Increasing his pace, Hades moved toward the noise. A sense of urgency surged over him. Within three paces, he could see the outline of a standing box outlined in metal pipes. He’d seen that shape before as well. The whirring noise came from the box.
Slowly he approached it, his gun raised and ready. As he neared the apparatus, he knew what he was seeing. It was an elevator. He’d seen the same thing in the Vanquished City and had used it to take Nemo’s wife, Kele, out to safety.
Leucothea brushed up next to him. “What is it?”
“The road to Inferno City.”
“What?”
“Inferno City is underground. That’s where everyone is. This desolate place is just a ruse. A camouflage. To protect it from Raiders or worse.”
Leucothea glanced over the edge into the hole in the floor. “How do we get down?”
Hades followed her gaze. From this vantage point, he could plainly see the elevator descending with the dark man on it. He didn’t think they could afford to wait for the metal box to come back up for them. It might bring them a surprise, like guards, or, worse, Dark Dwellers.
Crouching, Hades scanned the area underneath the hole in the floor. He quickly found what he was looking for. Smiling, he slung his shotgun around his shoulder, flipping the cloak over it, and knelt down on the cement ground, swinging his legs down into the hole. “We follow the ladder.”
A
s they climbed down the metal ladder, it became evident quite quickly where all the people were. Stuffed together on four levels of metal walkways and ramps heading in all kinds of directions, there had to be at least ten thousand people scurrying about. It reminded him of an ant farm he’d seen as a child.
The air was stagnant and stank of body odor and various food items, like boiled meat. He couldn’t imagine what they were cooking because he didn’t remember seeing any livestock around the city.
Surprisingly, while they descended, they were virtually ignored. The ladder was in a dark, obscured corner and not that visible to others. They had also hidden their weapons underneath their capes. But those they did pass on the way down either nodded in acknowledgement or continued to mind their own business. Both suited Hades just fine. They didn’t need the extra attention.
Once they reached the bottom level, Hades scanned the crowd for the dark man in the brown shroud. It proved to be a difficult task, as most residents wore dung-colored cloaks.
“Who are you looking for?” Leucothea asked as she grabbed his arm and followed him through the crowd.
“A man with dark skin. Kat mentioned him. If she gets free, that’s who she’ll be looking for.”
“Why?”
He glanced down at her. “Because she thinks he has a cure.”
They continued to push through the crowds but to no avail. Hades couldn’t see the dark man among the throng of people. They’d have to ask around without drawing attention to themselves.
Quickly scanning the market square, Hades spied a sign for a tavern. That would be the best place to get answers. He’d done most of his “intel” over the years in bars.
“C’mon.” He pulled Leucothea across the streams of people, bumping into more than one person along the way.
“You want a drink now? Shouldn’t we be looking for Kat?”
He pulled her into the smoke-filled, stuffy room and beelined it toward the bar. When they reached the counter, he pushed Leucothea onto a stool. “Sit here, and shut up. Let me do all the talking.”
The barkeep shuffled over to him when Hades leaned onto the counter. Even in an ugly dung-colored wrap, Hades knew he was still a hard man not to notice.
“Whaddaya want?”
“Two drafts. What’s on the menu?”
“Chicken stew.”
“Two of those as well.” Hades set two gold pieces onto the counter. The barkeep snatched them up and waddled off to fill their order.
“Is that it?” Leucothea asked. “You didn’t even ask a question.”
“You can’t come into a place like this, sit down at the bar, and start asking questions of people.
That’s not how it works. You have to ease into it.”
Leucothea kept her mouth shut. She could probably read in his eyes that he was quickly losing his patience with her.
Smart girl
.
The barkeep returned with their drinks and two clay bowls of what was supposed to be chicken stew. To Hades, it looked like pea soup. But his stomach growled, reminding him that it had been a long time since he had eaten. The pain in his side forgotten, Hades grabbed the bent metal spoon and dug in to the slop.
“Just eat, and let me do the work, OK?”
“Fine.” She put her nose down in the bowl and took a big whiff. “Do I have to eat this?”
