Demon Demon Burning Bright, Whisperings book four by Linda Welch

street.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Montague Square is three blocks from Royal’s
apartment. I regularly shopped there for my favorite blends in
Coffee You and Me, and the best bread rolls and sausage in the
valley from Valley Market. I saw the door which gives access to
Bel-Athaer, but never went near it; I liked to pretend it wasn’t
there.
    It is an old, heavy oak door, perhaps the
original. If it ever had stain or varnish, time wore it away. The
knob is discolored and dull. There is no keyhole. I took hold of
the knob, turned and pushed. To my surprise, the door opened. I
sucked in an involuntary breath and twisted to look at the street.
The few pedestrians walking back and forth took no notice of a
woman entering a building.
    If I went in, would I see the entrance to
Bel-Athaer?
    I’d used the door before, but always with
Royal. The first time, he brought me through after rescuing me from
his brother Kien. Kien wanted me to give him the High Lord of
Bel-Athaer’s whereabouts and used a nasty whip to encourage me.
Royal killed him.
    I went through with Royal, Gia Sabato and
Daven Clare the second time and we ended up in Russia to witness
the death of a Gelpha traitress so I could question her shade.
    The third time, Royal and I went to
Bel-Athaer’s High House to warn them about a mass-murdering Gelpha,
but it turned out to be Dagka Shan.
    I pushed the door wider and entered an
empty, dusty square room of dull gray plaster walls and concrete
floor. There were no locks or bolts on the inside of the door, but
something kept it closed to intruders. Gelpha do not have magic at
their fingertips, they have technology, but I couldn’t see
anything.
    The door shut behind me with a hollow
thump.
    Another old wood door in the corner must
open to the rest of the building, but the facing door gave access
to the passage which leads to Bel-Athaer.
    I never asked Royal why an entrance to
Bel-Athaer was inside a building. What would happen if
someone who should not go in there had to get inside? If I
can imagine reasons humans would force an entrance - such as a fire
spreading through the block and firefighters breaking open the door
- so can the Gelpha. A door which refused to be breached would
cause headlines. But once inside, they’d see the door to the
passage. What would stop anyone going through there? Is it
invisible to someone not supposed to see it? Would it blink out of
existence?
    Curious, I crossed to the door in the
corner. It opened to a large, empty, dusty windowless room with a
rickety wood staircase on the north wall. Investigating seemed
pointless; it was just a regular room with access to the second
floor.
    With no reason to linger and before I could
deliberate too much, I strode to the other door and pushed it
open.
    Gareth told me Bel-Athaer was closed to me.
It was open now, perhaps it always had been.
    Holding the door open, I looked along a
wide, straight corridor which dwindled in the distance until lost
in shadow. Yet the corridor was not dim, light seemed to emanate
from the smooth, creamy tiles on walls, floor and ceiling.
    I felt the grain of the wood as my hand
tightened on the edge of the door. I wasn’t prepared. I had my
Ruger in the holster beneath my armpit, my cell phone, nothing
more.
    I should at least go home and tell my
roommates. But announcing I was going to march into Bel-Athaer
would worry them and they couldn’t help me if I got in trouble, and
it wasn’t as if I could tell anyone else I meant to venture into
another dimension.
    And what if Bel-Athaer would not open to me
again later today, or tomorrow, or ever? Would I have missed my
only opportunity?
    I looked over my shoulder at the street
door, then returned to make sure it would open. The knob turned
easily. I peeped out at the now empty street. Ducking my head back
in, I let go and the door shut of its own accord, yet it was not a
self-closing door.
    Slightly freaky.
    Gathering courage, I opened the other door
again and started