The Demon Collector (29 page)

Edgy stood mute. He thought about Slouch, paralysed by sloth, and Madame Lillith, reduced to a shrivelled husk of envy.

Salomé sighed. She suddenly sounded old and weary. ‘This was the last game. The last challenge. This island will sink soon and I think we’ll go with it. It won’t rise again.’

‘You can drown if you want to,’ Edgy said. ‘But you owe me – I freed you from the demon pearl. I command you to send me back to the Royal Society.’

‘See?’ Salomé smiled. Her black hair had strands of grey in it now. Worry and age lined her face. ‘So selfish, humans. They don’t know when it’s time to give up. That might be one difference. Very well.’ She rummaged in her skirts and produced the spiral dagger that Janus had tried to kill Edgy with. Edgy’s heart gave a lurch.

‘What’s that for?’ Edgy took a step back.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll do what you ask. You might find this useful, that’s all. It’s the Devil’s Dagger. Made by Satan himself. Janus sharpened it to a razor’s edge but it could be blunt as a mallet and still do its job.’ She handed the dagger to him, handle first.

‘Which is?’ Edgy murmured, taking it gingerly.

‘To kill Satan himself,’ Salomé sighed. ‘You know the story. He always wanted to be mortal.’

‘One of his games,’ Edgy said, remembering the tale of the hunter.

‘Yes,’ Salomé smiled, something of her old looks flaring back for a second, ‘in happier times.’

‘So what d’you want me to do with it?’ Edgy asked, staring at the dagger in his hand.

‘Whatever you see fit,’ Salomé said. ‘I don’t care any more. But remember: if you decide to use it, then your life is forfeit.’

The cavern gave a shudder, dislodging a few loose shards of ice from the roof. Meltwater began to pour from the walls, trickling down the stone face of Moloch and spouting from between his teeth.

‘You see,’ Salomé shouted, her face twisted with anger as she stabbed a finger towards Moloch. ‘That’s what we’ve become. Gargoyles! Hideous statues stuck on buildings where once flew creatures of fire and light. Our riddles shall become no more than children’s amusements, our tales forgotten, our songs unsung. So many dead, so many killed. Ask yourself who is to blame. Is it me? Janus? You, Edgy Taylor?’

Salomé cast a hand towards Edgy. In a panic, he turned to run but the water swirled and gushed into the cave, freezing him, sweeping him up and throwing him from left to right until he was blind and consciousness left him.

When a snake is in the house you need not discuss it at great length.

Traditional proverb

Chapter Thirty
-
Six

Paying the Price

Warmth enveloped Edgy and he found himself lying on a hard marble floor. No, not warmth – heat. Burning heat. The smell of woodsmoke filled his nostrils. He opened his eyes a crack.
Is this heaven or hell?
The room swirled with smoke but Edgy could see the wall paintings and knew he was back in the entrance hall of the Royal Society of Daemonologie. But the paint bubbled as flames licked around the door frames and across the panelling.

Slouch leaned over the arm of his sofa, resting his long chin on his forearms, and stared down at Edgy.

‘Been busy?’ he yawned.

‘Y’could say that,’ Edgy replied, coughing on the smoke. ‘Slouch, what’s going on?’

‘Change of management,’ Slouch murmured, his eyes glowing orange and a malicious smile splitting his drooping face. ‘The place is burnin’ down, I reckon. I’d escape but . . . Well, what’s the point?’

‘What d’yer mean, “new management”?’ Edgy’s eyes watered and he pulled the hood of his ragged jacket around his face. ‘Where’s Sally and Professor Milberry? Where’s Henry?’

Slouch heaved a huge sigh and slowly raised an arm, pointing off down the nearest blazing passage. ‘Library, I s’pose.’

Edgy didn’t wait to question him further. With a curse, he dashed down the corridor into the thickening smoke. The snake was behind this, Edgy was certain. He gripped the Devil’s Dagger tightly. Glass crunched beneath Edgy’s feet. Above his head, the hellfire lamps blazed, each one looking as if it had exploded. Fire roared from them, pooling across the wooden ceiling.

A little piece of knowledge at a time. That’s what the snake said. He’s been setting this up for decades
. Edgy sweated in his thick coat but it shielded him from the burning flames as he staggered through the swirling smoke. He tried not to think of what might have happened to the others.
Just think of the library, the library
 . . .

