The Burning Kingdoms - Sally Green Page 0,79

kill you. Tash moved her hand from Frost’s mouth to put her weight on Frost’s shoulder.

Are you trying to get the smoke? Need a little fix, do you?

No. I hate the stuff. I want the key to the cage. So that I can let the smoke out.

Now why on earth would you want to do that?

It’s not yours. It’s not for you to take.

Tash waited for a reply, but there was only silence. She had to look down to check her hand was touching Frost’s shoulder. It was touching skin to skin. Why couldn’t she hear Frost’s thoughts?

Strange, isn’t it? Silence? But you’re not silent at all. Your little pea-brain is racing around. You’re like a headless chicken.

If I’m headless, I can’t have a pea-brain, so shut up about that.

And suddenly a vision came to Tash—a headless chicken racing around in circles.

Stop that! Tash pressed the knife harder against Frost’s neck, but she merely smiled, and in Tash’s vision more chickens joined in, all headless, all racing round and round, dozens of them.

Stop it! You’ll be the one without a head if you’re not careful.

If you were going to kill me, you’d have killed me. I don’t know what you really want, but you’re not very good at getting it. You’re not good at anything are you, Pea-Brain?

I can tunnel through stone.

At that Frost frowned and her eyes flitted to the tunnel Tash had made.

Tash raised her eyebrows. Not such a pea-brain after all, am I?

But she got no reply—there was nothing but a sort of strange emptiness. It was as if Frost was deliberately cutting all her thoughts off from Tash while she thought about this. Finally, she spoke again.

So, you like the demons, do you?

Yes. And I want to know what’s happening to them. You know, don’t you?

There’s a special one, isn’t there? I can see you trying not to think of him. Oh, right, you’ve given him a name—Twist. How sweet. Do you call him that because that’s how he kills people—by twisting their heads off?

No! He’s called Twist, ’cause of the markings on his face. He . . .

He’s what? A nice demon? Oh, but I see he imprisoned you in stone. Maybe not so nice then?

Twist didn’t imprison me. And anyway, I got out.

Silence again, but not for so long this time.

So how do you do it?

Tash smiled. She’d been wondering why Frost hadn’t called for help or tried to get free—she wanted information from Tash as much as Tash wanted information from her.

I can get information out of your head without those buffoons. If they come, they’ll probably slit your throat.

Maybe you can get the information out of my head, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to tunnel like me. I guess I’ve just got the knack.

So what’s this knack?

You tell me about the demons first. How many are left? What are they doing?

We’ve killed a few, but mostly they’re hiding. It’s all very dull. The soldiers throw dead bodies into the core pit; new demons come out. They’re killed, and the smoke is collected and piled up here. Commander Fallon is happy.

Fallon. Is he the soldier you go around with?

I don’t go around with him; he goes around with me. He’d know nothing if it wasn’t for me. He’s another pea-brain. He just wants smoke, smoke, and more smoke.

And you help him get it.

They need the smoke to fight their war—and lots of it. You should have seen the cage last week. It was full to the roof before they sent it off to the boys’ brigades. It’s getting easier too—the amount of smoke in the core is growing, and the new demons are being born out of it faster and faster. Which I can see is something you’re interested in . . .

Frost smiled. Her teeth were rotten, and her eyes glowed lilac in the light, just like a demon’s. Then she frowned. My teeth aren’t rotten.

Are too. But the demons are putting themselves into the core of smoke. I’ve seen them. Why are they doing that?

Frost grinned. Now that information is a bit too valuable for the likes of you.

Tell me, and I’ll teach you how to tunnel.

No deal, Pea-Brain. I’m sure tunneling is fun, but I’m get-ting out of here soon, and then I’m never going in a tunnel again.

After you’ve killed all the demons, you mean? You and these horrible soldiers.

If I didn’t help them, they’d just find someone else. Anyway, why shouldn’t I? At the end of

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