Read Online Even Hell Has Knights (Hellsong) by Shaun O. McCoy - Free Book Online Page A

stay late for a meeting about the lack of devils. Mancini didn’t know what they could possibly have left to discuss. It wasn’t like there was anything they could actually do about the problem. All that was left was to listen to Father Klein’s drivel. The Father had been in Hell longer than him, sure, but Mancini was wise enough to know that when it came to things Klein didn’t understand, he was full of bullshit.
    And he sure as hell doesn’t understand this.
    Besides, Mancini knew they were discussing the wrong thing. Hell had its own rules, and no human knew what they were. Humans weren’t made for this place. They were made for the old world. It was the devils that knew what was going on. If only a dyitzu was smart enough to speak, maybe they could ask one. It certainly couldn’t come up with anything more cockamamie than the crap Father Klein was spewing.
    He came to the third story landing.
    Someone had left the parlor room pitch black, too dark even for his liking. Mancini, his arms held up before him, took ginger steps into the room. The door blankets that led to the balcony had been drawn so that they were perfectly flush with their stone frames.
    Someone must have been sleeping in here.
    He had to feel around with his feet to make sure he didn’t run into the stone furniture.
    He drew off a single blanket from around the first orb. The dyitzu skin felt soft to his touch. He let the blanket drop to his feet and stepped over it as the parlor was lit with the dimmest of illuminations. There was just barely enough light now for him to try and see. He moved towards the second orb, intending to take off another blanket.
    He heard a click.
    I’m not alone.
    He saw a pale white face, disembodied in the darkness. Mancini froze, staring at it. He could not tell if it was human, or devil. It had no nose or lips to speak of, and its flesh seemed too swollen to be a person’s. Tufts of black hair sprang up from its mostly bald head, disappearing into the blackness about it. In a few places the hair was as white as the skin on the face itself.
    Mancini took a step back.
    It wasn’t too close to him, maybe thirty or so paces away.
    That can’t be right, there’s a wall there. Is it in the wall?
    He did his best to make sense of the room, trying not to lose sight of the face itself.
    Don’t move, maybe it won’t kill you.
    As Mancini’s eyes began to adjust, he noticed that there was a shadow between the two of them.
    Wait, it’s not in the wall, that’s the mirror.
    He wasn’t looking at the face at all. He was looking at the face’s reflection. It could be anywhere in the room. If that was the mirror, then the shadow was himself. And that would mean that the face was right—
    “Don’t move, Davel,” a voice whispered in his ear.
    Mancini felt a gun being pressed into his back.
    It knows my name.
    His shoulders tensed so hard that they hurt.
    “Don’t shout for help,” the voice ordered.
    Mancini tried to nod, but his neck was so tight that he couldn’t move it.
    That voice.
    Mancini saw his own eyes, their whites seemingly pale grey in the darkness, widening in the mirror.
    “Pyle,” Mancini said.
    The Betrayer.
    The gun pulled away from his back.
    “Good, you recognize me.”
    How did he get in here? What happened to his face?
    “Yes.” Mancini whispered.
    “Don’t worry, Davel, I won’t kill you. I’m a good man, and I remember all the fine wine you brewed me. I’m just here to ask you some questions.”
    Mancini’s legs began shaking.
    Control yourself.
    “Why have you come back?” he asked Pyle.
    “Questions, that’s all. I just came in to ask you about the angel’s get. That boy that Carlisle and the Infidel were looking for.”
    He needs something from me.
    Mancini took his first quivering steps. His legs were shaky and had no strength to speak of. Running wasn’t going to be an option. The gun pressed again into his back.
    “Where are you going, Mancini?”
    He froze.
    “The