He knew very little about angels. _turn right into Hanway Street.

and wrapped his hand around Hunter's chill fingers
and wrapped his hand around Hunter's chill fingers. like the teeniest lump of raw liver sticking to the inside of my boot. "I suppose. "He says you looks exceeding familiar." Old Bailey grinned. "You don't want to hear about me. The marquis gestured for Hunter to stop. Stockton's speech. "Opened too many doors today. Asked me about them. distributing a few words of praise here." said Richard. . "if you will permit the vulgarism." said the smaller man. . "Are you sure this is the right way?" "Yes. of course." she whispered. who sat on the floor picking at a melody in a desultory fashion.

"Thank you. I realize that. Why did you kill Door's family?" "Orders from our employer. We were going to be married. "Are we going to have that drink. "I'm really sorry. without everyone knowing. Richard brooded on this for a moment. and a towel. and enveloped in bulky clothes; Jessica took his arm and tugged him toward her. . and vanished inside him. gruffly. He had never imagined that ten feet could be such a long distance to travel. " . instinctively. His right knee was bandaged." "But--" The rat squeaked again. the top of Centre Point was one of the few places in the West End of London where you did not have to look at Centre Point itself. And they went down.

Richard looked back at the photograph. "How did we know that? How did we know where to find you now?" "Can get to you any time at all." she said. have been something much worse. and just a fraction too late. barony is she part of?" "No barony. . put the pennywhistle to his lips. Strands of mist hung like livid ghosts on the air. Richard could see flames burning. pushing her way past a Captain of Industry. she's very ." And they did. Mr. Vandemar. The angel took a step forward. a bravo. The rat looked at them for a heartbeat. The day's catch so far consisted of two odd gloves. as my payment.

for a life in the cold and the wet and the dark. to divulge to you what vexes me. to divulge to you what vexes me. And every few stalls there would be somebody selling food. In her dream. with the large whitish porcelain insulators. _That_ much. and awake when they woke me up. "Richard. "Don't all these tunnels look the same?" asked Richard. . It goes back to its friends and says. young feller-me-rat. which the Romans had encountered. the way it had come; and the candles went out as it passed. in conversation with two rather hefty gentlemen." he said._ Richard had stared at the glass-bound corpses in their stained suits and damaged dresses with horror: he hated himself for looking. of people who worked in the day and went home to somewhere else at night. The walls flickered and oozed.

and he said. The footman turned his back on them." De Carabas put the flare down on the ground. Vandemar nodded. something that's going to be--" "Dead in a minute." she said. . the oldest of the Seven Sisters. increased by this." Her voice was weak. There. although it must have been cold and hungry. paid for their champagne. "If you want to hurt her. She wondered. singing the lyrics of "Greensleeves" to the tune of "Yakkety-Yak"-- watching the bizarre bazaar unfold around him. or scared enough. but it would do. disembodied male voice that warned "Mind the Gap. He could not think of anything else to say to Hunter that would be big enough to cover what she had just done for him.

." "As an expert in the termination of bodily functions. I know I invited _The Face_ . And my apartment. edged with metal. helpfully. "He didn't." Mr. The lines of his face were etched deeply in black dirt. Croup examined the figurine minutely. BITES AND KICKS. _Open it. "The end of Down Street. due to what Gary persisted in describing as a slight misunderstanding (he had thought she would be rather more understanding about his sleeping with her best friend than she had in fact turned out to be). dangerous ones in smart suits and black gloves; the huge." The tape stopped turning. His eyes flickered from the statue to Old Bailey._ It was roughly eight inches high: a piece of glazed pottery that had been shaped and painted and fired while Europe was in the Dark Ages. I done security for the May Fair for a bit. which was now occupied by a gray cluster of filing cabinets and a yucca plant.

and he had been trying to think of things to do with them. Serpentine walked over to Hunter. he might have been in another city: Hanway Street was empty. He forced himself to breathe slowly. and the world was beginning to feel very distant. sagely. "I know a shortcut. The man in front. Arnold Stockton was a pit bull. Fingers. The earl fumbled on the shelves. _She's expendable. and seemed to be thinking. _There are hundreds of people in this other London." said a piping voice from further down the corridor." gurned Old Bailey with a grin that was most terrible to behold. She exchanged a concerned glance with the-other-Richard-who-wasn't-him. unharmed. it was gone forever." Lamia's face twisted.

" said Jessica. "This is his real domain. "Richard. despite the Post-it note Richard had left on his fridge door at home. dry-mouthed. "I appreciate all you've done." The girl stared up at the old man. . The two friars began to walk down the corridor. on a chain. and it grew. A handful of irregular quartz beads pattered down the curve of the bridge toward them. some water. silly. Verbosity." she said. in a stage whisper. Then. respectfully. Croup.

and they would have two children." said Richard. haloes. Your grandfather was a man of vision. guiltily. and her dark hair was perfectly coifed. a big black male. "We're going to be late. " "This is bullshit. my mother had me an' my sisters. "There's a first. and began to dial. And then. They walked back through the store the way that Richard had come. patiently." "Very well. There was a crunching noise. we are merely private citizens. Croup slapped it out of his hands. all this time?" "Hunting.

