Read Online Hell to Pay by Simon R. Green - Free Book Online Page A

walked away with all their fingers.”
    “But none of them would have the balls to threaten him,” said William. “They might talk tough through their lawyers, but not one of them would dare strike at him directly. They know what he’s capable of. Remember Hilly Divine? Thought he could muscle Daddy out of his district by sending an army of mercenaries to storm the Hall?”
    “What happened?” I said.
    William smirked. “The jungle ate the mercenaries. And Daddy ate Hilly Divine. Over a period of months, I understand, bit by bit. Of course, that was back before we were born. He might have mellowed since then.”
    “There are those who say some part of Hilly Divine is still alive, in some hidden dungeon under the Hall,” Eleanor said dreamily. “That Daddy still keeps him around, for special occasions. When he wants to serve something special at a celebratory banquet.”
    “Never touch the finger snacks,” said William, still smirking. “Daddy’s had a lot of his enemies disappear…”
    “Everyone’s afraid of our father,” Eleanor said shortly.
    “No-one would dare touch Melissa because they know what he’d do in retaliation. Everyone in the Nightside bends the knee and bows the neck to Daddy Dearest because of what he could do and has done in the past.”
    “I don’t,” I said.
    Eleanor looked at me pityingly. “You’re here, aren’t you? You came when he called.”
    “Not because I was frightened,” I said.
    “No,” said Eleanor, studying me thoughtfully. “Maybe you aren’t, at that.” She seemed to find the prospect intriguing.
    I looked at William. “Tell me about Melissa. How you feel about her. You don’t seem too upset about her being missing.”
    “We’re not close,” said William, scowling heavily.
    “Never have been. Daddy saw to that. Insisting she be brought up here, under his roof, ever since she was a baby, instead of with me and Gloria. For security reasons . Yeah, right. She would have been perfectly safe with us. But no, it had to be his way, like always. He wanted to be sure we wouldn’t turn her against him. He always has to be in control, of everything and everyone.”
    “Even family?” I said.
    “Family most of all,” said Eleanor.
    “You could have stood up to your father,” I said to William.
    It was his turn to look at me pityingly. “You don’t say no to Jeremiah Griffin. I don’t know why he was so keen to raise her himself,” said William. “It’s not as if he did such a great job raising us.”
    “So you let him take your children,” I said. “Melissa, and Paul.”
    “We had no choice!” said Eleanor, but all of a sudden she seemed too tired to be properly angry. She looked at the cigarette in her hand as though she had no idea what it was. “You have no idea what it’s like to have the Griffin as your father.”
    “I might have made a mess of things,” said William, “but I would have liked to try and raise Melissa myself. Gloria didn’t care, but then Gloria’s never really been mommy material, have you, dear? I went along with Daddy because…well, because everyone does. He’s just…too big. You can’t argue with him because he’s always got an answer. You can’t argue with a man who’s lived lifetimes, because he’s always seen everything before, done everything before. I sometimes wonder what kind of a man I might have been if I’d had the good fortune to be born some other man’s son.”
    “Not immortal,” I said.
    “There is that, yes,” said William. “There’s always that.”
    I liked him a little better for what he’d just said, but I still had to ask the next question. “Why did you wait until your seventh marriage to have children?”
    His face hardened immediately, and suddenly I was the enemy again, to be defied at all costs. “None of your damned business.”
    I looked at Eleanor, but she glared coldly back at me. I’d touched something in them, for a moment, but the moment had passed. So I looked at