Demon Games [4] by Steve Feasey Read Free Book Online

and doesn’t need batteries of any kind.’
    ‘How does it—’
    ‘I wouldn’t have a clue,’ Tom said, cutting Trey off. ‘Technology or magic – it’s all mumbo-jumbo to the likes of me, lad.’ He nodded in the direction of the device again. ‘In addition to being a handy little locator, if you press these two together-’ he indicated two small buttons on either side of the device – ‘it sends out a distress signal, which our technical gurus assure me will somehow cross between the realms and alert us here that you’re in serious danger.’ He shook his head and frowned down at the thing in his hand. ‘I hope it works.’ He handed it over to Trey, who gave him his own mobile in return.
    ‘Look after that for me,’ the teenager said, putting the new device in his pocket.
    Tom straightened up and called for Dreck to come over and join them. He turned to Trey. ‘As soon as you’re through and you Change, you’re to get away from whoever or whatever set this hell-hole up, OK? No heroics. Just scarper.’
    OK.’
    ‘I mean it,’ Tom said menacingly.
    ‘I know.’
    ‘Have you got your amulet on?’
    Trey’s hand felt for the small silver pendant that hung round his neck on a heavy chain. ‘I never take it off, Tom. You know that.’
    He thought about how, during his recent trip to Canada, he had done just that. He had foolishly chosen to discard the amulet he inherited from his father, a charm that gave Trey supreme control over his lycanthrope powers, stopping him becoming nothing more than a savage killing machine. He would never make that mistake again.
    Dreck was beside them now. ‘Ready?’ the Irishman asked the diminutive guide.
    Dreck nodded. ‘I’ll wait until I see Trey disappear round the bend down there.’ He motioned with his head in the direction of the alley behind him. ‘I’ll count to sixty to ensure that he’s gone, and then I’ll relocate.’ He looked at Trey. ‘I should reappear very close to you in the Netherworld so we can make our escape together.’
    ‘And what I’ve just said to the lad here goes for you too, Dreck,’ Tom said. ‘No playing silly buggers – get together and get away as quickly as possible.’
    The Irishman held his hand out to Trey, and when the teenager took it he found himself pulled forward and wrapped in the big man’s arms, the air squeezed out of his lungs by the Irishman’s affectionate bear hug. When Tom let go, he turned his head away, hiding the emotion on his face from the boy.
    ‘I’ll be off then,’ Trey said. He gave one last nod to each of them, turned on his heel, and started down the alleyway.
    It was colder than it had been on the street. A wind snaked its way between the buildings, stirring up dust and grime so that Trey had to screw his eyes up. Back at the apartment they’d studied maps of the area, placing a self-adhesive dot at the precise point where they believed the trap had been set up. As Trey approached the bend in the alley his heart began to hammer in his chest. He walked on, ignoring the sensation that his knees had been turned to jelly.
    He recognized fear: it had become a constant companion of his lately.
    Get a grip, Trey , he told himself, resisting the urge to look back at Tom and Dreck, knowing that they would be watching him from the alley’s entrance.
    He rounded the bend and slowed down, his legs seemingly unwilling to respond to the signals being sent from his brain to keep going.
    Any second now , he thought, narrowing his eyes and hunching his shoulders in anticipation of the ambush. An uncomfortable sensation had grown in his chest, and it occurred to him that he’d been holding his breath. He opened his mouth, exhaled and took a deep lungful of air, forcing his feet to keep moving forward. After twenty or so strides the alleyway straightened again, and he stopped, turning to look back at the dog-leg with a frown.
    It hadn’t worked. The hell-hole was either not there at all or was inactive at