A Job From Hell (34 page)

The winged beings barely touched my skin as they lifted me up and carried me forward in their strong arms. Their smel —burnt tyres and sulphur

—made my stomach clench, but I didn't mind as long as they led me where I was supposed to go.

We flew past woods and mountains, val eys and rivers. A setting sun appeared on the horizon. I lifted my gaze to the large, deadly claws wrapped around my arms and legs, holding me in place. I realised the formless shapes looked like tal , muscly humans, their skin black as coal, with white wings and eyes dark as bottomless pits. Letting out a screech, they pointed down and lowered me to the ground near a hole surrounded by stones.

I stood and wiped a hand over my dusty jeans. "Is the book here?"

The tal est of the creatures hovered over me, wings flapping as it nodded and let out a guttural sound. He was so beautiful with perfect features, and yet so eerily inhuman, like a dark angel. I could barely peel my eyes off him when the scent of burnt tyres on a hot summer day wafted past again, stronger than before. If they were angels, then surely not from heaven.

Holding my breath, I leaned over the edge and peered inside, my mind starting to work slowly. How was I supposed to get down there?

I shot the creature a glance over my shoulder as I asked, "Do you have a rope, an energy bar or something?" No answer. I cleared my throat.

"Wel then, can one of you be an angel and give a girl a lift?"

The creature let out a sound that resembled a chuckle and shoved me forward, then rose into the sky, white wings flapping graceful y, and disappeared with the others. I realised I was supposed to climb when I could barely walk without tripping over my own feet. If I fel and broke my leg, no one would ever know. Whoever came up with this particular plan to retrieve the book, sucked big time. Maybe I'd haunt them, too.

Murmurs echoed in the distance. A cold shudder ran down my spine. "Hel o? Is there someone?" I spun, holding my breath as I listened for more sounds.

"Amber! I know you can hear me."

Was that Devon? It didn't sound like a voice inside my head, more like someone shouting through a loudspeaker at a footbal game. I peeked behind the nearby bushes. No one there, but where else could he be hiding? Maybe the voice was carrying over from inside the pit? I dared a peek into the pitch-black when his voice jolted me, making me flinch.

"Look around you and tel us where you are."

I scanned the area. The thick forest stretched into the distance. Apart from trees and bushes, and yet more trees, there was nothing nearby. "Oh shoot, my GPS can't get a service down here. I'm going to real y have to change providers. But let me get my map out and match it to the giant, neon, flashing road sign I'm standing under." I paused for effect. "How the heck would I know where I am, Devon? Al I can tel you is I'm outside."

"You must see something."

Yeah, a future appointment with a good psychologist and a prescription for anti-depressants. Dal as had a point something was wrong with my mind. The signs were there: hearing strange voices, seeing unearthly beings, talking to myself. I sighed and opened my mouth to speak, hysteria almost choking my throat. "There's a pit."

I heard a gasp, then Aidan said, "That's it. Wel done, babe. You'l have to go in now."

Snorting, I peered over the edge. "And how am I supposed to do that? Last time I checked I couldn't fly."

"Can you climb in? Or jump?" Aidan asked.

I'd feared that one coming. "Of course I can, because I'm Spiderman."

"Remember nothing can hurt you because you're not in the physical world anymore. We're standing over your body at the altar. Your soul is doing al the work right now," he said. He didn't sound convinced.

I snorted. "I'm dead already. How reassuring. Are you sure nothing can hurt me?"

"Positive," Devon said. Why the hesitation in his voice then?

My pulse racing, I draped a leg over the brink and dangled it as I peered in. Wherever the bottom was, it seemed to be a long way down.

"You said nothing could hurt me? So, right now I'm just a spirit?" I mumbled. "Wel , in that case I'd just float my way down."

"Amber, no!" Aidan said.

"Ah, what the heck!" Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and jumped.

I felt myself free fal in slow motion, spinning in circles and plummeting deeper, the cold air seeping into my skin. Opening my eyes, I saw a vision of Aidan smiling inches from me.

"We'l get the book and have a life together. I promise," Aidan said.

His face morphed into Kieran's who held a camera. "Can I take a picture so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?"

Angel appeared, her long swirling black hair made her look like a dark angel as she smiled. "If I marry Kieran we'l be sisters-in-law, and I'l never be lonely again."

