Linda Welch - A conspiracy of Demons Read Online Free PDF Page A

there.”
    I grinne d at the idea of Royal hoofing anywhere. The way he moves is so graceful. “ So there are two Gates ?”
    “Ambrose is what you call a capital city. I t developed here because there are eight Gate s .”
    “Eight? How many in all of Bel-Athaer?”
    “I do not know for sure.” He rubbed his nape beneath his hair. “They access points all over Earth, so there could be hundreds.”
    We drove past stores and office buildings , which bore signs in Gelpha script in materials ranging from neon to wood. Cars, pickups and buses surrounded us. Gelpha crowded the sidewalks and waited at crosswalks. It looked so normal if I pretended the people did not have gleaming, satiny hair and glimmering eyes.
    So we were heading for another Way. The Ways between our w orlds were a mystery. They seemed to have wills of their own, as if they were entities, not passageways. The Gates, or entrances, never moved, but the Way s could switch to other Gates . The Way from Clarion to Bel-Athaer led to an area near the High House the first few times I used it, but had switched to this city, Ambrose , w hen I came here to find Royal .
    “Not knowing when a Way is going to shift dir ection must cause heartburn for those who use them.”
    Royal drew his gaze from the street. “It can be awkward, yes. But not everyone uses them. Only Lords and Ladies, and those to whom they give permission.”
    “ So that’ s why Earth does n’t teem with Gelpha sightseers . ”
    “Indeed.”
    We took a side street off the avenue and drove between tall, pale-gray buildings with rows of tiny windows on their three floor s . A narrow alley separated each from the next, and steep stone staircases led from the sidewalk up to the roof with small landings at each floor . Another left turn, and the cab pulled to the curb outside a small, one-story gray building which squatted between taller companions. Gateways here we re as nondescript as in my world.
    Fourteen minutes.
    We climbed from the cab. R oyal went to the driver’s side to pay the fare . Funny, I’d never seen him with Gelpha money, but he must carry it in his wallet .
    He came back to me. “Ready?”
    “ Yeah, like I’m ready to stand in front of stampeding elephants.”
    That brought a smile. I punched his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
    He pushed open a gray door and we entered another passageway, this one lined floor, ceiling and walls in pale-green, shimmering tiles. Looking at the passage stretchi ng ahead, I got the familiar feeling of being in side a house of mirrors . Not that it looked like a house of mirrors, but produced the same sort of disorientation.
    Royal clasped m e to him and we moved too fast to see the tiles.
    We came out in the San Jose suburb of Mountain View . Not that I’d have known where we were if not for the sign outside the Mountain View ’s Premium Used Cars lot. As the door shut behind us, I looked across a narrow street at the car lot and a n ancient café with a blue neon sign which blinked haphazardly .
    Twenty -three minutes.
    Acid burned my throat . More than five minutes at demon speed is barely tolerable and these longer runs took their toll .
    Royal’s warm hand on my upper arm turned me toward him. “ We can take a car from here, if you would rather.”
    “How long to drive?”
    “A fraction over an hour .”
    I exhaled a puff of air . “Too long. Let’s do it your way.”
    His hands cupped my cheek. “This will be hard on you, Tiff.”
    He once demoned me from Clarion to Salt Lake City. Once. The drive usually takes a little over an hour. We did it in sixteen minutes. As if moving too fast to see the surrounding s and in which direction we sped was no t bad enough, we had to stop a few times when obstacles got in our way, such as an interstate roaring with traffic. Stop, s tart, blur, stop, start, blur. I had to sit on a bench for half an hour, trying my damndest to keep my breakfast where it bel onged .
    I rubbed his side. “ Okay, let’s