“Yes,” he growled around his spoon.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
Hades gripped his utensil tightly and snarled down at her. “Then go.” He gestured with his head.
“It’s over there.” He grabbed her arm before she could slide off the stool. “But don’t talk to anyone on the way.”
She pulled away. “I know. I won’t.”
Hades watched as she pushed through the crowd to the back where the toilet sign hung from the ceiling. He was surprised that the girl had hung on as long as she had. She was a lot tougher than he gave her credit for. He had to admit that without her aid, he might not have made it. Certainly not in one piece. He wouldn’t have had the patience to stop and tend to his ribs if Leucothea hadn’t been with him. When she came back, he would tell her as much.
Leucothea strode back to the bar and slid up onto the stool. Turning, Hades looked down at her and was going to make his speech, when she smiled at him. Something had happened.
“I met a woman in the bathroom who might help us.”
“What? I told you not to talk to anyone.”
Leucothea winced. “I know, but she looked honest. I asked her if she knew a man with dark skin.
And she said for a price she’d tell us everything she knew.”
“What woman?”
Leucothea turned and motioned toward an old, wrinkled woman with long scraggily hair sitting in the corner at a small dirty table. “That’s her.”
Hades shook his head. At least the kid had the sense not to point her finger. But that’s about all the brains she had.
Grabbing his beer, Hades slid off the stool. “C’mon, let’s see what she knows.”
The woman smiled a gap-toothed grin when they approached the table. Hades nearly gagged from the putrid odor wafting off her.
“Can we join you?”
She nodded and waved her hand at the two vacant chairs. “It’s nice to have company.”
Once they were seated, Hades reached into his pocket and took out his sack of coins. He fished out one gold one and set it on the table in front of her, keeping his hand over it so the other patrons wouldn’t be able to see.
The old woman grinned again and covered Hades’ hand with her own. Her skin was rough like tree bark. “I know where you can find the dark man.”
“I’m listening.” But he didn’t relinquish his hold on the money. He’d only let her have it if what she provided them had any merit.
Fifteen minutes later, Hades was standing in a toilet stall in the woman’s bathroom, staring at a two-by-three-foot vent in the wall just above the bowl, next to its plumbing.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“She said the vent leads to this guy’s secret lab.”
Hades smirked. “I know what she said, kid. I was sitting there. And if it’s such a secret, how come she knows where it is?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
Shaking his head, Hades grabbed hold of the vent and yanked the covering off in one pull. He set it aside and stared into the black opening. At least it was big enough to support him. It would be something if they started crawling through the system and he was stuck somewhere. Stuck like a rat caught in a trap.
“Okay, how do we go?”
“Straight, then first right, then first left, and then second right.”
Christ, he hoped they weren’t heading right into the mouth of the monster. He could just imagine the two of them crawling through winding tunnels only to pop up unexpectedly from the floor into Satarah’s chambers. They’d be trapped with no chance of escape.
Stepping onto the toilet seat, Hades shoved his pack into the hole first and then slid his shotgun off his shoulder and into the vent. He glanced behind him at Leucothea.
“Since you’re smaller, you’ll have to go in backward so you can fit the covering back in place.
Do you think you can handle that?”
“Yes,” she mumbled as she moved the grate to just below the vent opening.
He crawled into the vent, and then she stepped onto the toilet rim and wriggled into the shaft headfirst. Once she was in, she twisted her body and managed to turn around. She shuffled back to the opening, leaned out, grabbed the grate, and pulled it back into place. When she had shuffled around again, she gave him a smug look.
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Okay, kid, you win this time.”
They squirmed through the vent system without any problems. Hades, thankfully, didn’t get stuck, though it had been close on the first turn in the pipes. After they turned into the last of the tunnels, he slowed and crept with caution. He could hear movement above them. Footsteps on the floor. Whose, he could only guess. He hoped they belonged to the dark man, this Onyx, and not someone more sinister like Satarah, or, worse, Baruch.
The metal vent over him eventually became a buttonholed grate, and Hades could see into the room above. Not a clear picture, but he could make out various structures situated around the room. Tables and cupboards, he thought.
