Underbelly (61 page)

“
I’ve talked to your aunt. She’s concerned about you,” he said to Adelaide.

“
Fool. If you intend to attempt to manipulate my emotions you should lie and say you talked to Matilde, rather than any other family member, who I care nothing about, and who despised me. Jeanne, I assume?”

“
That’s right.”

“
That woman was no more moral than I. Nothing that she has to say can help you.”

“
I know something of the life you lived. I’d be bitter too.”

Adelaide laughed and thrust her head back before looking at him with a huge grin on her radiant features. “I’m not bitter. I’m happy now, happy to do this.”

“
Even though those of us that you attack have done nothing to you?”

“
I’m a demon, and a bitch. That’s my calling, and pain and suffering is always compelling and entertaining. If you were in my position you’d love it just as much as I do. I knew you’d shake your head, conveniently forgetting that you’re already worse than I am.”

“
I don’t think we’ll get anywhere by grading people as worse than others. What do you mean?” he said, curious as to how a self-confessed demonic bitch could think him more wicked than her.

“
I may have the heart of a devil, but I’ve never killed or caused physical suffering. In fact I’ve alleviated pain and restored damaged bodies, while you have killed 12 men.”

“
Is that how many?” Grey said, believing that he had killed a much greater figure, yet intuitively believing her.

“
That’s how many you’ve killed directly. There’s more blood on your hands than on mine.”

“
I’m not proud of killing anyone, though if you know that much then you’ll also know that I was at war…”

“
It still counts,” she said, taunting him, seeing that she had shamed him. Grey was ashamed, but he bounced back from it and said,

“
You had the girls who worked for you kill their clients. That’s…”

“
That was their choice and on their own heads,” she said forcefully.

“
That’s murder by proxy. If you talked them into it then you’re as responsible as them, maybe more so.”

“
I can see why you like that excuse. By that theory you aren’t responsible for killing those poor men, it’s all the fault of your generals.”

“
No, I’m not saying that. I accept responsibility for my actions and I feel I can justify them. I’m a much lesser man for having killed; one thing I can say is that I did not kill out of hate. You’ll laugh at this but I feel I killed for a good cause.”

Adelaide did not laugh and instead glared at him with contempt. “You made a conscious decision to kill, for your ‘noble’ cause. Clemence and I have no choice but to do as we are bid. Who’s worse?”

“
You are, Adelaide, and I think you know you are. Whether you care is another matter,” Grey said sharply, letting her know what he thought of her. Perhaps she had been a good soul once, only now there seemed to be no heart of gold underneath the sadistic veneer and all that was there was a monster who wanted to torture him at length, possibly for years. His brief attempt at striking up a rapport had failed and he didn’t have the energy or the patience to try again. This once he didn’t want to be understanding and forgiving.

“
Of course I don’t. Normally they beg me for the first couple of months – in your case it will be years – before they dare criticise me. Nothing you say will have any effect.”

“
I’ve gathered that. I won’t try and contact Matilde to have her intercede for me – she doesn’t need to know what a monstrosity you turned into.”

Adelaide laughed and crawled next to him and whispered in his ear seductively, “I will persuade Audrey to put Germaine’s name on the list.”

Grey shrugged and said unconcernedly, “Please yourself. She was only the substitute for the woman I really wanted anyway.”

“
Nice try. She’s just an ordinary human – I think she’ll panic more when we place her in her tomb. We’ll place a pig in her small tomb with her, just so she feels at home. And then there’s your good friend Conrad Overton. Another of our clients has put him on her list – he’s next after you.”

“
Conrad has already been through enough,” Grey protested.

“
He deserves to undergo suffering – he killed as many as Clemence has in his bombing forays in Berlin. Besides, it’s fitting that the heartbreaker should experience what it feels like,” Adelaide said, looking forward to having him in her clutches. Grey made an interesting enough victim, certainly more appealing than her last few, but he was no Romeo, unlike Conrad Overton who she felt sure would provide much entertainment. “And after Conrad it’s Germaine’s turn. We’ve never had a pregnant victim before and it opens up all new possibilities. We’ll rip it out of her and torture that for a while and see what she makes of that.”

“
You don’t want them. I’m your enemy – why not set a new record with me instead?” Adelaide seemed unconvinced and Grey said, trying desperately to sway her, “You can cause her tremendous pain by telling her what you’ve done to me over the years.”

“
You’ll rescind that offer when the true torture starts.”

“
I won’t. You were never married or in love so you wouldn’t understand.”

“
I understand that your pain threshold is low.”

Germaine returned to Audrey’s and tried a different approach, forfeiting her dignity as she grovelled on the floor, begging her to take it back or to summon them so that she could talk to them. Audrey refused to summon them initially before Germaine wore her down and Audrey believed that if she heard it from them that he was lost to her that she might be forced to accept it. She saw the maggots and flies again and steeled herself for them.

“
Is it urgent, Audrey, as we are quite busy?” Adelaide said with relish, looking squarely at Germaine.

