Enemy Mine

Chapter 3

Once again, I found myself traversing the limestone labyrinth. This time, we were headed for the queen's chamber. Thankfully, Josh stayed in the dorm to shower, which he desperately needed. Christoph could have used a good hose-down as well, but I would never suggest it. No sense insulting my only ally.

           

"So, who is Hadria?" I asked Christoph as we walked.

"Hadria is Cecile's second in command. She is being trained to take over the hive."

"When will that be? How long can a demon queen live?"

"There is a queen still living in Paris who was born in fifteen thirty-two, but the oldest recorded queen lived just over seven hundred years."

"Yikes."

Whatever supernatural methods these demon queens used to keep themselves alive had to be powerful. Would I be looking at a wrinkled old crone when I met Cecile, like Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust? Did she need life support?

"What about Willem?" I said. "When will I meet him?"

"He should be there when we arrive."

"Oh."

I shut my mouth and let Christoph lead me to the end of the rainbow. Too much information could cause unnecessary worry and sweaty pits. All the demons we saw along our way looked like regular people. Not a single pair of wings brushed past me, but I detected a heady scent when a particularly rowdy group passed us. They all smelled of the same thing. I wanted to say sex, but I wasn't going there.

The tunnel we traveled grew gradually wider and taller, until it finally culminated at a rock wall shaped into a honeycomb pattern. The phenomenon appeared to be naturally-occurring, with erosion being the cause rather than demon intervention. Individual lanterns holding orange flames flickered inside the many alcoves, each one dancing to a different rhythm. As I marveled at it, I nearly missed seeing the wide-girthed man walking toward us with purpose.

"State your name and business," the man said as he came to stand ominously over us, bringing with him that same heady scent.

"Christoph. I have brought Reese to see Cecile. How's she feeling, Max?"

The man named Max looked down his nose at us, which seemed to be a shared trait among the demons. "Her mood improved as soon as Josh delivered the news. Let's hope she's not disappointed."

Max lead us through the honeycomb wall, and Christoph took hold of my arm to keep me from tripping as I craned my neck to take in the queen's chamber. Although I hadn't given it any thought, my imagination could not have made up what greeted me. The honeycomb wall morphed into a dome-shaped cavern where tiny fires burned inside hundreds of limestone shelves. This had the room looking like the inside of an orange, and the glow reflected off a pale floor, the only surface that had been sanded to a smooth, satiny sheen.

In fact, the shiny ground made the space feel larger than it looked, and a plethora of colorful beanbag chairs and pillows were scattered from one end to the other. The whimsical furnishings had the chamber feeling like a children's playroom, but I had a hunch that was not the purpose. The strong scent of sex perfumed the air, and I watched as a girl moved around the room, picking up articles of clothing and dragging chairs into a more organized seating arrangement.

Near the back wall, another girl cleaned up a food tray, and when the sweet scent of honeybun reached my nose, my stomach responded with a loud growl. Christoph noticed and shot me a concerned look, but I knew we weren't there for breakfast. The two women lounging in front of us looked plenty sated from their positions on an overstuffed futon bed. Apparently, it was good to be the queen.