The Book of Doom - By Barry Hutchison Page 0,47
stalked slowly back towards them. He was holding a pair of metal tongs and using them to carry a small silver flask.
Zac turned to Angelo. “What do you drink? Plutonium?”
The flask was set carefully on the table beside Angelo. Steropes quickly backed away, visibly relaxing as he did.
“Holy water,” Argus explained. “Lethal to demons. Your favourite, I believe, yes?”
Angelo’s eyes lit up with excitement. “You’re not wrong there.” He unscrewed the lid of the flask and sniffed the contents.
“From eighteen seventy-eight. A very good year, I am told,” Argus said. “Blessed by Pope Pius the Ninth himself, mere days before his death.”
Angelo took a sip. He licked his lips, then smacked them together. “Yummy scrummy in my tummy,” he said. He grinned at Zac, who rolled his eyes in response.
“You said you knew what was in the tenth circle of Hell,” said Zac, steering the conversation back to more important matters.
Argus gave Steropes a nod as the Cyclops set a glass of dark red liquid down in front of him. “I did not say this. You said this.”
Zac frowned. “What?”
“I do not know what is in the tenth circle of Hell.”
“I thought you saw everything?” said Herya.
“I do,” nodded Argus. “Or I did. I knew many moons ago that they were starting work on the new circle. I saw them cut the turf and lay the very foundations, watched them build it brick by brick.”
“So what happened?”
“They did not build a door,” Argus explained. “Or windows. They have it locked down tight, sealed so the eyes of Argus cannot see in. Whatever they are doing down there, they do not want anyone knowing about it.”
“Wow,” said Zac quietly. “That must really kill you.”
Argus’s head twitched, as if he were shaking off a fly. “Yes,” he admitted. “It does. When you’re used to seeing everything, having a blind spot is very... troubling. Which is why I have a proposal for you.”
“What sort of proposal?”
“A – what is the word – a collaboration of sorts,” Argus said. “If I help you get to Hell and tell you what I know of the tenth circle, can you find a way inside?”
“Yes,” said Zac without hesitation.
Argus nodded. “Then I propose just that. I arrange for you to be transported to Hell, and give you some tools that may be of use. The rest is up to you. Once inside, you may retrieve your book and do with it as you will. It is of no interest to me.”
“And what’s in it for you?” asked Zac.
“Knowledge,” Argus shrugged. “This is all. I would ask that you leave an eye or two of mine behind when you make your escape. This is not too much to ask, I think?”
Zac looked to his companions. Angelo shrugged. Herya glanced away.
“OK. We can do that.”
“I am very glad to hear it,” Argus replied. He held his arms out to the side, dropped to one knee, then bounced back up again. “We celebrate with dance, yes?”
Angelo stood up. “Conga, conga, cong-a!”
Zac shot him a withering glare, and Angelo reluctantly sat back down again.
“We’ll probably just shoot off,” Zac said. “If it’s all the same to you.”
“Very well. But you should know, Zac,” said Argus, “about Haures.”
“The Duke of Hell guy? What about him?”
“He knows you are coming. He wants you to come.”
Zac paused while this new information sank in. “Why?”
“That I do not know,” Argus admitted. “But Haures is a monster.”
“Says the man with the child-skin statue.”
“Haha. There are different types of monster, Zac, some worse than others. Whatever Haures wants you for, I cannot imagine it is anything good.”
“Right,” said Zac. “I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“As will I,” said the demon. Argus slapped himself on the belly. It made a sound like the cracking of a whip, and every part of him from his neck to his waistband rippled. “Are you ready, Zac Corgan?” he asked. “Are you ready to mount your assault on the domain of Satan himself?”
Zac stood and looked the demon squarely in the nipples. “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Why the Hell not?”
“ABRIEL, THERE YOU are. Have you brought news?”
“Not much, sir, I’m afraid.”
“Has he got the book yet?”
“Alas, no, sir. Not yet. The operation is ongoing.”
“Hang it all. What’s taking them so long?”
“The methods they are employing are... unexpected, sir.”
“Oh? How so?”
“They went to Asgard, for starters. Entered the Hall of Valhalla and had something of a falling-out with Odin. Young Angelo got... upset.”
“How upset?”
“Very upset, sir. If you know what I mean?”
“Of