The Demonata 6-10. Darren Shan

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      I stop abruptly. He called Bill-E my brother. Of course Lord Loss knew about that – Bill-E was infected with the family curse – but Bill-E didn’t. We never told him. I try looking past the demon master, to catch my half-brother’s gaze, but Lord Loss is blocking the view.

      “Yes, Grubitsch,” the monster purrs. “I told him. We spent quite an amount of time tonight discussing how you kept the truth from him and ran away when the going got tough, leaving him behind for me as an offering.”

      “That’s not true!” I shout. “Don’t believe him, Bill-E. I–”

      “That’s not important now,” Beranabus interrupts. “I want to know who’s the mastermind behind this? What foul hellspawn are you working for? Who organised the demons and gave them orders to come running when the tunnel opens?”

      Lord Loss frowns. “You know about our plan?”

      “Obviously. Now tell me who’s behind it.”

      The demon master chuckles. “No, Beranabus. You have been very clever. But if you do not know the full magnitude of the force you’ve chosen to pit yourself against, I will not enlighten you. It’s not my job to explain. Do your own detective work. I am sure you and your capable assistants can…”

      He pauses, catching sight of the eyeless Kernel Fleck. “But what is this? What happened to poor Cornelius?”

      “Never mind,” Beranabus snaps. “I want to know about–”

      “I recognise those wounds,” Lord Loss continues, raising his voice. “Those are the marks of my familiar, Spine. Such trademark injuries are unmistakable. I can even see some of his maggoty offspring embedded in the bloodied pits. It must have been a recent attack. But Spine has been with me the whole time.” He looks back at his familiar. The scorpion with the semi-human face stares at him blankly.

      “And your hair,” Lord Loss says, facing us again. “You’re as hairless as myself. You’ve been in a fight of great viciousness. Spine seems to have been in it too. But how…?”

      “Tell us about the demon who set you up to this and I’ll tell you about our fight,” Beranabus grins.

      “If I thought you were genuine, I’d happily make that deal,” Lord Loss replies. “I sense great magic and mystery in this. If I did not know better, I would say…” He trails off into silence, then sneers. “But I know you, Beranabus. You are a rogue. You would renege on your promise and tell me nothing. So I’ll hold my tongue and torture the truth out of the boys once I’ve defeated you.”

      “Nay,” Beranabus snorts. “Secrecy and surprise were the only advantages you had. Now that we’ve thwarted you, you must face us openly, on our world, where your powers are diminished. You can’t beat us. If you abandon the spells and leave, I’ll let you walk away and settle for sealing this place off. But if you force us to fight, we’ll kill you all. Even those of you who have died before.”

      “Ah,” Lord Loss chuckles. “You’ve seen through Miss Swan’s disguise.”

      “I knew her for a cuckoo the moment I laid eyes on her,” Beranabus says as Juni continues to chant, not glancing round even though she’s the subject of their conversation. “It took me a while to pierce the illusion, but I knew of her true face long before she moved against Grubbs.”

      “What are you talking about?” I mutter.

      “Watch,” Beranabus says and murmurs the words of a quick spell, waving a hand at Juni. Lord Loss makes no move to defend her. He’s loving this. As I stare at Juni, her flesh ripples. She stops chanting and cries out, but with surprise not pain. Her hands dart to her face and she turns sharply, flashing a furious glare at Beranabus. Dervish gives a muffled cry of shock and jerks away from her.

      Her face has changed completely. Much plainer. Bad acne scars. Dirty, short blonde hair. Blue eyes. A sullen expression. Quite fat. Pale skin, but not as white as her albino flesh. She appears younger than before, maybe mid-to late-twenties.

      “What’s happening?” Kernel asks.

      Before I can tell him, Juni shrieks in a voice entirely unlike her own, “Give me back my face, you swine!”

      Kernel’s forehead creases. “Nadia?” he gasps.

      “You have a good ear,” Lord Loss purrs. “Shame about the eyes.”

      “Nadia Moore,” Beranabus snorts. “Another distant relative of yours, Grubbs, and once one of my closest assistants. I thought she died in Lord Loss’s kingdom many years ago, but it seems she merely switched allegiances and created a new look for herself.”

      “Cornelius knew,” Lord Loss says with relish. “Not about her rebirth as Juni Swan, but about her survival, the trick she pulled to escape your tyrannical rule. He kept it a secret from you, Beranabus. Perhaps he has other secrets. Are you certain you can trust him?”

      Bernabus sniffs away the jibe. “I prefer you this way, Nadia,” he says. “Reality’s more attractive than façade. You should have kept your original face.”

      “I’m not Nadia Moore,” Juni snarls. “She died, just the way you saw it. I put everything about her behind me — her name, features, loyalties. I’m Juni Swan now and always will be, even if you’ve disabled my glamour.”

      “I felt guilty when you were killed,” Beranabus says softly. “About as guilty as I’ve ever felt in my long, wretched life. But I won’t feel anything when you die a second time, when I kill you myself.” His expression hardens and he addresses Lord Loss. “My offer stands. Walk away now and we won’t interfere — I’ll even let Nadia leave too. If you stay, you die.”

      “A generous offer,” Lord Loss says. “If you had the backing of your Disciples, perhaps I’d be inclined to accept and slaughter you another time — I prefer to fight when the odds are in my favour. But you come only with a blind boy and a cur who has already proven his cowardice. And though you yourself are a fearsome opponent, you’re only one man. And no man, no matter how powerful, has ever got the better of a demon master. So, in answer to your offer…”

      Lord Loss smirks vilely, then screeches unintelligibly at his familiars. With ear-piercing howls of delight, the demons attack.

      THE HIGH…

      → Artery and Lord Loss hurl themselves at Beranabus. The scorpion-shaped Spine targets Kernel, eager to finish the job which it doesn’t remember starting. Femur sets its sights on me.

      It’s almost comical watching the rabbit bound towards me. It’s like a sick cartoon, Bugs Bunny gone batty, leaping on people to plant a great smacker of a kiss on them. Except this creature’s acidic smooch will melt a person’s face and leave them a smouldering, sizzling mess — not the sort of fare you’d usually find in a Looney Tunes flick.

      Femur spits acid in mid-air. It spurts towards me, a sheet of liquid death. Directed by the magic inside me, I wave my left hand at the deadly juice. It divides and hisses past my head, hitting a couple of stalagmites behind me, quickly eating into them and eroding the work of thousands of years.

      The rabbit’s leap brings it within reach. I grab its neck and twist sharply. The neck breaks СКАЧАТЬ