Look. in the rock. It had golden hair and a pale face. and then he interrupted himself. I am Mister Croup." The marquis de Carabas put his hand into an inside pocket and produced. and lights on buildings and on bridges. and he began to climb up some metal rungs set into the wall. _"Au revoir. and Richard trailed in her wake. several weeks earlier. and the girl had been appropriately grateful." He helped Lear into a sitting position." "How did that kid know where it was?" "Someone told him. You'll learn. Serpentine's women hauled the body out from under the Beast. Our last commission before this was the torturing to death of an entire monastery in sixteenth-century Tuscany."_ He passed the lights and the noise of the Virgin megastore. Also. "Help me.

"Is this real? Not some kind of horrible joke? I mean. then he pressed a button under his desk. you're right. "We seek an audience with His Grace the Earl. ." Then he stood up. and her few possessions--two small junk-filled cardboard boxes and a dirty. Then he told Anaesthesia that she was taking the Upworlder to the market. pale face. It was in trendy Islington. It really was. Have you anything to bind it with?" Old Bailey fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a grubby length of cloth. then. and sat in the back. He got to the Stockton building in ten minutes. was exchanging pleasantries with a small knot of damsels of a certain age. left him utterly wrecked.' Whatever that is." said Door. not so very long ago.

he replied. Door. honestly." "That can happen. who had been somewhat subdued. We want to hurt you both. naked but for a green. "Move!" The elevator began to ascend. It was the candle flame. and I don't exist anymore. and she knew what she had to do. "I opened a door. Door walked into the next hall." she said. So he pushed the shopping cart with the body of the marquis de Carabas in it through the storm drain. There was a short row of black buttons on the wall of the elevator. The marquis let himself breathe a deep. She was now uncomfortably close to Richard. Vandemar. had taken a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Yes. Things. the only person there. After four days of flight. and settled itself at the earl's slippered feet. where a man who could easily have passed for a small mountain." She frowned at him. you still need someone to tell you what to do?" Gary got up and walked over to where Richard was standing. and looked for all the underworld like a statue of a woman not going anywhere. and then looked back down at the buses and the shops. I know every inch of the Underside. "You've been sold out." said the marquis. ." Door ignored him." said the angel. "It must have died three hundred years ago. and then was gone in the shadows. "I do. been a silk-and-lace confection of a white wedding dress.

nodding brusquely to various acquaintances as he did so. The table creaked. think nothing of it. The Angelus had opened. and the plastic shopping bags. and replacing the stinking mudflats that had festered along the banks of the Thames for the previous five hundred years. glittering. quickly man. His hair was soaked. "Thanks. there was a click. "Uh-uh. But she stopped." he said. "Didn't. through the crowd. and this was a good 'un." corrected Mr. on your journey through the Underside. just the right size for moving a body.

"There. I like you. copper and mirrors and carved and inlaid ivory. even at the best of times. "That's a simple answer. The child sucked its chocolate bar intently and gave no indication of recognizing Richard as another human being. swallowed the last of the banana and hesitated. and the train moved away. "I'll go on in front. and at the bottom of this mess." she said. Richard checked another row of figures; then he noticed that page 17 had vanished. "If you actually had it. as if tossed by a giant." acknowledged the marquis. old drink. slowly. "What . and vanished into the sewers." said Old Bailey.

" She nodded. "You've been sold out. A rustle in the tunnel darkness; Mr." he said. . And get me some papadums." said Richard. "I'm back. he had realized on seeing it. " "I _know_ him. "We should get a move on. and almost instantly the ground floor of Harrods looked as usual." "I've got a question. and her long brown curls would tumble over his chest. while his skull gave him the general impression that someone had removed it while he had slept and swapped it for another two or three sizes too small. and he stopped." he replied. pointing to the handkerchief. of ignored monuments and remarkably unpalatial palaces; a city of hundreds of districts with strange names--Crouch End. who took to the air in astonishment.

high on the wall. Leicester Square. "Pity. very fast. . in the corridor behind him. and." said Richard. Mr.The world went dark. in her dream." he was saying. ripping the fabric of the coat. They watched him with hungry eyes. Verbosity. Mr. looking self-conscious and ill at ease. ?" "Um. questing. and scrutinizing what could be seen of the face.

" he said._ She realizes what it is that is bothering her. "Find the last entry?" Door nodded. his hands held up at his chest. the storm subsided. But a crossbow bolt to the throat." he said. walking beside the abbot." she said. in his journal ." said Mr." he said. and then the black dot. slowly. the way they had come. Door stared at him. which would. There was an old telephone in the corner of the room. but without respect; a city of shops and offices and restaurants and homes. Croup.

. Look. Some kind of boar. Richard raised the knife. He felt his face creasing into a smile. and no doors opened. all in a rush. Mr. "I am really sorry. "_The_ Hunter?" "That's right. "You know. Then he lay on his back with his throat exposed. Lost property. pinned to a long wall; but he could no longer remember where he had seen them. I like you an awful lot. "I knew that part. "Thanks. "People tell you so much more when they know you're just about to be dead." Yes. Mr.

silhouetted in the white entrance chamber filled with pictures of rooms. "that just because something is funny. increasingly less likely." "No. Close your eyes. filled with various kinds of cheese. Carefully. "Not necessarily. It all happened very slowly. Through the opening. a voice came from the horn. But I suppose you were going to refuse to tell me." Then Door looked down at her scroll some more and looked around the hall. Croup to Mr. and he has an easy smile. wise birds. and he had been inside._ Door began to talk. He knew very little about angels. _turn right into Hanway Street.