to help herself, but Francis intervened.
“Not yet, girl.”
The car obeyed, but Francis could tell she wasn’t the least bit happy. Her engine was idling loudly, and she bounced on her shocks in anger.
“But if our friend here doesn’t talk soon . . .”
“I’m not going to talk,” the Harvester said defiantly. “For generations my family has served the Bone Masters, and I am not about to abandon their trust. Feed me to the vehicle, and I hope it chokes on my bones!”
Leona surged forward, her open mouth less than an inch from the demon’s terrified face.
Francis put his hand between Leona’s grill and the Harvester’s face. “Back it up, would you, girl?” he asked.
She revved angrily, refusing to move.
“Please,” he encouraged her nicely.
Abruptly, she did just that, her back wheels screeching on the hard surface of the pocket world as she reversed.
“That’s a good girl,” he soothed before turning his attention back to the Harvester. He was running out of time and was considering killing the demon and using his scalpel to extract the information, but something told him he’d be best served by leaving the demon alive. But another idea niggled at the back of his mind.
He squatted down before the Harvester. “Your family has served the Bone Masters for generations, is that right?” he asked.
The Harvester remained silent, refusing to even look at Francis.
“So for hundreds of years, your entire family has collected these eggs,” Francis continued anyway. He gestured to the cave behind him. “Collecting these eggs in your little baskets and bringing them back to the home world.”
Francis fell silent for a few moments, and the only sound to be heard upon the world was Leona’s engine purring in anticipation. Finally, the Harvester looked at him.
“I’ve had an interesting thought,” Francis told him, smiling and raising his eyebrows. “This is the only world where these special critters exist, am I right?”
The Harvester did not answer, but the look in his dark, beady eyes said volumes.
“All over this tiny, special world are eggs designated for young Bone Master assassins to be. Now, here’s a scary thought.” Francis looked out over the landscape. “What would happen if there weren’t any eggs?”
He locked eyes with the demon.
“What if somebody had, say, planted explosives inside all the caves—explosives that could be detonated with just the push of a button.”
The Harvester’s eyes were so large now that they looked as though they might pop from their sockets. Francis reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver object, allowing his thumb to dance along the top of it.
“What about that? I’m sure the Bone Masters would be pretty annoyed if something like that were to happen, never mind the spirits of your forefathers.”
“Please . . . ,” the demon begged. “Do no harm to the eggs . . . please.”
Francis slipped the object back into his coat pocket and studied the demon. The Harvester seemed to grow smaller, his defiant posture deflating.
“Then take me to your home world.” Francis waited, knowing that his ruse had worked.
The Harvester looked up at him then, defeat in his horrible demon eyes. “I will take you.”
Francis rose to his feet, his knees cracking noisily as he did.
“Outstanding,” he said with a smile. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
• • •
Above the pit, the Filthies were screaming.
Remy looked up, trying to see what was happening, but could only make out furious movements of panic and a sound that he recognized as the release of magickal energies.
“What the fuck is going on up there?” Baarabus growled.
Remy didn’t have a clue but was desperate to find out. He ran to the wall of the pit, searching for handholds. He decided he would try to climb out.
Looking around at the litter-strewn floor of the pit, he found another, thicker piece of bone, likely a thighbone, and snapped off its end. He then went to the wall and started to dig handholds to begin his ascent.
Leila and Anthony waited below for him to get a good start before they began to follow.
“Hope you’re not expecting me to get out the same way,” the demon dog called up to him.
“We’ll get you out as soon as we reach topside,” Remy said, digging the jagged end of bone into the crumbling grout and broken tile, gouging out a place for his fingers.
The screams above were louder, more frantic, and Remy experienced an odd sensation inside him. Even though he’d gotten the fiery power under control, it was as if something on