"No, you're my BFF," Clare's image said.

Devon cleared his voice in the distance. "Concentrate, Amber. You're almost there."

I hit the floor with a loud thud, the impact knocking the air out of my lung. A sharp pain rippled through my shoulder. Didn't Devon say nothing could hurt me?

"Are you in?" Aidan asked.

I wiped my dirty hands on my new coat, annoyed. "I can stil feel my legs, thanks for asking. My back's not even hurt that badly. Only as though I was just hit by a train."

"Good, now what do you see?" Devon's voice again.

Did they pay any attention to me? For a moment I considered ignoring them, just so I could sulk a bit, but I figured the sooner I got out of here, the faster I could haunt them. As I scrambled up, hand holding onto the wal , I saw a neon cord and pul ed it. A rusty light bulb flickered on the other side of the wal . I noticed I was standing in a long, narrow room with the only entrance above my head.

The place was one dirty mess with a naked mattress covering the far side and cobwebs hanging from the low ceiling. "I'm in a room with no windows. There's a cooker in one corner and a pad on the left side."

"Describe the room. What does it smel like? Is there anything else besides the cooker?" Devon's voice was dripping with anticipation.

"It's dusty." That was an understatement. "Since I have no job maybe they should hire me as a housekeeper."

Aidan snorted. "Seriously, Amber, would it real y help?"

"One more housekeeping joke from you and I'm outta here. Got it?" I walked around, taking in every detail.

"Sorry, babe. Listen, the book's there. You need to find it," Aidan said.

With trembling fingers, I picked up a dirty towel from the bare ground and tossed it across the bed when I noticed the animal fur. "Oh, God, that's just disgusting. I see skin shredded to pieces, like a beast sharpened its claws on it." My heartbeat accelerated. Whatever this place was, I wanted out. Now.

"Keep searching," Devon said.

I puffed and turned away to scan the floor. "Easy for you to say. You're not looking at dead stuff." There was nothing else. No cupboards, no trapdoors. "I don't think it's here."

"Look harder. The book's probably hidden."

"I'm not blind," I muttered under my breath as I skimmed the wal s. How big was it anyway? What did it look like? The Shadows hadn't even bothered to give me any description or, even better, show me a picture. If I pretended to search hard enough they'd eventual y realise it wasn't here.

I paced the room several times, swirling up the thick dust. "There's nothing else, just empty wal s and filth everywhere. If I don't get a shower soon I swear I'l —"

"Search the floor," Devon said.

"Dive right in. Oh, why not? I've always wanted to die from asthma." I cowered on the ground and moved my hands about through years of dust and what else not. "Nothing."

"Have you checked under the bed yet?" Aidan asked.

My heart skipped a beat. "You've got to be kidding. What if there's a monster lurking under there?"

"Babe, what're you, five?" Aidan said.

"Yeah, right. I shouldn't believe in monsters, but then again I shouldn't believe in vampires either." The shirt on my back was soaked with sweat; my pulse started to sound like a drum in my ears. Stretching out my arms, I grabbed hold of the mattress and pul ed it up. It was stuck to the floor, like someone nailed it to the spot, and much heavier than I expected. With a grunt, I took a step forward, bending my elbows to lift it. The light barely reached beneath it. As I turned away, ready to drop it, I saw a bundle pushed to the far side.

"Nothing? Maybe there's some sort of vault or corridor?" Devon said.

"Please don't let it be anything dead and foul-smel ing." My stomach churned as I pushed the mattress aside. After several attempts of pul ing and shoving, my arms ached. I wiped the sweat off my brows and tried again. The material ripped. I kicked at it until it slid away, revealing what lay beneath.

"Amber, can you hear me?" Devon asked. I heard him, but didn't reply. No point in raising their hopes, then crushing them if I didn't find what they wanted.

It was a bundle made from skin and fur that smel ed as though the animal hadn't died long ago. Poking my foot into it, I pul ed the cover aside and let out a shriek.

"Got it." Silence. Did they even hear me?

"Real y?" Aidan said, eventual y.

The book was thick and bound in fading leather with letters and symbols embossed on the cover. I inched closer and held my breath as I dropped to the floor to touch it. The pages were old and yel owed, worn out at the corners where fingers had chafed the paper. I couldn't stop staring at it, the smel of dust and magic making me dizzy.

