The Demonata #10: Hell's Heroes by Darren Shan Page A

I’d hate to disappoint them. But there’s a personal matter I want to settle first.”
    “What are you talking about?” Shark scowls.
    “You’ll see,” I mutter, then head out of the room and set off through the castle that I’ve explored a few dozen times in my dreams.

    Timas is intrigued by the webby mechanisms of the castle. If he had his way, we wouldn’t move on until he’d made a full study of each room. But I ignore his pleas to slow down and instead plow on until I find a corridor that I remember from my nightmarish meanderings with Bec and Lord Loss.
    Once I’ve got my bearings, I pick up speed, leading the others through a series of corridors and rooms, down into the dungeon. We encounter none of Lord Loss’s familiars. That’s weird—this place should be packed with nasty little demons—but I’ve no time to worry about it. If I don’t do anything else right, there’s at least one wrong I’m determined to fix. It’s a minor matter in the grand scheme of things, but it’s important to me.
    I’m nearing the door when Kernel stops and says, “Peekaboo!”
    I face the bald teenager with the caramel-colored skin. His bright blue eyes are back in place, little flickers of light dancing across his pupils. He stares at the air around me, smiling widely.
    “You can still see the lights?” I ask.
    “Oh yes,” he breathes, extending a hand to caress an invisible patch. He parts his fingers and stares at me through the cracks. “This is where I say goodbye.” He says it warily, expecting me to argue.
    I nod shortly, then jerk my head at the corridor ahead of us. “Around that bend is the door to a dungeon. Lots of humans are imprisoned there. Lord Loss tortures them in his spare time. I’m going to free them. Want to help?”
    “You told me I could leave,” Kernel says guardedly.
    “You can. But if you do and we fail, you’ll condemn these captives to suffer at the hands of Lord Loss, maybe for thousands of years.”
    Kernel licks his lips and frowns. I almost have him.
    “One of the prisoners is a girl called Bo Kooniart. She helped Dervish and me break out of Slawter. She could have left with us, but she went back to find her father. And her brother.” I smile crookedly at Kernel. “She risked all to save her brother. You and I know what that’s like, don’t we?”
    Kernel nods unhappily.
    “You can tell where Lord Loss and Bec are,” Shark says. “Search for them. Check if they’re waiting in the dungeon for us.”
    Kernel studies the invisible lights for a few seconds. “They’re on one of the higher levels, at the center of the castle.”
    “Then what are you scared of?” Shark grins.
    Kernel glares at me. “One last favor, then I’m out of here. Agreed?”
    “Do whatever the hell you want, baldy,” I sniff and press on, hiding my smile behind a bloodstained, hairy hand.
    The door, like everything else, is made of cobwebs. It’s the only door we’ve encountered in the castle. Timas bends to study the hinges as it swings open. The rest of us move forward, me first, followed by Shark, Kernel, Kirilli, and Moe. We hear the victims before we spot them, low moans, pained weepings, soft cries for mercy and death.
    We fan out and Kirilli edges ahead of the rest of us, eyes widening as he studies the humans strapped to the walls and tables, the implements of torture lying like toys across the floor and webby shelves.
    “This is despicable!” he splutters.
    A man with half a face lifts his head at the sound of Kirilli’s voice and stares at him through one eye. “Have you come to kill us?” he wheezes.
    “We’ve come to save you,” Kirilli says, hurrying to his side.
    The man sneers wearily. “Don’t make fun of me. Lord Loss sent you to give us false hope.”
    “No, honestly,” Kirilli insists, “we’re here to—”
    “Watch out overhead!” Timas shouts behind us.
    I look up and spot a huge spider-shaped demon descending on a strand of web, fast as an eagle