He kept crawling but stopped when a pair of black feet came into view. The dark man, Onyx, was standing right above him next to the small cabinet on wheels that covered the grate in the floor. Hades could’ve poked him right in the toe if he wanted. He could even hear the man muttering to himself.
While the man stood overhead, Hades held his breath. Just the slightest noise could draw the man’s attention. He didn’t know enough about the dark man to ascertain whether he was a friend or foe. Since they were in a very delicate position, Hades didn’t want to find out the hard way.
Finally the man moved and was no longer standing on the grate above them. Hades let out his breath and watched out of the corner of his eye as Onyx walked away and disappeared behind a table. It was now or never. They wouldn’t get another chance to get out of the tunnel. They would just have to trust that there wasn’t anyone else in the room, especially not anyone with a gun.
Cautiously Hades felt above him for the line of the grate. Hooking in his fingers, he slowly pushed up and raised the cover, sliding it open. When it was fully open, he rolled the cabinet away and then poked up his head to survey the room.
The dark man was in the corner, his back to Hades, busy with something on a long metal table.
He was wearing worn denim jeans, no shirt, and no shoes. Hades had never seen a man with skin so black. It was definitely unnatural, and he wondered what affliction he was dealing with.
Maybe something a lot worse than the DD virus. They would need to be cautious.
After a quick scan, Hades ascertained that there was no one else in the room, and he came out of the vent. Silently he brought out his bag, set it on the floor, and reached down to help Leucothea up. Once she was out and on her feet, Hades gripped his weapon and took a step toward the man.
The dark man turned around, startled.
“Holy fuck!” he sputtered, dropping the glass test tube he had held in his hand. The vial shattered on the floor, splattering crimson liquid onto his feet.
Hades pointed his weapon at the man. “Put your hands where I can see them.”
The dark man put his hands out to the sides, palms out. “What are you doing here?”
Hades stepped closer to the man, making sure he didn’t move. “Looking for you, dark man.”
“Who are—” His eyes went wide. “Wait, I know who you are. You’re here because of that woman the Dwellers brought, aren’t you?”
Closing the distance between them, Hades jammed his gun into the dark man’s gut. “Is she still alive? Where are they keeping her?”
Leucothea rushed over and grabbed Hades’ arm. “Whoa, Hades, don’t hurt him.”
Hades never took his eyes off the man, but he pulled his weapon back, giving him some room.
He wouldn’t hurt him—yet. Not until he gave them some information. All that mattered was getting to Kat.
Rubbing a black hand over his stomach, the dark man grunted. “Yeah, Hades, don’t hurt me. I’m basically harmless.”
“If you tell me what I want to know, I won’t hurt you…much.”
The dark man eyed Hades, his lips lifted in a half smile. “You don’t have a sense of humor, do you?”
“No.”
He put up his hand in defense. “Okay, she’s alive, but I don’t know where she’s being held. I’m not privy to that information. I’m just a worker bee. Queen Bee is in charge.”
“Satarah.”
The dark man nodded. “Ah, so you know my mistress.”
“I’ve heard of her.”
“Then you know you’ve condemned me to death just by being here. She doesn’t have a sense of humor either.”
Hades realized he’d be putting the man in danger by coming. But it couldn’t be helped. He needed two things from Onyx, and he wasn’t leaving until he received them.
Onyx sighed and wiped a shaky hand across his mouth. “Well, I guess I have to help you now, don’t I?”
Nodding, Hades lowered his weapon. He wouldn’t need it. It was obvious the man wasn’t dangerous. From the things he’d heard about Satarah, she didn’t keep willing accomplices, only sexual slaves and prisoners to do the grunt work. Looking around the room at the multitude of test tubes and chemicals, Hades suspected that Onyx was the latter. He was here in this lab to do a job.
The dark man leaned back against the table and eyed Hades and then Leucothea. His face changed when he looked at her. Hades recognized the look. It was one of consideration and attraction. A look he didn’t like one bit.
“Well, I know he’s Hades. What’s your name?”
“Leucothea,” she said shyly.
“That’s a beautiful name.” He offered his hand to her. “I’m Onyx.”