Page 14 of The Malevolent Eight

‘It’s about contracts,’ I clarified. ‘Diabolics love making deals– they love haggling. Moral compromise is a virtue as far as they’re concerned, which makes them a lot easier to deal with than angelics.’

‘We may not have much time for negotiation,’ Galass warned, her crimson locks beginning to rise and twitch behind her. ‘Some of the soldiers are awakening. They’re trying to rouse their fellows for a second attack.’

‘We’ll be done before they get here,’ I said hopefully as we rounded the corner into the final passageway shown by Aradeus’ rat-mapping spell. ‘This isn’t my first diabolic negotiation.’

No lanterns or torches illuminated the cell, nor did the aetheric glow imbued into the walls reach past the bars. Fortunately, angelics come with their own light source.

‘A little brighter,’ I said.

Shame rolled her eyes at me, but a moment later her skin was glistening brightly enough for us to make out three silhouettes hunched on the floor at the back of the cell. Their posture suggested they were in rough shape.

‘Barbaric,’ Alice muttered, using her blade to cut through the lock in the iron door. ‘Such treatment violates all the tenets of Auroral Justice.’

Despite how gleefully perverse our mutual mentor had been, the old bear had been remarkably strict in her interpretation of judicial procedure. ‘When you finally meet someactualGlorian Justiciars, you might be disappointed in their more flexible interpretation of Auroral Law,’ I said.

Alice mumbled something indistinct which I assumed was a discourteous commentary on my own character, as it ended with, ‘Fallen One’. I waited until she was done before I stepped in front of the cell door.

‘Afternoon, fellows,’ I began, offering each of the three diabolic prisoners a reassuring smile. ‘I understand you’ve had a spot of bad luck recently vis-à-vis getting captured, tortured and then interrogated by Auroral troops.’

‘Swallow your own tongue and choke on your own feeble flesh, Mortal,’ snarled the nearest of the three. His silhouette had the pointy-shouldered, spine-covered look of a ferocial, which is either a sub-family of lesser devilish or one of the descendants of an Infernally engineered demoniac from millennia ago. I can never get the genealogies straight in my head.

‘No need for harsh words, my friends, when I come bearing excellent news– well, if I’m honest, I suppose it’s more of a “good news, bad news and possibly tolerable news” situation. But let’s start with the good.’ I swung open the cell door. ‘Congratulations. Your confinement at the hands of your sworn enemies is at an end.’

The one closest to the door failed to greet my benevolence with the appropriate gratitude, opting instead to screech an ear-splitting warcry. Oily black tendrils oozed into the air from his ribcage. ‘At my command, paralyse the humans,’ he ordered his fellow prisoners. ‘Three we shall feast upon, to regain our strength. The minds of the remaining four we shall possess and force them to draw away the fortress guards from our avenue of escape—’

‘See, I have to stop you there,’ I said, ‘although it’s funny you should bring up possession, because that’s kind of why we’re—Oh, you’re serious about the whole eating-us-and-taking-over-our-thoughts thing?’

I’ll admit, it wasn’t the worst plan I’d ever heard from a demon. Infernal magic is excellent for manipulating minds. I could see the lesser devilish already awakening a spell called a Widow’s Tear from the engraved sigils on his chest, which made me feel a touch nostalgic about my days as an Infernally attuned mercenary.

I stepped back out of the way. ‘Okay, I guess we’re done with the good news. Corrigan, would you care to convey the bad news?’

‘The bad news is, we don’t particularly like Infernals.’ The blast of Tempestoral fury he unleashed on the lesser devilish was enough to deafen us all. ‘Sorry!’ he yelled over the ringing in our ears.

Never bring a Tempestoral on a clandestine mission, I reminded myself for the hundredth time.

It took a moment for my vision to clear enough to make out the remaining two Infernals in the cell. One was near the door, the other remained slumped on the floor in the corner. ‘I believe you mentioned something aboutmoregood news,’ the standing diabolic said politely.

‘Actually, I believe I said, “tolerable news”, but let’s not quibble over semantics. The bottom line is this: while we’re not partial to Infernals invading our world and would rather there were considerably fewer of you, we’re not overly fussed about the occasional diabolic frolicking around the Mortal realm, so long as said diabolic demonstrates basic courtesy and sound judgement.’

‘Ah,’ drawled the spy. On closer inspection, he looked like a run-of-the-mill demoniac Hellion to me, which was rare for an Infernal in the espionage business. Hellions are more your massacre-the-village breed of Infernal. ‘You wish to make a bargain.’

‘We are in the market for military information.’ I held up a hand to forestall any patriotic objections– andyes, Infernals are perfectly capable of patriotic devotion to their people and their cause, so you should be ashamed of your bigoted presumption. ‘Nothing tactical– we’re not looking for battle plans, or anything like that.’

‘Not that your moron Schemelords ever do come up with decent battle plans,’ Alice added snidely. I’m not sure what specific lineage of demoniac she comes from, but it’s definitely not one of the ones you bring to delicate negotiations.

A rat scurried from the other side of the hall and squeaked up at Aradeus, who said, ‘We’re short on time, Cade. Of the five best routes out of the fortress, my scouts tell me only one remains unguarded.’

‘Whatspecificallydo you want to know?’ asked the spy, understandably keen to come to an agreement quickly.

Of course we wanted information on the coven of wonderists who’d captured him, but it would be so easy to make up an entirely plausible lie.

‘Tell me what you know about a form of wonderism that can bring forward a person’s destiny to the present.’

The demoniac’s eyes began to whirl– well, notwhirl, exactly: their irises produce these subtle colour shifts when they get excited that make them look as if they’re spinning. I wondered if he’d decided I was a sucker who could easily be fooled.

‘Ah, destinal magic,’ he murmured. ‘I am in possession of the answers you seek, but the price will be higher than—’

His body slammed up against the bars, then slid down to the floor. The razor-sharp talon piercing his back was still attached to the severed arm of the lesser devilish Corrigan had killed.

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