Chapter Forty-three

Bluebeard's Castle

Sam laid out the map on the table and briefed the team on their rescue mission. They were in the necropolis, huddled in the small room inside the Venators' quarters. It was almost a week since Deming had been kidnapped, and Mahrus had joined them as well, after returning from a short trip to Jerus-alem to check on the Coven there. Schuyler decided not to confront Mahrus with what Catherine had told her for now, as she did not know if she believed it.

"Catherine says the castle is located on the edge of Limbo, right at the mouth of the river Styx," Sam said. "There are only two entrances to the castle. The drawbridge over the moat is the main one, but there's a second, secret entrance from the Palace of the zaniyat Babel that leads directly to the dungeons.

The Harvest Bonding is set for Lammas, and as suggested, we'll move the day before. Catherine will leave all the doors unlocked in the basement of the brothel so that we can get through. There won't be a new batch of girls until next month, so the place will be pretty deserted, she said."

He pointed to the next place on the map. "Once we're in the dungeon, we make our way up to the castle. It'll be heavily guarded on the outside, but inside there'll be just the usual crew of domestics. Probably a few trolls, nothing we can't take care of. Deming should be held here." He pointed to the highest tower. "The Bluebeard room."

"Bluebeard - you mean like the fairy tale?" Schuyler asked.

"Not every fairy tale is made up," Jack explained. "It's Baal's... 'nickname.' He's had numerous brides."

"The brides - they're all dead? Like in the story?"

"What do you think?" Sam said testily. "From what Catherine tells me, most human women can only bear one demon birth. many of them die in childbirth, and even when they do survive, they don't live very long."

"Especially if the Petruvians kill them," Dehua said.

"Dehua and Ted will lead the attack and subdue the trolls.

Jack, you and Schuyler will keep watch while Mahrus and I go to the tower and get Deming." He rolled up the map. "Clear?"

The team nodded and prepared to descend into the underworld.

* * *

It didn't take long to realize that the map was wrong. They were deep in the castle dungeons when Jack heard Sam curse as he slung the roll under his arm.

"What's the matter?" he asked, walking up to the Venator.

Jack was already on high alert since he could not dissuade Schuyler from joining the mission. Like Sam, he didn't want any mistakes this time. The risks were too great.

Sam handed the map to Jack, who unrolled it and squinted at the drawing. It showed the dungeon as a series of broad rings that mimicked the walls of the castle above. Short hallways connected the rings, making it easy to move quickly through any part of it. But the dungeon in which they stood had little to do with that plan. massive stone walls blocked the rings, forcing the team to make a winding path through the stone-lined corridors.

"I don't like this," Sam said. "We should have been out of the dungeons by now. All of these little blockades are forcing us deeper into the circle, with no guarantee that we'll be able to get out."

"You think this is deliberate? That they planted the wrong map for Catherine to find?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, but there's something wrong. The dungeon is empty; no one is in any of these cells." Suddenly there was a loud noise from somewhere deep underground.

"What was that?" Schuyler asked.

"Stay close," Jack said. Everyone was nervous now. Sam tried to lead them out of the circle, but they found themselves in front of another massive stone wall.

"We need go back the way we came," Jack said. "They're steering us somewhere we don't want to go."

"No!" Sam protested. "We'll find a way through. This is our only chance - " He stopped mid-sentence as he followed Jack's gaze to the left, where the dark corridor was flooding with trolls.

Their silver eyes and dark skin glowed with unearthly light, their collars glinting. The trolls began to jabber excitedly.

With nowhere to run, the group formed a tight circle as they braced for the trolls' assault. "They're nothing but a bunch of dimwits," Sam muttered. "Nothing to be scared of."

"There's only one way out, and it's through," Jack said.

He removed his sword and pushed his way to the front of the group. Next to him, the rest of the team did the same, their silver blades shining in the darkness.

The trolls faltered for a moment; silver was the only metal they feared. But they had been trained to fight, and they rushed forward, teeth and claws bared.

"Jack!" Schuyler yelled, as the largest troll flew at him.

"I've got him!" Jack said, gritting his teeth. He held out his blade directly as the troll attacked. He bent his knee to drive it upward through the beast's sternum, using the troll's own momentum to ram it into the wall.

The group fought as ferociously as the trolls, but for now, neither appeared to gain the upper hand. The Venators were not in their element. They were in unknown territory, and they could soon be overpowered. There were only six of them, but there might be hundreds of trolls.

Jack tried to collect his thoughts. They'd just been ambushed and he needed to take stock, try to find some advantage. The trolls had chosen a broad stretch of the corridor to attack, as it gave their large numbers an upper hand and the ability to come at them from all sides. Jack swiveled around and found a small narrow passageway, a tiny space created by one of the blockades, which was only a few feet behind them.

"Behind that wall!" he called, leading them to the crevice.

Sam shot him a crazed look. "But we'll be trapped against the blockade!"

"Exactly," Jack replied. "They'll be forced to attack us one by one!' There was no time to argue, and the team followed as Jack pushed backward, and they fought their way into the dead end.

"We'll take turns," Mahrus ordered, understanding the strategy. The space was so tight that only two of them could fight at a time. One fought the right side, while another covered the left. They were able to slow down the charge of the trolls, and choreographed every move. When it was their turn, Schuyler and Jack fought as a team. Schuyler would slash below while Jack went in for the kill, his silver blade forcing the trolls to the ground.

