Tribute to Hell Read Online Free PDF

than she was, with thin, short legs and a heavy, muscular body. His skin was dark, his head bald, his nose hooked, and the point of his beard jutted towards her like a javelin.
    â€˜You called me, Daughter?’ His voice was so deep it might have been formed inside the hill; it reverberated like the throb of an organ pipe.
    â€˜You called me daughter ,’ she whispered. ‘Are — are you really my father?’
    Though she yearned for a father, a demon was the last father she could want. Besides, a mighty demon like Behemoth might have athousand daughters; she might mean nothing to him. He was her god’s enemy and had undermined everything she believed in. Astatine was too overcome to speak.
    â€˜You expected some great, hulking brute?’ Fire flickered in his raised eyebrow. ‘I prefer this form; both enemies and friends underestimate me. What do you want, Daughter?’
    â€˜Th–the Graven Casket was empty. What happened to the Covenant?’
    â€˜I gave Fistus the power he craved so desperately; in return, he allowed me to destroy it.’
    He sounded convincing, but he was the Prince of Deceivers. ‘Why, Father?’
    â€˜To make mischief.’
    Astatine’s entire life had been submission and obedience, but neither would serve her now. Dare she challenge the Lord of Perdition? Sweat dripped from her palms at the thought, not to mention that she owed her father respect. Could she put that obligation aside? She must. ‘I — I don’t believe you. I know you made a copy of the Covenant. Why, Father?’
    Behemoth swelled enormously; his black eyes flashed and his left hand shot out, encircling her wrist like an icy manacle. ‘How dare you question me ? You are over-bold, Daughter.’
    Astatine had never been bold; the other novices had mocked her as ‘the mouse’. She wanted to scream and run, but reminded herself of her oath, and it stiffened her. She would keep her word to the Abbess, whatever it cost. The mouse had to bite.
    She caught Behemoth’s dark wrist with her pale hands, squeezed hard and, amazingly, he winced.
    â€˜You are my daughter,’ he said, glowering at her. After shrinking to his former size, he resumed his seat.
    â€˜Well?’ she said, pretending an imperiousness she could not feel.
    â€˜Life in Elyssian becomes tedious, when one faces an eternity of it. That’s why I left and set up Perdition, though I was no more contented there.’
    â€˜But Elyssian is the epitome of perfection,’ said Astatine, wide-eyed.
    Behemoth rolled his eyes. ‘Even reaping the souls of the wickedbegins to pall, when one is the wickedest of all. There’s no villainy I haven’t done, Daughter, and tempting mere mortals into sin lost its joy long ago. In short, I was bored witless. And so, I discovered, was my enemy, your precious god, K’nacka.
    â€˜We took to meeting in Hightspall for a game of dice, each striving to best the other, and I won more often than I lost. But without something precious to lose, even gaming’s charm fades, and the stakes grew ever higher until, finally, K’nacka had nothing left to put on the table. Nothing save a pound of his own flesh.’
    â€˜Father?’ said Astatine, not understanding, though a chilly wave of horror surged through her. This was terribly wrong; she did not want to hear it.
    â€˜Having nothing else, he wagered one of his balls — and lost.’
    â€˜Balls?’ Her cheeks grew hot.
    â€˜He should have known that my dice were loaded.’ Behemoth’s thick lip curled. ‘K’nacka begged for another chance, double or nothing, and I was happy to dice again — as long as he signed a binding Covenant promising to pay tribute to Perdition if he lost the other ball.’
    â€˜A tribute of what?’
    â€˜A tithe of souls, the most perfect and saintly of all those who enter Elyssian. You can imagine how delightful I