic barman, Cadogan, would have added you to his collection of ghosts. But you did cause Cysgod to withdraw to Uffern to regain strength. When that happened, Limbo dropped away, and you returned to the Ordinary.”

“How did you know I’d be at the Cross and Crow tonight?”

“Difethwr, of course. Thanks to your bond, the Hellion is constantly aware of your location. If I care to know where you are, Difethwr informs me.”

So that’s why Pryce was always showing up—the Destroyer told him where to find me. Wherever I went, Pryce could pop out of the demon plane, right into my face. Wonderful.

He sat back, settling in, and snapped his fingers again. Instantly he held a huge, golden, gem-studded goblet. Tacky. He tipped the goblet and drank deeply, then smacked his lips. “And so, cousin, you survived test number two.” He held up two fingers, then waggled his hand in a so-so gesture. “If I were grading you, I’d give you a D- minus. You bumbled through, but frankly you showed no finesse whatsoever.”

“I’m not interested in proving myself to you.” I plucked the goblet from his hand and threw it on the ground. “So we can skip the third test, whatever it is. You can say I failed it, if that makes you happy.”

“If you fail the next test, you die. That’s how it works.” He shrugged. “I understand your reluctance to proceed. You’ve barely squeaked by so far. Mab rescued you the first time, and tonight you survived through dumb luck. You’re worried that someone of your inferiority won’t make a suitable consort for me. I have concerns about that myself. The more I see of you, the more I doubt the prophecy refers to you.”

Arrogant bastard. Again, I started to summon the mist that would end the call, but then I had an idea. I’d have to put up with him for a few minutes more, but it might be worth it.

“And here I thought you were hot for me.” As I spoke, I set up a mental shield, partitioning off part of my