“The steel windows were a good idea,” Shark commends him. “You’re more imaginative than me. I’d have tried to drag the demon back.”
“How long will the window to the other universe remain open?” Dervish asks.
“Maybe a few minutes,” Shark says. “We’ll stick by it until it closes, to be safe, then get out of here quick. Try explaining to a policeman that you’re part of the great war against demons — see where it gets you!”
Dervish examines the window with innocent curiosity. He pokes his fingers into the light, yelps when they disappear, clutches his hand back and wriggles his fingers, relieved to see them still in place.
Shark laughs. “I did that the first time too.”
“Have you ever stepped through?” Dervish asks.
“Once. Came back right away — didn’t want to get stuck over there.”
“What did you see?”
“A world like ours, only —”
“I have to go,” I cut in. They’d forgotten about me. Now they stare.
“Beranabus. I’ve got to get back to him. Remember?”
“You want to step through the window?” Shark frowns.
“No. But I have to. I can find him when I’m in the demon universe.”
“What if the monster’s waiting for you on the other side?” Dervish says.
I shrug unhappily. “I don’t have a choice. I can’t find Beranabus here.”
“Won’t he come for you?” Shark asks.
“Maybe. But I’m not sure he can find me as easily as I can find him. I have to go,” I say, urgently this time, aware that the window might close while we’re arguing. “A demon stole my brother. I have to rescue him.”
I take a step towards the window. Shark puts out a large tattooed hand and stops me. “There’s no way I’m going to let a kid walk through that alone,” he growls. As my face crumples, he smiles. “So I’d better tag along, make sure you don’t come to any harm. Dervish?” He raises a questioning eyebrow.
Dervish studies the window again. Licks his lips nervously. Then nods quickly. “Yeah. What the hell. There’s never much to do here on a Saturday anyway.”
My eyes fill with happy tears. “Thank you,” I mumble.
“Never mind the thanks,” Shark sniffs. “Just be ready to fight.” And saying that, he grabs the collar of my T-shirt and hurls me through the violet window of light, back into the cauldron of the Demonata.
THE RELUCTANT DISCIPLE
ICOME out on top of a fluffy cloud. Through a break to my left I see land far below. My stomach drops as I picture myself falling through the mist, then the sky, hitting the ground hard and splattering. But the cloud holds, supporting me like the water in the first world I visited.
Shark steps through after me, Dervish just behind him. They yell with shock when they see what we’re standing on. Turn to dive back through the window. “It’s OK,” I shout. “We won’t fall.”
They pause, glance at me uncertainly, then realize I’m telling the truth — otherwise we’d have already dropped.
The now two-headed demon is on another bank of cloud ahead of us. When it spots us, it squeals with fear and bounds away. Shark starts after it, but Dervish calls him back. “We’re here to find Beranabus, not kill a stray demon.”
Shark makes a face, loath to let the demon escape. Then he sighs. “OK, kid. Tell us how you plan to find him.”
“I’ll open a window,” I say, as the one we stepped through comes apart. “Just give me a few minutes to find the patches.”
“‘Patches’?” Dervish echoes, but I don’t answer. Looking around, I’m pleased to note that there are loads of patches of light in the air, despite the fact that we’re standing on top of a cloud. I start thinking about Beranabus, muttering his name softly, hoping he’s still alive and that I have the power to make the lights pulse.
For a few seconds — nothing. But before panic has a chance to set in, a pink square by my left foot blinks. Then a brown octagon. Soon, dozens of the patches are pulsing, and I merrily set to work.