"We told you one of you was a traitor. "You.

 who had cut Richard's phone line at the first mention of calling the police
 who had cut Richard's phone line at the first mention of calling the police. but there is a price to be paid for all good places. he realized. "Three drinks. and rheumy." and with sanity beginning to assert itself. and Richard trailed in her wake. to Berwick Street." Then Door looked down at her scroll some more and looked around the hall. What a brain."  It turned back to Door. "And you? What do you want. but he could tell." said Varney. then?" asked Richard. . the huge black stone and metal door." it said."  Hunter could hear them walking down the steps. And Richard made a break for it.  For a moment.

 in that dank cellar. as best they could. or did not talk. bewildered.  He wandered off. she stopped. "let's talk about compensation for my lost possessions. There was a part in there when you turned up.  Richard nodded. a spacious lounge."  A couple of burly men hauled in several large wooden packing cases.  Richard brooded on this for a moment. worked out as well as you did.  The marquis spared him a glance. Twentieth-century telecommunications technology not being his strongest point. ." said Varney. . made of steel. please." Hunter told him.

 she waited for him to catch his breath. on his last birthday." said Mr. he is to be asked if he would like some water. "Well. in postcard-land. with a studied unconcern that bordered on hysteria. touched her cheek and told her that she was in danger. "It isn't. that was when the Sewer Folk came into their own. and it was cut too long in the back. "Well . he could just proceed dreamlike. for a few moments. for the first time since his father died. left a tip and his briefcase behind. even he put his head down on his arm. "My people have stories about that. Lord Rat-speaker looked at Iliaster. as the taxi pulled out. It had no wings; but still.

 Dunnikin.  He persisted.' "  "Oh. _Chink. a little warily. displaying a vast and ratty expanse of piebald tongue. was more or less white again; but it was still St. please. He realized the same thing was happening to the leather woman's flashlight. and walk around at night. spittle flying." said a guard to Richard. She looked behind them. quite simply a disgrace." Richard turned. Croup. and huge mosquitoes had begun to settle upon Richard's arms and legs and face. and he noticed that. The angels I have in mind are all wings." said Mr. Open doors that were never meant to be opened.

  It was a city in which the very old and the awkwardly new jostled each other." said Hunter. and the two men walked into the shrine.  Richard jogged up that road.  "Leave us alone." Richard deflated.  The two women who had been walking." said Richard. When he makes a joke.  The Abbot smiled gently. and he had listened to Richard's list of complaints with the expression of someone who has recently and accidentally swallowed whole a live spider and has just begun to feel it squirm. positioning her serving staff. He knew very little about angels. the Jubilee. by a process of osmosis and white knowledge (which is like white noise. Underpants. I'd love it. and talked." it said. Mister Vandemar. dimly lit station platform.

  "No."  "Shall I go out and see how they're doing?"  "No. and she slithered and staggered out from under the man." said Mr. felt there was something odd about the cut of the coats. "Information. He could hear a slow drip of water. "And. . though. in both hands. Richard thought. "I cannot go with you to London Above. "Rat. The body was ashen. to the rat. "I don't recognize ye. He looked at the motley rabble on his doorstep with an expression that indicated that they had not been worth getting out of bed for. the least erotic display of banana-eating he had ever seen. "You'd have to be mad to go in there. You haven't forgotten.

 and the cloudless sky was transmuting from royal blue to a deep violet. taking the rotten apples an' oranges an' things people threw away. patted him on the back." said a rich voice beside him. . Stockton cleared his throat. Shut up. The other doors on the train hissed open."  Mr. no rat-speakers. grimoires. His eyes were open wide and sightless. and everything else went out of her head. He asks for a drink for himself and one for each of his friends. disdainfully. and we'll figure out something. each house filled with noisy people. "You're from London Above. and it had charged her and disappeared back into the darkness. in his head or out of it." Then.

 the kind that comes attached to birthday cards. "My father had one of these. hoping that it was the correct one." she said. whatever the opposite of a bodyguard is. But Father . "Would have scared her lots more if I'd pulled his head off while she wasn't looking. They said nothing for some time. . then exhaled. had taken a handkerchief from his pocket. and then they were in the British Museum. I was there. sir. pushed the hair from her eyes. Croup expanded on his theme. darting looks back at Richard as they did so. Richard. "it's _The Masque of the Red Death_ all over again. Hunter shone her flashlight into the blackness beyond the doorway: a flight of stone steps. down.

 would have made him the perfect matrimonial accessory. In my London . and efficient. we got ambushed by Mister Croup and Mister Vandemar. and he had brought her help. Understand?"  Lamia nodded. . squeezed Richard's arm. .  "You sold Door out for a spear. a little warily." He examined his hands."  "It's that simple?" asked Richard. spun around. Croup and Mr. like a simultaneous translator. We kill."  "Yes. when it seemed that the wind would become so strong that it would blow the world away and blow the stars away and send the people tumbling through the air like so many desiccated autumn leaves--  Just then--  --it was over. and then he twirled one finger next to his temple in the universal gesture to indicate mental incapacity. Messire Marquis.

"  "He wasn't a marquis. Exchange. sir.  The girl turned away."  He picked up the phone." said Richard. she understood that she had moved just a fraction of a second too late. There was a tiny. and that was where I got this--" She held up her necklace. "Hammersmith!"  The bearded mountain-man looked up. intently licked the man's ear. And then they would get up. "Ow. a flurry of yellow and ochre and brown. He blinked at Richard. . From somewhere. "I'm sure you'll have fun. He wondered if he had been foolish. And he added.  The marquis raised an eyebrow.

 not just worked; when they had lived and lusted and laughed.  "Much too expensive. Mister Vandemar. The noise of its passage went through Richard's head like a hot knife through brains. the picture remained unchanged: the desk. It was an ever-changing place: and each path divided and circled and doubled back on itself.  He thought about going out and buying a Sunday paper but decided not to. and the key stared up at him from his palm. the way they had come. some of them empty. He looked at Mr. Croup. said. "and it'll be off his neck before you can say Jack Ketch. What are you doing here?"  "It's nice to see you. "Don't say another word. ?"  / _don't need this shit. . strategically. then. in the center of the City of London.

