Read Online City of the Snakes by Darren Shan - Free Book Online Page B

of dropping in—they care as little about my affairs as I do about theirs—and the rent isn’t due for another two months.
    Rising, I pad to the door and pause with my hand on the knob. I don’t have a chain or latch, so I address my visitor through the thin wood of the closed door. “Who is it?”
    “Jerry Falstaff.”
    Unlocking the door, I open it and gesture him in. It’s been three years—more—since he last looked me up. My curiosity’s instantly aroused.
    Jerry walks straight to the only chair in the tiny living room and takes it. “The decor hasn’t improved,” he notes, casting an unimpressed eye around.
    “I was never big on interior design.” I close the door and take up a position opposite him, standing to attention the way I used to when I was one of Jerry’s colleagues in the Troops. Jerry’s come a long way since then, further than either of us ever imagined. The new Cardinal took a shine to him. Jerry mixes with the high and mighty these days, though he doesn’t bear the look of an important man. He’s the same Jerry Falstaff I remember, slightly overweight, clothes a bit loose, a small grin never far from his lips. A bit grayer at the temples perhaps.
    “Looking good, Al.”
    “I keep in shape.”
    “And then some.” Jerry coughs meaningfully and I take the hint.
    “Can I get you something to drink?”
    “Thought you’d never ask. Got any beer?”
    I fetch a couple of cans from the fridge, one for each of us. Ten years ago I was dry, avoiding all forms of alcohol in the sure knowledge that one slip would be my downfall. These days I can indulge in a social drink (though I rarely do) and leave it at that. I have greater demons to wrestle with.
    “Busy?” Jerry asks, sinking a third of the can and burping.
    “Yes.”
    “Things have been tense lately. I hear you’re keeping a lid on the situation in these parts.”
    “I’ve done what I can.”
    “Didn’t think community watch was your kind of business.”
    “Riots are good for nobody. How are things going with the Kluxers?”
    Jerry grimaces. “We’ve forced them back a bit. They’ve established a toehold, but we showed we weren’t ready to let them roll in and take over. It’s an uneasy truce but it should hold for a few weeks.”
    “And then?”
    “Who knows?” He smirks humorlessly. “Actually that’s what I’m here about.” He pauses, giving me a chance to ask questions, but I say nothing. I can’t imagine what he’s after. “We’ve been good to you, haven’t we?”
    “
We?
”
    “Me and Frank. Ford, before he retired. As a rule we’re opposed to vigilantes. We had every right to crack down on you, especially since you targeted so many of our valued associates.”
    I nod slowly. “I can’t argue with that.”
    “But we’ve kept out of your way and granted you the freedom of the city.”
    “That’s true.”
    Jerry sips from the can and speaks over the rim. “You know about Capac going AWOL?”
    “I’ve heard rumors.”
    “He went to the Fridge Saturday before last. Asked to be admitted to Dorak’s crypt. When the doctor who let him in returned, he wasn’t there. Vanished into thin air, or so it seemed. We found a passageway beneath Dorak’s coffin, a set of stairs leading down into a maze of tunnels. He must have gone down—or was taken. We tried to track him but it’s immense, full of traps and dead ends. He hasn’t been seen since.”
    “A tragedy,” I mutter drily. Inside I’m thinking that underground tunnels plus an Ayuamarcan plus mysterious disappearance equals
villacs
.
    “It will be if we don’t get him back,” Jerry says seriously. “He has his critics, but Capac’s The Cardinal, the only one who can hold this shit-can of a city together. He…” Jerry shakes his head. “But that’s not for me to say. You’ll be told more later. I want you to come with me, Al.”
    “Where?”
    “Party Central.”
    “Why?”
    “Ford’s back. He’s taken control.”
    “Ford