City of Devils: A Novel by Diana Bretherick Read Free Book Online Page A

silence as a challenge.
    ‘It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it? Is it always like this in November?’ he said as she shut the door.
    ‘No,’ replied Sofia tersely as she took his hat and cane.
    James tried again. ‘So then it usually rains then, does it?’
    ‘ Sì .’
    ‘Heavily?’
    Sofia sighed. ‘Sometimes.’
    ‘How often?’ he asked following her across the hallway. ‘Every day, once a week?’
    ‘Sometimes,’ she repeated.
    ‘In Edinburgh it rains all the time.’
    There was no reply.
    ‘Does it ever snow here?’
    ‘Follow me please,’ she said firmly.
    ‘Is there ever—’
    ‘No, never,’ she replied. It was clear that she was not in the mood to talk.
    He admitted defeat and dutifully followed her as they passed through various corridors, heavy with the fragrances of beeswax and lavender and just a hint of formaldehyde. Occasionally she would pause outside a door and James would think that they had reached their destination. Then, having waited just long enough to tantalise him, she would spin on her heel and on they would go. There was something sensual about the way she moved. Her bold walk and swinging hips reminded him of the girls who used to come out of the public houses in Edinburgh’s less salubrious areas, once they had closed for the night. And yet her movements had a certain elegance and grace that belied her sordid beginnings. There was something about her that both moved and disturbed him but he could not say for sure what that something might be. He decided that the only way to break the spell she had over him was to try again to engage her in conversation. Besides, there was something he needed to know.
    ‘Excuse me,’ he said, hesitantly.
    Sofia stopped and turned to face him. ‘ Sì ?’
    ‘I heard you say something about the gates of Hell yesterday. What did you mean?’
    She looked at him intently and murmured under her breath as she had done the day before. James didn’t know exactly what she said but it did not sound entirely complimentary. She turned away as if to go and James seized her by her wrist.
    ‘Wait! Answer me!’
    ‘No!’ She shook his hand away and carried on, turning left into a corridor. James quickly followed her and was about to try to speak to her again when he noticed that they were not alone. Lining the passageway were full-length skeletons, standing like sentinels guarding the very gates of Hell that Sofia seemed so reluctant to discuss. James halted, staring at them. Then he heard a low laugh. He looked up indignantly. Sofia was leaning against the wall next to one of the skeletons, a wry smile on her face. ‘They will not bite!’
    James looked at the nearest one to him and pulled a face at it. ‘Are you sure about that?’
    ‘ Sì ,’ she said. ‘I will not let them!’
    James looked at the skeletons and smiled as a thought entered his head. ‘Does the professor make you dust them?’
    She laughed. ‘ Sì , every day.’
    ‘And do they have much to say?’
    She paused, her head on one side as if she was giving serious consideration to his question. ‘No, they are very boring . . . for criminals.’
    ‘What sort of criminals?’
    ‘Murderers, thieves, pimps—’
    ‘And prostitutes?’ he said without thinking.
    Sofia’s smile disappeared and she looked at him haughtily. ‘No, only criminals. Come, signore, we must go. The professor is waiting.’
    ‘Oh, but can you not introduce me to one of these gentlemen, before we go?’ James asked, in an effort to return the conversation to its previous levity.
    ‘I will not. For one thing they have no conversation and for another . . .’ She paused.
    ‘What?’
    ‘For another they might lead you astray and we cannot have that!’
    ‘Do you enjoy your work, Sofia?’
    Sofia shrugged and started to walk away. ‘You ask a lot of questions. No wonder the professor likes you!’
    James realised that she had no intention of answering him but at least they had spoken, which was a start –