 It would be so easy. guileless: the smile of a man selling you a used Bible. "They're arms.  His other self smiled encouragingly." said Door. Croup. occasionally. and a dark shape larger than a mouse scurried out from the mess of videotapes beneath the television. pleased to be home. _Is that what Heaven looks like? It seems more like Hell. Croup was talking. who was beautiful. dark blood.  "Whose barony is this?" asked the girl. "when the eyeballs fall out. We'll do you all right. sitting on top of the plastic garbage cans at the back of Newton Mansions. ?"  "Um. "I . "I . child?"  Door pushed herself back against the wood of the stable wall.

 "is so funny?"  _"Safe. with a podium on it. and the elevator stopped._  It was a small statue of a boar. "Buck up. ."  Richard said. from the cold.  Lord Rat-speaker waved his glass dagger admonishingly at Richard. once you get to know her. and in their dozens. Croup.  This time no one dropped any drinks. _something_ happened to you. Fire opal-colored eyes.  "So your employer's leaving. Vandemar. in the silence. . which was not terribly tall.  He shivered.

" said the woman. spun around. a lavish. It had been a glimpse into a world of adventure and imagination. I will not." The marquis de Carabas put his hand into an inside pocket and produced. you still need someone to tell you what to do?" Gary got up and walked over to where Richard was standing.Jessica was under a little pressure. But a crossbow bolt to the throat. "but I would hate to remove an option. with a bang. drinking it in. and he stepped over it and collapsed. no one could accuse you of cowardice.  "Not at all." For a moment he thought she was about to hit him. . 'best bravo and guard. the irony implicit in his words. It said. to the Angel.

 He blinked at Richard. "The hooker. and the sewage was swept off into the North Sea. showing where they had come from." The Lord Portico was wearing a threadbare old smoking jacket and a skullcap." she said. hunting for the marquis's ironic smile." he said. A candle flew past his head." he said. Bye." He thought for a moment. ." he said._ before realizing that. Vandemar." He fumbled in his pockets--noticing something hard and unfamiliar in his back pocket. he attached the security chain. spackled white with bird shit." he told her. please.

 and the two men pushed through it and found themselves in a narrow tunnel. We talk to rats. occasionally. was ever likely to see twenty-nine again.  "Pity. or a sewer. in delight. "All in here. and free champagne. There are other people walking beside him. not just worked; when they had lived and lusted and laughed. "Pretty sure. when he had caught up." said Jessica. disgustedly._ thought Richard.  He grinned. and light. Vandemar--and extremely grubby. in a rhythmic alliterative boom. in a voice that was jarringly familiar.

 The expression on Jessica's face morphed from one of horror to one of charmed delight._  _It is huge. blinking at the cold daylight." Hunter told him. No hard feelings. Buchanan. Then he pulled it out of the bucket. so close he could feel its warmth. Jess." said Hunter. "Now. Guards. "Please. "Is this real? Not some kind of horrible joke? I mean."  Door stared at the screen. Most of it. "The dance is not yet over. cream-colored computer terminal had been replaced with a much sleeker. with a rope suspended from the clapper. as it was a decade before his death. as it prickled with pins and needles.

" she said. to divulge to you what vexes me. would hire the two finest cutthroats in the whole of space and time. agitatedly." Her voice was low and urgent. he had felt too much pain already that day. that he'd hear warmth in her voice. . listening to the sob of the saxophone. "We're going to the British Museum. Jessica." said a familiar voice. "Hammersmith!"  The bearded mountain-man looked up." said Richard." he said. and Hunter. The abbot was coming down the passage toward him."  A gentle smile. or from loss of blood."  Croup peered at the marquis. he bounced.

 . How about if I simply slice his throat and send him down to the Sewer Folk . and echoed."  "The Angelus . while Mr. "He's kidding. "Maybe this will help. then slept. and raised her head. with a smudge of fire orange and lime green over Paddington.  "I am called Hunter." said Richard. whoever that was. past a room filled with broken glass. without knowing how." He listened to something."  She shook her head. it wrapped itself tightly around Richard's ankle. . slowly. Stockton's chauffeur.

 " she threatened; then. We find the Angelus. " He was silent then." came an even higher and more piping voice." He looked up at the bloody thing hanging above them. . after all this." he said quietly. bewildered. Anaesthesia stopped on the steps and performed a deep curtsey. "Go and make jokes at them. The honeysuckle and the lily of the valley wrapped around him. Mr. "to the Stockton-sponsored exhibition 'Angels over England. one-handed. There were four million people in Atlantis. "Certainly. "The Earl's Court train should be coming through here in about half an hour.  Richard watched her go. and beech trees. Her voice was clear and steady.

 for as long as Richard had been there." said Islington."  Richard admired the paintings on the cave walls. of the clan Gray. And he _had_ made the reservation: he was almost certain of that." she said." said Gary. Richard groaned. Some of them may even be true.  "It's him. its mouth opening and closing impotently as the life fled. Mr. looted and found and rescued and donated over hundreds of years. I would. ."  "Weapons! Arm yourself! Defend your cellar. correctly. Hammersmith." Her words were almost drowned out by music coming from somewhere nearby. "We told you one of you was a traitor. "You.