Almost Demon (The Sigil Cycle) Read Online Free PDF Page B

traversed the abandoned yard, littered with broken appliances, old tires and a large porcelain bathtub filled to the brim with rusted gears and pistons.
    “Is this the part where you break out the hockey mask and chainsaw?” I said, trying to sound snarky and hoping that it hid the fear that had my voice wavering.
    We stopped by a large yew, the diameter of its trunk standing more than four people wide. 
    “We’re here,” Ian said.
    “I can see we are here.” I looked around. “But why?” 
    The tree was ominous, wider than it was tall, its branches stretching up towards the sky and small red berries that radiated between the shadows cast by its flat thin leaves. Quiet blanketed the area; not even a car horn disturbed the eerie peace that surrounded us.
    We stood side by side and watched the tree sway and come to life. I felt dwarfed by its size, as well as by Ian’s, who was a good six inches taller than my five feet eight. 
    “I told you, I’m taking you home.”
    “Excuse me. I think I’m missing something here. One,” I said, “I don’t live here. Two, last time I checked, tree wasn’t a popular mode of transportation.” 
    He gave me another of his wicked smiles and placed the palm of his hand on the soft soil at the base of the tree. I was becoming familiar with the crinkle of his eyes that hinted at knowledge beyond my own.
    Before I could say a word, the ground began to tremble, shooting pulses of red light up through the grooves of the bark. I brought my hand up to my face, shielding my eyes against the heat. 
    “It’s okay, Gemma,” Ian said. I felt the wisp of his breath tickle my neck and felt safe enough to look.
    Where before there had been a haphazard pattern of brown scaling bark, there now lay a door of polished smooth onyx with nothing but a knocker of brushed nickel in the shape of a curved ram’s horn on it.
    “You’ve got to be kidding,” I said, in awe of the enigmatic display of the arcane. 
    He picked up the solid horn and dropped it, letting out a large resonant whack. The door creaked open in response and I was left with a choice to make.
    “Your chariot awaits,” Ian said.
    The inside of my nose tickled and I sneezed at the strong smell of sulfur that wafted towards us. Entranced, I moved forward, taking Ian’s hand for support and following him through the opening.
    The pull was furious, sucking us in like the hose of a vacuum cleaner. Ash sprayed my eyes and filled my mouth as my body propelled through a series of loops. I couldn’t distinguish between up and down, left and right. We were being launched at near Mach-speed through an ephemeris tunnel. My insides churned from the pressure and I gripped tighter to Ian’s hand, holding on for dear life. I felt my hold on him loosen. No longer able to grasp his palm, I clutched onto the pads of his fingers. He grabbed my other wrist and I calmed amidst the rolling waves of soot and wind. 
    We decelerated, came to a slow stop and then hovered above dozens of sinkholes cluttering the phosphorescent landscape, rolling dunes of sand that moved in an endless expanse within this cavern. 
    And then there was the sun. Not the sun seen on Earth that nourished its inhabitants but a brilliant blue and white gaseous ball that shone like a diamond and was just as icy.
    “That’s the one.” Ian pointed to the black hole below.
    When we touched ground, the wooden soles of my lace-up boots clicked.
    “I don’t understand,” I said, circling around and breaking out in what bit of tap dance I could still remember. “It looks like sand.”
    “That’s just how things work here.” He crouched down and stuck his arm into the pit until it disappeared. After a bit of maneuvering and hoisting, he was able to pull out a massive length of leather cord.
    I leaned over his shoulder in order to get a better view of things. Instead, I was distracted by the curve of his collarbone peeking out of the V-neck of his thin white cotton