They were doing well when their group was suddenly attacked from behind as several trolls burst through the back wall.

Jack cursed. He'd forgotten the trolls' inordinate strength to crush rock. "Sam! Ted! Cover the back!" The trolls kept ad-vancing, forcing the team to make a tighter circle. "We've got to surprise them when they come out, back to the wall!" Jack cried.

Sam and Ted pushed hard, turning their blades sideways.

They beat the trolls to the ground, pushing them to the side as the six of them moved back toward the wall. The smell of death and blood filled the air. They were fighting well, but Jack knew the trolls had more in store. He found his answer when he looked up and saw the trolls falling into the cavern from a hole they'd made in the ceiling.

"Watch out!" he warned as a dozen of them crashed onto the team, forcing Sam and Ted to the ground, knocking Dehua off balance, and striking Mahrus in the head.

The trolls rained down and inserted themselves between the companions, driving them apart. Jack and Schuyler fought back-to-back and lost sight of the others. "Jack, there's too many of them. There's no way we're going to fight our way out of here. They can just keep sending more of them," Schuyler said. "We've got to find Deming and get out."

"Okay," he said, slashing at a troll's torso. "Let's go."

"No. You need to stay and fight; keep them off the rest of the team. I'll find her and bring her back."

Jack turned to look at her. It was what he feared most - and she was suggesting it. "No! I can't let you go alone."

There was a noise from the depths of the dungeon: a dark low growl that sent shivers up Schuyler's spine.

"What is that?"

"It's a Hellhound...." Jack said, paling slightly. "Unleashed from the ninth circle."

"Then they'll need you down here. I'll be quick. I promise." There was no time for good-byes. Schuyler weaved through the pack, leaving Jack behind.

"Over here!" she heard him call from behind her. He was drawing the trolls to his side to cover her escape.

Schuyler followed the trolls' slimy trail through the dungeon, guessing correctly that it would lead her to the exit, and she found a winding stair that led upward. That had to be it.

She took the steps three at a time, running up to the tower.

She could hear the sounds of battle below, and the roar of Abbadon unleashed - Jack had transformed into his true shape.

There were several landings on the way up, and Schuyler tried a few doors. She opened the first one to find a skeleton hanging from a noose. She stifled a scream. Bluebeard's castle, she remembered. The second contained a coffin. The third...

Schuyler did not open the third. There were more, seven in all, and the final one was on the highest landing.

The door was painted red to indicate the Harvest Bride.

The newest bride, sacrificed on the eve of Lammas, to bear the child of the demon.

Schuyler said the words that unlocked it. The door flew open, and she ran inside the room.

"Deming! We're here!"

But the room was empty. Deming had already been taken to the Harvest Bonding.

Chapter Forty-four

Runaway Train

"This is the end of the line." Kingsley stepped from the train as the subway doors opened in front of them. Mimi and Oliver followed him to the platform. Mimi noticed it was the same one they had taken when they'd first journeyed to Tartarus.

"What now?" Oliver asked, peering around the empty station. "It looks like the tracks loop back into the city."

"Exactly. Hell's a closed circuit. None of its paths lead to the surface." Kingsley explained that they would have to find their way out of the tunnel and locate the above-ground train, which followed the only path that led out of Hell.

Mimi looked at Kingsley questioningly, wondering why he was so nervous all of a sudden. It was just a matter of catching a train, after all. "Let's go. What are we waiting for?"

Kingsley hesitated. "This is what I meant earlier when I said it was complicated. You can't just walk on. The train's crawling with a hundred trolls, and demons guard every door.

It's Charon's line. The only way souls are taken to the Dead's kingdom, faster than the old ferries. The train arrives full, but always leaves empty. I think they'd be a little suspicious if they saw the three of us hijacking our way back to the surface. Once you're down here, you're supposed to stay down here."

"Great!" Oliver said, smacking his forehead.

"Helda never mentioned this!" Mimi fumed.

"Why would she?" Kingsley said amiably, not the least bit disturbed.

"So we're stuck here!" Oliver grumbled. He'd had about all he could take of Hell. He was ready to get back home, back to earth.

He was going home, right? Mimi had been acting odd that morning.... She hadn't met his eyes when he'd said something about looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again.

"Not quite." Kingsley walked the length of the platform and found a staircase at the far end of the tunnel. "We're going up. Come on, we need to move quickly."

The stairs took them to an empty sidewalk on the edge of the city. There were no cars on the street, and the buildings looked empty and abandoned. metal screens were drawn across the storefronts, and black bars covered the upper-story windows. Right above them was steel scaffolding that stretched three stories into the sky, casting a web of shadows across the street. The structure housed a platform on either side, and railway tracks that disappeared far into the north.

"That's the train we want." Kingsley pressed his back to the cold metal grille that covered the closest store window.

Mimi and Oliver followed his gaze. The black tower was covered in dense barbed wire, and a mountain of trash clogged the bottom half of the tower, closing off all of the stairs.

"How does anyone even get in or out of that thing? It looks impossible," Oliver said.

"The trolls just bash through, pulling the souls with them.

Like I said, it's a one-way train. No one boards from this end, and the return train is always empty." Kingsley glanced up as a train roared into the station, its engine releasing a billowing cloud of black smoke. It lurched to a stop, the wheels sending red hot sparks flying into the air.