"angels?" i said, adding an exclamation mark to my question.

elyssa laughed. "yeah, that statue threw me for a loop when i saw it for the first time. my history teacher told us the artist who built these statues made the angel out of a sense of religious piety. but some purists say there were angels involved in crafting the conclave."

my heart sank like a rock to the bottom of a river. "i guess that means there is such a thing as being damned."

elyssa squeezed my hand. "if there's anything i've learned, it's that all things are possible. demons come from their own realm, so why not angels? and if any religion is true, i don't see why even spawn can't be saved."

i tried to smile but it took effort. "maybe heaven is hell for a demon spawn."

she chuckled. "you have a really jacked up way of looking at things sometimes."

"give me enough time and i can rationalize anything if it'll make me feel better." i winked.

i felt like i could stand there all day gazing at the magnificence those statues represented, but elyssa pulled me toward a small exit leading to a curving alley barely big enough for two people to walk side-by-side. nightliss dashed ahead of us. my mind kept wandering back to the statues, namely the spawn and angel. did angels really exist? maybe there were supers old enough to remember or know.

elyssa stopped and i bumped into her. we stood on yet another road, this one filled with a patchwork of uneven brick pavers and rounded stones. a rusty set of train tracks ran in the center of it, and i saw a red trolley trundling down the rails away from us, stopping every so often before vanishing around a corner to our left. i vaguely remembered seeing tracks in other parts of the grotto as well. it made sense to have some form of transportation-this place was big as a town and not everyone had supernatural stamina and speed. i still hadn't recovered much of mine yet, despite topping off the old incubus tank earlier, but at least my feet weren't aching.

"there you go," elyssa said pointing across the road.

i followed her finger and found a gray stone building. attached to the front was the massive stone head of a dog, its tooth-lined maw curled up in a wicked smile. inside the muzzle i could see a door leading inside.

we had reached the laughing dog.

chapter 25

my stomach turned sour and my nerves jangled like loose leaden coins in my guts as i stared at the gaping maw ahead of me. "that place sells angel biscuits?"

"among other things."

the gaping dog head looked ready to devour anyone who stepped inside it but i needed a mr. nutter's angel biscuit, whatever the heck that was. i crossed the street and stepped onto the red stone tongue leading inside the mouth and up to a wooden door. i opened it, and a cozy pub complete with a roaring fire in one corner and haphazardly arranged wooden tables, greeted me. a few patrons sat at the bar, drinking what looked like beer and making quiet conversation.

"greetings and salutations, friends!" said the chubby rosy-faced bartender, shattering the calm with his overenthusiastic manners. "what can i get for you?"

we stepped up to the bar since the restaurant portion was completely empty.

"i'd like an angel biscuit, please, and a bottled water."

"you mean boggle water?" he asked.

"no, as in a plastic bottle of water."

he looked a bit confused. "like the ones noms have in their stores?"

"uh, maybe just the angel biscuit then."

"we just got in a fresh batch of bloody benjamin for the lady," he said beaming at her. "and you, sir, might enjoy a nice tankard of our hale hell ale."

a shock ran through me as i realized this guy seemed to know what we were on sight. or was he expecting us?

"a bloody benjamin does sound good," elyssa said.

"just the angel biscuit, please," i said, trying to smile over the worry playing skip-rope with my guts.

"sure thing, friends," the man said, his smile cheery as ever. "but please stop back by and try out some of our new drinks, each one catered to your specific delights."

i widened my forced smile. "sounds great!" now get my biscuit already!

he went to the back and returned a moment later with a small to-go container. "we don't get a lot of orders for these. mr. nutter's devilish doughnuts are usually more popular. then again, i suppose the angel biscuits are supposed to be a healthy alternative." he chuckled and shook his head like he couldn't believe anyone would want such a thing. "that'll be a quarter tinsel, please."

"uh, you take american dollars?"

"but of course," he said, and tapped his chin for a moment before rounding the cost to a quarter.

i dropped a quarter in his hand, thanked him, and we left. "where do you get tinsels?" i asked elyssa.

"the overworld merchants bank, usually."

"why the heck can't they just use euros or dollars or something that already exists?"

