The Elves of Cintra Read Online Free PDF Page B

didn’t appreciate his aggressive attitude. “Connects to buildings farther up through underground tunnels. We can avoid all the Freaks if we can get inside.”
    “Big if, looks like,” he said, hauling back again, straining against the handle. “Isn’t there some other way?”
    She surprised him by laughing. “What’s the matter, mighty Panther Puss?” she taunted. “Cat’s on the wrong side of the door and can’t get in?”
    He tightened his lips, grunted as he heaved against the door, and wrenched it all the way open. “Ain’t nowhere I can’t get in!”
    They slipped inside ahead of their pursuers and followed a short corridor to a down stairway. Sparrow, leading now, switched on her solar-powered torch to give them light in the blackness, and they descended the stairwell to the long, broad corridor below. The corridor ran straight ahead before branching. Sparrow didn’t hesitate in choosing their path, turning left for a short distance to a second fork, then turning right. Panther followed without comment, his finger on the trigger of his prod, his eyes sweeping the dark corners of the spaces they passed through.
    From somewhere farther back, he could hear the Croaks again, shuffling their way after them. Stupid Freaks, he thought angrily. Ain’t got the sense to know when to quit!
    He looked down at the power level readout on his prod. Less than half a charge remained. They needed to get out of there.
    They hurried on, reached a wide set of stairs, and began to climb. At the top of the stairs was an open space, a common area serving a series of ruined shops. An escalator rose ahead of them, frozen in place, metal treads dulled by time and a lack of care, a black scaly snake. It was so long that its top could not be seen.
    “We have to go up that?” Panther growled.
    “The street’s up there, and right across from that, the freeway.” Sparrow took his arm. “C’mon, let’s get to where we’re going and be done with it.”
    She practically raced up the steps, leaving Panther to either watch or follow. He chose the latter, hurrying to catch up, taking the stairs two at a time. Their shoes padded against the metal, and once or twice Panther’s prod clanged against the sides of the escalator. Too much noise, he chided himself. But he didn’t hear the Croaks anymore, so maybe it didn’t matter. He watched the steps recede beneath his feet and found himself wondering how escalators worked, back when they did work. How did those steps fold up and flatten out and return to shape like that? Fixit would know. He shook his head. Must have been something to watch.
    They crested the stairs and moved across an open space to a set of wide double doors that opened into the lobby of another hotel. The lobby stretched away through gloom and shadows to a wall of broken-out glass windows and a pair of ornate doors that were closed against the world. Old furniture filled the lobby, most of it torn apart and tipped over. Fake plants lay fallen on their sides, still in their pots, dusty and gray, strange corpses with spindly limbs. Bits and pieces of metal glittered on railings and handles, but the rust was winning the battle here, too.
    He was starting across the lobby toward the doors when Sparrow grabbed his arm. “Panther,” she whispered.
    He glanced over quickly, the way she spoke his name an unmistakable warning. She was looking up at the balcony that encircled the lobby.
    Dozens of Croaks were looking down.
    “I don’t believe this!” Panther muttered.
    The Croaks began shuffling along the railing, their strange, twisted faces barely visible in the gloom, their bodies hunched over. There didn’t seem to be any of them on the lobby level, but by now Panther was looking everywhere at once, his prod held ready for the inevitable attack.
    “We have to get to the doors,” Sparrow hissed at him. “We have to get outside again.”
    She had that much right, even if she’d gotten everything else wrong.