“
Germaine needs to speak to you about her husband,” Audrey said.

“
You can’t blame Audrey for taking us up on our offer. Five years for one name is a good deal,” Adelaide said. “She only called us to add Inge to the list, but as I tried to tell you last time, she’s dead, and we struck a different deal.”

“
I don’t care if Inge’s dead or not,” Germaine said, a line she never thought she’d utter. “I want my husband back.”

“
Why not face facts and accept that you were born for tragedy?”

Germaine switched to French, desperately hoping that she might stand more chance of reaching them in their mother tongue. “You make deals with people all of the time. I want him back. Is there any room for negotiation?”

Adelaide smiled at her and nodded. “Yes, but we are, unfortunately, tied to him. Audrey doomed him and we can’t let him go, even if we wanted to. His fate is ineluctable.”

“
Then there is no room for compromise.”

“
We can make it swift and merciful, if you are willing to make a deal. Otherwise it will be a long, protracted affair, with years of suffering, which we will tell him you had the power to prevent. Make your own list of five – put Audrey on it, Inge’s minions.”

“
You don’t understand me. Even if you offered him back to me I couldn’t do that.”

“
Audrey’s love was greater than morality. Yours, quite clearly, is not,” Adelaide said dismissively.

“
Before you go too far with him bear in mind that he has a friend who is even more powerful than Inge.”

“
What is he called?”

“
She. She was called Laura Spencer.”

Adelaide looked at her blankly, Laura one of the few people off her radar, Laura having used spells to make herself imperceptible to such lower beings a long time ago. Adelaide smirked and said, “I’m not scared of figments of your imagination.”

“
You’ll find out that she’s real.”

“
The only real thing in this world is pain and suffering. You’ve proven that love is a lie. What will he say when he finds out how little you care?” Adelaide said as she made a sharp exit trailed by Clemence, who hissed at Germaine and flexed her bloody claws. Germaine forced herself to believe that the blood was Allan Whitlow’s.

“
What did you say?” Audrey asked when they had left.

“
That’s absolutely none of your business,” Germaine said quietly.

Grey used the short break from them to formulate a new plan and when they returned and Adelaide asked him tauntingly if he missed them, he focused on Clemence.

“
No, especially not you. You’re a beast now, hideous. You’re going to torture me down here? Well I doubt there are any tortures worse than having to look at you. Wasn’t always that way though, was it, Clemence?” Grey said, provoking her deliberately, trying to get under her skin (before she literally got under his).

Clemence growled, her claws feeling his skin around his belly.

“
You were as beautiful as your sister – more so, that’s what some of my spirit friends say. Personally, brunettes have always done it for me. I would have liked to have seen you in your prime to see if what they say was true. Look at you now though! You turn my stomach,” he said, exaggerating his revulsion. Clemence was a hideous sight, but Grey would never denigrate another based on looks and his words served a purpose as he took a gamble. They intended to kill him anyway so he felt he had little to lose, though he worried that if he annoyed them too much the torture might exceed a new record. For his plan to work it required striking a raw nerve, a dangerous tactic when dealing with sadistic demons, yet his only option. He had to appear cool for his plan to work as it would fail if Clemence realised he was just bargaining for his life and he kept his cool, even as her claws pierced his belly and she began peeling off the epidermis and dermis slowly.

“
Let’s see if we can turn his stomach,” Adelaide said with relish.

“
Your threats would be more effective if I was an ordinary human. I’m a medium; I deal with spirits daily. If you torture me I’ll leave the corporeal state and enter the spirit plane, where you can’t reach me and you’ll have to entertain yourself with a blank slate,” he said, seemingly fearless.

“
Even if you can do that, it’s no real escape. Your body is trapped with us until we decide to kill you. You don’t need food because I can nourish you just enough so that you always remain ravenous, but are not so starving that you die. I can provide enough stale air so that while you will feel like you are permanently suffocating, you never will. You’re our victim, Grey, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Adelaide said as Clemence began to dig a little deeper, blood pouring down onto Grey’s lap.

“
Once I leave the physical realm I won’t return until it’s over,” Grey said to Clemence, ignoring Adelaide (who he now knew he could never reason with).

“
Then you’ll never return,” Adelaide said. “I’d like to see his stomach, Clemence.”

“
You can be a deformed beast who rips out men’s stomachs, Clemence, or you can be a human again, maybe as beautiful as you were. Adelaide may say that it doesn’t matter but would she say the same if she was the one that made dogs whimper and who made pigs look desirable by comparison? Vanity is at the core of her where her soul should be – she’s a preening peacock of a demon who wants to keep you down, yet would never tolerate it for a second if she looked like you.”

Clemence’s eyes narrowed and she retracted her claws before she reached Grey’s innards and she turned to look at her sister.

“
He’s stirring to save his own hide. Skin him and show him his hide for trying to come between two sisters as close as we are,” Adelaide said, a little rattled by the look in her ferocious sister’s eyes.