The Nekropolis Archives Read Online Free Page B

before me was a hulking reptilian demon with steel talons jutting forth from its thick scaly fingers.
      "This your real shape?" I asked.
      Maera shrugged her massive shoulders. "I'm whatever I choose to be." Her voice had become high-pitched, brittle, and grating, like metal fragments and glass shards rubbing together.
      "That's true of everyone, one way or another," I countered.
      A heavy hand gripped my shoulder, and Troilus turned me back around to face him. "Spare us the philosophy," he said. "I got enough of that from the damned Greeks."
      "Tell me one thing before you start dismembering me." Before Troilus could deny me, I hurried on. "You could've jumped me anytime. Why bring me here, and using such an elaborate cover story to boot?"
      It's hard to read the expression of someone whose only eye looks like a large camera lens, but a smug tone crept into the cyclops' voice. "To humiliate you, of course. You think you're so smart, so tough…" He sneered. "How does it feel to know that you've been outsmarted by a pair of street crooks?"
      "If it ever happens, I'll let you know." While Troilus had been talking, I'd reached into my pants pocket and pulled out a handful of narrow white plastic pouches. I took one between my thumb and forefinger, aimed it at Troilus' new eye, and squeezed. The packet burst under the pressure and thick red liquid splattered his lens. Before he could react, I took hold of the remaining packets, squeezed them in my fist, and smeared the gooey red results onto the cyclops' tunic to join the stains already present.
      "What the – what is this gunk?" Troilus reached toward his ocular implant to clear his lens, but all he succeeded in doing was smearing it around more.
      Maera laughed. "It's ketchup, you moron!" The demon looked at me. "Is this your idea of a secret weapon?"
      "That's right." I grabbed hold of Troilus' arm, spun him around once, kicked him in the kneecap to knock him off balance, and then shoved. I'm not any stronger than I was when alive, but I had the advantage of surprise. The cyclops went stumbling backward and landed on his mythological ass in a pile of trash.
      Maera laughed even harder, but the demon's laughter quickly died away as the first of the alley's hungry scavengers – attracted by the smell of the ketchup – began to swarm over Troilus, Mostly bugs at first, but larger creatures swiftly followed. Within seconds, Troilus was screaming and thrashing about, trying to shake off his attackers. But his exertions lessened, his screams diminished, and soon he lay still and quiet, and the scavengers were able to continue feeding in peace.
      Maera gaped as she watched her partner's remains being swiftly and efficiently disposed of.
      "Everything tastes better with ketchup," I said.
      Maera turned to me, her kaleidoscope eyes flashing with fury, and thrust her steel talons toward my face.
     
    "I already had that arm reattached once today, and I still haven't paid for it!"
      Maera grinned as she tossed the limb in question aside. Her scaly hide was dotted with charred, smoking patches where the holy water had struck, but the wounds weren't enough to incapacitate her.
      "Forget the arm," she said. "You're not going to need it anymore. As a matter of fact, when I'm through, you're not going to need your body at all."
      The demon continued grinning as she came toward me. I'd dropped the squirt gun when she tore my arm off, and the weapon lay on the ground. I could operate it with my left hand well enough if I could get hold of it, but there was no way I could get past Maera now. I stepped back as Maera advanced, and I felt myself bump into the alley wall. Coils of thirsty leech-vine wrapped around my body, barbs penetrating my clothing and sinking deep into my flesh, pinning me in place.
      "Perfect!" Maera said in delight. She stopped in front of me, close enough to reach me but not so close that she was in danger of being