"It's right here. I'm holding it in my hands." I felt proud of myself. There I was, inconspicuous Amber, finding what a bunch of immortals hadn't been able to get. It had been so easy, but who cares? I had it, and now I'd get back home.

Eventual y, I shut the book and lifted it in my arms. It was heavier than I expected, but not impossible to carry. If I could pul Dal as's monster of a suitcase up a hil , I'd be able to transport an oversized book.

Aidan sounded pleased too. "You rock, babe. Now get back here."

Right. Now came the hard part. Where was the way out? I stumbled forward, standing right under the opening in the ceiling, and looked up.

Whoever hid the book either had a rope with them, or could climb up wal s like Spiderman.

"Guys, I've no idea how to get out." I tried to infuse cheeriness into my tone when pictures of me, trapped in this place, flashed through my mind. I wasn't going to end up a skeleton, nails scratching at the bare wal s as I tried to climb my way out to no avail.

"There's got to be some sort of tunnel," Devon said. "Keep searching."

Scowling, I scanned the floor for the umpteenth time. "What do you think I'm doing? Picking flowers?"

No trapdoor, no hidden opening, nothing. I always hated playing hide and seek. Dal as's fetish for hiding my stuff and then watching me cuss my way through searching for it while he guffawed like an idiot, always turned me into a raging lunatic. I sank down next to the mattress and pressed my back against the wal , taking one deep breath after another. I'd literal y skimmed every inch of this awful place. Where else could I look?

"Have you found it?" Devon asked. "You need to hurry. The book's very important."

Not to mention my wel being. I rol ed my eyes. "Of course. I'm standing in front of the exit. Just taking a few pictures, you know, to remind me of my time in the otherworld."

Maybe I could summon some deceased souls and send them after Devon & co. right now, because apart from seeing a few dead people and what happened to them, the prize had brought me nothing but hassles.

"If you could just hurry up with the pictures then, we'd real y appreciate it," Devon said. Not only was he annoying as hel , he was also dense.

Leaning against the bed, I felt my hand sink right in. I turned to examine the wide cut at the foot of the mattress, inconspicuous in the dim light. The material seemed stretched over a long string as wide as two fingers. I pul ed it out and stared at the metal hooks running every few inches. Were they supposed to fit in somewhere?

"Hey, anyone know anything about rock climbing? With hooks and stuff?"

Silence, then Aidan said, "Oh, God. Is there any other way you could get out of there?"

"I'l just grow myself a pair of wings." I bit my tongue hard, holding back another remark. No need to take it out on him just because he had a point. He had yet to see my acrobatic side—the one I'd put to use for the first time in my life. "I get it. You're clueless, too." I nodded to myself.

"Doesn't matter, I'l figure it out myself."

Swinging the rope over my shoulder so the hooks dangled and clattered, I brushed my hands over the wal s until I found the tiny indentations in the stone that were too smal to see with the naked eye. Under my fingers, I felt the metal rings inside the indentations, smooth to the touch. I tied the rope around my waist, securing it with a knot, then wrapped it a few times around the book to keep it secured against my back, and glanced up.

"Now what?" I examined a hook as I considered my options. Obviously they were meant to clasp around the ring, but how was I going to climb up there to attach those? "Darn it."

"Are you okay? Anything happened?" Aidan's voice boomed, jolting me out of my thoughts. I could only hope he wasn't going to interrupt my concentration while I dangled from a rope in mid-air.

"Just peaches, thanks. Now if you could just keep quiet for a minute. Thanks," I said.

After a last look at the rope tied around my waist, I squeezed the hook into the first indentation and wriggled it about until it connected with the ring. Standing on my toes, I attached the next one half a foot higher, grabbed hold of it and tried to pul myself up. Groaning from the effort, I realised it wasn't going to work unless I grew myself a pair of bodybuilder biceps.

"What happened to the good ole' stairs?" I whispered.

With a sigh I heaved myself up for another try, pushing the tip of my boot into the first indentation for more leverage as I climbed up. I reached the second hook and stretched my arm as far as I could to grasp the third dent above my head, blindly fidgeting with the catch until it connected with the ring. From where I hung, I figured there were at least ten or fifteen of those. After only two, my body was already shaking from too much effort.