“I . . .” Catherine knew she had changed and her circum-stances had definitely changed, but what about her feelings toward Ambrose?
He took another step closer. “My feelings are the same, Catherine. I love you still. May I?”
And he bent and kissed her hand. His lips were soft and gentle on her skin, his breath warm, and the physical pull to him was wonderful . . .
Catherine leaned toward him and murmured, “Sir Ambrose . . .”
“Sir Ambrose!” Tanya hissed.
Catherine jumped back, pulling her hand free as if burned.
“Tanya,” said Ambrose, standing upright. “Good after-noon.”
Tanya put her hands on her hips and looked from Am-brose to Catherine. “Discussing the mission, were you?”
“Actually, yes,” Ambrose replied. “Communication without words is something we need in the demon world.”
And he came to Catherine and lifted her hand again, pressing his lips hard against her skin, letting her feel his breath. Then he raised his head, slid his hand from hers, and walked out of the tent.
Catherine watched him leave.
What would they be doing now if Tanya hadn’t appeared? How could something be wrong when it felt so wonderful?
TASH
DEMON TUNNELS
YOU’RE ALIVE—POSSIBLY. Maybe you’re dead, though. All you know is that it’s black, silent, and stone-cold.
The black is the darkest black. There’s stone all around, except you can’t see it. It’s the same whether your eyes are open or shut—black.
The silence is total.
Shut-in-a-box-and-left-alone silence.
But inside . . .
It’s shitting noisy in my head. Shitting, shitting, scary noisy. And I can hear my own breathing, which has to mean I’m still alive, doesn’t it, but this is no way to be living and the voice in my head is so loud at times—LIKE NOW—that I think I’m going MAD, MAD, MAD, or dreaming it all and I’ll wake up, but I don’t ever wake up, and maybe this is just the start of madness and maybe madness is better than death. And that’s when I know for sure that I’m not mad or dead, I’m shitting trapped in stone and really, really, really shitting cold. No one should be this cold. Cold to the bone.
Though I’ve been colder.
There was that storm when me and Gravell were stuck for three days in a snow hole with just Gravell’s farts to keep us warm. It certainly wasn’t silent then, with him letting off.
Tash tried to laugh, but tears ran down her face and she sobbed.
Black, silent, cold, AND alone.
I’m not afraid of dying or even going mad, but I don’t want it to hurt and I want someone with me to hold my hand and I hate this. I want Gravell and his stinking farts so, so badly.
The demons had left her here and let the stone walls creep in on her, trapping her in this tiny space about the size of a coffin.
Why did they do this to me?
The walls had crept toward her but they’d long since stopped moving in. Tash had no idea why. She wasn’t sure if the demons wanted her to die or just to imprison her. She clung to a hope that they hadn’t allowed her to die—so perhaps this was a punishment.
And maybe they know I’m really, really sorry and I really, really don’t ever want to hurt a demon ever again. And if they know that, then maybe they’ll let me out.
They’ve got to let me out soon.
Haven’t they?
AMBROSE
ARMY CAMP, NORTHERN PITORIA
IT HAD taken a few days but, with Geratan’s help, Am-brose had chosen fifty men for his mission and they were standing before him now, all fit and healthy, a mix of white-hairs and blue-hairs.
“Congratulations on being selected to join my brigade, men. I’ve seen each of you fight and had the pleasure of fac-ing a few of you on the practice ground.” Ambrose had done this partly to test the men but also to show them his own skills; the men needed to believe in him, and needed to be-lieve their leader could fight despite his limp.
“We have a special mission. The Brigantines are collect-ing purple demon smoke. Our task is to stop them. To do that, we will have to go into the demon world. It’s a strange and dangerous place, but I have been there and come back safely, and I’m going to bring you all back too.”
The faces of the men showed no fear. In fact, most were grinning and one called out, “Let us at ’em!”
“The demon world itself is not to be feared, but it is not a world like this one.