A beam crashed down behind Edgy, spitting sparks and sending him scurrying down the tunnel of flames. The smoke thickened, blinding Edgy and sending him stumb­ling onward. With an oath, he hit something solid and then fell forward as it gave way before him. Edgy found himself sprawled on the floor of the library. The dome of a dark summer evening sky arched over him. Nightbirds sang in the branches that sprouted from the bookshelves lined with black, scaly books. Dark apples clustered among the leaves and quivered gently. No fire invaded this room.

Milberry, Spinorix and Trimdon lay bound and gagged at the foot of a tall bookcase. Henry quivered next to Trimdon, too terrified to move. Above them, looped time and again about a thick overhanging branch, hung the snake.

‘Hello, Edgy Taylor. Back so soon?’ he hissed.

‘What’ve you done?’ Edgy snarled, taking a step forward. He held the dagger behind his back.

‘First things first. How’s Mr Janus?’ the snake said, as if enquiring about an old friend.

‘Dead,’ Edgy said, narrowing his eyes at the snake.

‘And Salomé?’

‘Dunno,’ Edgy murmured. ‘Said she was goin’ to stay on the island.’

‘Aah,’ said the snake. ‘And did you find Moloch?’

‘Ossified him,’ Edgy said. ‘He won’t be trouble to no one again.’

‘Excellent,’ the snake said, slithering back along the tree to the main bookcase trunk.

‘You knew all this would happen?’ Edgy snapped, gritting his teeth.

‘You never can tell with humans,’ the snake hissed. ‘But with my experience, I could make a good guess. Things were getting a little worrying here, what with Janus’s obsession with Moloch and Salomé’s growing arrogance, continuously making demands on me, talking about “the old days”. Quite tiresome, really.’

‘So you gave us clues and got poor old Madame Lillith to steal the skull of Aldorath,’ Edgy said.

‘Clues? Madame Lillith? No, I just trusted her to follow her nature. She was almost human after all.’ The snake’s eyes glowed. ‘But all games have to come to some sort of a close.’ The snake’s tail uncoiled out of the shadows, whipping around Edgy’s arms, pinning him and sending the dagger clattering off behind the bookcases. ‘You’ve proved highly entertaining as well as useful, Edgy. But now it’s over.’

The snake’s coils began to tighten. Edgy cursed, struggling against the pressure. The dagger lay just out of reach. He could see the handle poking out. But what if he recovered it and used it? Didn’t the legend say that he would perish himself?

A pale hand reached out and grabbed the dagger. Edgy’s eyes widened.
Sally!
Edgy struggled again. Sally peered round the edge of the bookcase and put a finger to her lips. Edgy tried to shake his head.
Would she die all over again if she used the dagger?
He had to distract the snake and somehow get free before they found out.

‘But if you wanted Moloch’s body destroyed why didn’t you just go and do it yourself?’ Edgy said. Sally disappeared back behind the bookcase.

‘Do it myself?’ the snake hissed, shuddering. ‘Do you know who I am? I rarely do things myself. That would be far too easy and where’s the fun anyway?’

‘The Leviathan wasn’t fun,’ Edgy snapped. He thought of Captain Boyd and the crew of
The Maggot
, Mauldeth, Janus, Sokket. All dead. Sally appeared behind the snake, the dagger raised.

‘Ah, yes,’ the snake said, unaware. ‘The sea monster was gilding the lily a touch, I admit, but nothing’s valued if it isn’t a challenge.’

‘You killed all those innocent people,’ Edgy scowled.

‘Oh dear,’ the snake mocked. ‘You seem a bit put out. Maybe I shouldn’t brag about the fact that I also managed to bag three members of the illustrious Royal Society in the process. It seemed the right time to destroy the rest of them. Poor old Plumphrey’s heart couldn’t stand the strain of the fire, thanks to my demons of gluttony. That just leaves the complacent Miss Milberry here. I’ll finish her after I’ve finished you.’

Sally crept nearer, her eyes wide with fear. Edgy wriggled and kicked but the snake held him fast. ‘The whole crew – and the others – dead,’ Edgy spat. ‘Just for your idea of a game?’

‘Oh, come on. I’m Satan. What do you expect?’ the snake chortled. ‘Would you kill me now if you could, Edgy Taylor? Even though you promised never to hurt me?’

‘It’d be more than you deserve,’ Edgy hissed. Sally raised the dagger.