"you might as well ask me why dollar bills are green. i have no idea."

i thought back to the joke shop merchant. "and what's moogle?"

"magicsoft's answer to an internet search engine."

"except it has overworld stuff too."

"yep." her eyebrow quirked in amusement. "orange has its own version named tangerine."

"oh, that's cute," i said, rolling my eyes. i opened the box the bartender had given me and found what looked like a very flat doughnut inside. it appeared to be made of several different grains. i sniffed it but it didn't have much of an odor. "no wonder people like the devilish doughnuts," i said, closing the box. i checked the list of things we had to do to find underborn. "where's grotto park? and where's nightliss?"

an answering meow came from my feet as nightliss appeared from wherever she'd been and hopped back onto my shoulder.

elyssa smiled and petted the little cat. "grotto park is a few blocks over." a bell dinged in the distance and a trolley came into view down the road. "want to take the trolley?"

"sure."

although i didn't see a driver in the front window, the trolley slowed as we waved it down. we were the only two people on it, and the number of people in the streets seemed to have dwindled significantly from just an hour ago. after riding along the winding streets for a few minutes, elyssa stood up.

"we just need to cut through a couple alleys and we'll be there."

the trolley slowed as we stood up and waited for us to hop off before it sped up again.

"do they have cameras on those things? some dude remotely controlling it?"

elyssa gave me a perplexed look involving two raised eyebrows. "after everything you've seen, you're still looking for a techie answer?"

i felt stupid for having asked. "guess i'm not as used to all this as you are."

she smooched me on the cheek. "you're so cute when you're confused." her eyes rolled. "ugh, how do you do this to me?"

"do what to you?"

"make me get all lovey-dovey and gooey like some hormonal teenager."

"you are a hormonal teenager. aren't you? i mean, you're not really a hundred years old are you?"

a giggle escaped those perfect lips of hers and her eyes sparkled like violet stars. "no, i'm really your age. guess i'll have to tell you the sad story of how my family came to be sometime."

"i'd really like to hear it."

"it's such a tragedy," elyssa said, pressing the back of a hand to her forehead and feigning a dizzy spell.

"you make me feel warm and gooey inside," i said, my own heart beating hard with desire.

nightliss hissed and jumped off my shoulder, her claws digging in along the way.

"ouch!" i said, watching the little black cat as she dashed down an alley. "wonder what got into her."

"probably saw a mouse," elyssa said as she pressed herself to me and kissed me long and hard. when she pulled away, i gripped her tighter around the waist and held her there, my other hand gently brushing against her lips, her fair-skinned cheeks. i kissed her neck and drew in her scent-a mix of oil and leather, and something deep, mysterious, and all her.

"is it so bad feeling gooey with love?" i asked after a moment or two of silence.

"i'm just not used to it." she sighed. "it's why i resisted you so much at the beginning. maybe it's what kept me away when i found out what you are." she pressed her hand to my chest. "i don't like feeling so vulnerable. like something could take you away from me at any moment. it was so hard when we were apart no matter how hard i tried to hate you."

my throat tightened at the memory of those terrible days. "i am still a little worried, though."

"about what?"

"the bad side of me. whenever things heat up between us, i feel it trying to get out. i don't know if i'll be able to control it when...um, we you know."

"we'll figure it out when the time comes. in case you hadn't noticed, i didn't have any issues fending it off last time."

"yeah, my throat remembers. oh, and so does my butt after you flung it across the gravel parking lot."

she laughed. "good times, huh?"

"the best."

i kissed her again before letting go of her waist and letting my hand drift down to catch hers. all i really wanted to do was keep her sweet lips pressed to mine and make out until all the stars in the universe winked out. unfortunately, i couldn't afford to be so greedy since dad was living on borrowed time.

we entered yet another of the winding alleys in this maze of a place, following the curve through an archway. doorways lined the walls, each one apparently leading into a residence or maybe the backside of a shop. a large door ahead where the alley made a ninety-degree turn opened. a man in a gray business suit exited, his silvery hair slicked back like some businessman from the 1950s. behind him emerged several more men, each one dressed the same, each one with silvery hair.