‘Oh, I like that,’ Satan said. ‘You’d justify breaking a solemn promise. That’s what I call the thin end of the wedge. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and well-meant excuses . . .’ Edgy gasped as the satanic snake tightened its grip. ‘Demons always keep promises, which is why humans are worse than demons.’

‘But humans care for each other.’ Edgy felt like he would burst as Satan squeezed his scaly coils. ‘Which is why they’ll always be better.’

Sally pounced, ramming the dagger deep into Satan’s neck. With a screech of surprised rage, the snake reared up, uncoiling from around Edgy and dumping him on the library floor. Satan thrashed from side to side, smashing over bookcases, splintering the wood.

‘Damn you all!’ screamed Satan, trying to lunge at Edgy. Satan writhed around, hissing like a deflating balloon, lashing his tail to and fro. Then he stopped. He lay still and dead.

The evening sky faded, the branches and apples vanished, and Edgy stood in an ordinary panelled room, lined with normal bookshelves filled with ordinary books. Smoke began to billow in, clouding Edgy’s view.

Sally stumbled back, her eyes glazed.

‘Sally, no!’ Edgy screamed, running forward to catch her. She shook, staring into the distance.

‘It’s all right,’ she whispered. ‘We did it. I’m dyin’, that’s all. Only a hundred or so years late.’

‘But you can’t die,’ Edgy said, choking back tears. ‘You’re my friend . . . my family.’

Sally gasped, her face creasing with pain, and then smiled. ‘My family are comin’ for me. I can see them again . . . Edgy, you ’ave a family ’ere now . . . Look after them. Don’t be sad . . . Molly, my little Molly . . .’ She stared into another world, pressing her hand on Edgy’s. Then she lay still. Her face had uncreased, a contented smile frozen on her lips.

The smoke in the room thickened and fire began to leap from the door frames to the panelling, nibbling at the piles of old books. At first, all Edgy could do was hold Sally’s cold hand and gaze. All around him, white spectral figures flitted and laughed as they weaved among the flames. The library’s trapped souls were free.

Henry padded up to him, nuzzling and whining in fear. Edgy shook himself. The fire was spreading quickly, devouring its way through the dusty volumes.

Yanking the dagger from the snake’s neck, Edgy sawed at Spinorix’s bindings.

‘Edgy, I was so scared, I thought –’

‘No time now! Free Trimdon, I’ll get Milberry,’ Edgy barked. He sliced through Milberry’s ropes while Spinorix chewed at Trimdon’s with his sharp teeth.

Milberry staggered to her feet, mute with shock and grief. She hugged Edgy hard, sobbing.

The flames roared in their ears now, scorching them as they plunged through the doors of the library. Edgy carried Sally, stumbling on the burning spars and broken glass that clogged the floor. Impervious to the heat, Spinorix heaved burning beams aside and led the way as they ­scurried out, covering their mouths. Edgy glimpsed bubbling oil paintings, warped faces screaming in the backgrounds as they melted.

At the entrance hall Slouch still lay on his sofa despite it now being a roaring pyre. Huge beams from the upper floors had crashed down through the ceiling and molten copper dripped from the pipes.

‘Slouch!’ Milberry cried. ‘Come with us, quickly.’

‘Nah,’ Slouch grinned through the flames. ‘I quite like it here – it’s warm for a change.’

Edgy pushed them on, gasping great breaths of air as they stumbled out on to the steps at the front of the Society. He lay Sally down gently and slumped next to her, letting exhaustion take him at last.

Epilogue

Edgy laid the flowers on Sally’s grave. Pure white ­chrysanthemums. They reminded him of her somehow.

‘We’re startin’ again, Sal,’ he said. ‘Professor Milberry, Spin, Trimdon an’ me. We’re goin’ to start the Society again. Not like it was before, but properly this time. Collectin’ evidence an’ leavin’ what precious few demons there are well alone. The old building’s destroyed – every last ossifier, statue, skeleton an’ mounted head. All gone. Milberry is sellin’ the land an’ we’re goin’ to live in the country, away from pryin’ eyes. That way Spin an’ Trimdon won’t have to disguise themselves. You wanna see Spin! He looks proper strange disguised as a human, all knobbly elbows and bulgy eyes. He’d probably get fewer odd looks in the street if he stayed red, horns an’ all.’