John Connolly - The Infernals

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The
INFERNALS

THE CHARLIE PARKER STORIES

Every Dead Thing

Dark Hollow

The Killing Kind

The White Road

The Reflecting Eye
(novella in the Nocturnes collection)

The Black Angel

The Unquiet

The Reapers

The Lovers

The Whisperers

The Burning Soul

OTHER WORKS

Bad Men

Nocturnes

The Book of Lost Things

THE SAMUEL JOHNSON STORIES
(for young adults)

The Gates

The Infernals

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2011 by John Connolly

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

Ceci nest pas une pipe, 1929, by Ren Magritte (18981967) page 59, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA. ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2011. Photo: Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library.

First Atria Books hardcover edition October 2011

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Designed by Rhea Braunstein

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Connolly, John

The infernals : a novel / by John Connolly.

p. cm.

1. HellFiction. 2. Good and evilFiction. I. Title.

PR6053.O48645I64 2011

823'.914dc22

2011021366

ISBN 978-1-4516-4308-4
ISBN 978-1-4516-4310-7 (ebook)

For Cameron and Alistair

Chapter I:
In Which We Find Ourselves in Hell, but Only Temporarily, So Its Not All Bad News

Chapter II:
In Which We Learn a Little About How Hard It Is to Be in Love

Chapter III:
In Which We Delve Deeper into the Bowels of Hell, Which Is One of Those Chapter Headings That Make Parents Worry About the Kind of Books Their Children Are Reading

Chapter IV:
In Which We Reacquaint Ourselves with Nurd, formerly Nurd, The Scourge of Five Deities, Which Was All Something of a Misunderstanding, Really

Chapter V:
In Which We Encounter Mr. Merryweathers Dwarfsor Elvesand Rather Wish We Hadnt

Chapter VI:
In Which Samuel Is Reunited with Boswell, and We Learn Why One Should Not Trust a Mirror

Chapter VII:
In Which We Pay a Visit to Mrs. Abernathys House. Which Is Nice. Not.

Chapter VIII:
In Which We Wonder Just How Smart Really Smart People Sometimes Are

Chapter IX:
In Which Mr. Merryweathers Elves Embark on a New Adventure

Chapter X:
In Which Mr. Merryweathers Dwarfs Make an Unpleasant Discovery

Chapter XI:
In Which Samuel Arrives, and Nurd Departs

Chapter XII:
In Which Dozy Is the Bearer of Bad News

Chapter XIII:
In Which We Meet a Ram, and Some Old Friends Are Reunited

Chapter XIV:
In Which the Forces of Law and Order Assert Themselves

Chapter XV:
In Which Something of the Nature of this World Is Revealed Through Old Ram

Chapter XVI:
In Which Hell Gets Stranger, and the Scientists Grow More Curious

Chapter XVII:
In Which the True Faces of the Conspirators Are Revealed, and an Ugly Bunch They Are Too

Chapter XVIII:
In Which Those Who Will Be of Help to Samuel Begin to Come Together

Chapter XIX:
In Which We Encounter Some of the Other Unfortunate Residents of Hell

Chapter XX:
In Which We Meet the Blacksmith

Chapter XXI:
In Which Nurd Considers Changing His Name to Nurd, Unlucky in Numerous Dimensions

Chapter XXII:
In Which We Learn That There Is Always Hope, as Long as One Chooses Not to Abandon It

Chapter XXIII:
In Which Mrs. Abernathy Loses Her Temper, and We Meet Up Again with an Unpleasant Personage from Earlier in Our Tale

Chapter XXIV:
In Which We Speculate on What, If Anything, Might Be Worse Than Evil

Chapter XXV:
In Which a Familiar Odor Sends the Dwarfs Spirits Soaring

Chapter XXVI:
In Which We Learn of the Difficulties in Re-creating the Taste of Something Truly Horrible

Chapter XXVII:
In Which We Hear a Surprising Confession

Chapter XXVIII:
In Which Everything Goes Horribly Wrong

Chapter XXIX:
In Which Various August Personages Put Their Plans in Motion

Chapter XXX:
In Which the Watcher Is Torn

Chapter XXXI:
In Which We Learn a Little of the Responsibilities of Command, and the Perils of Being Commanded

Chapter XXXII:
In Which Samuel and Mrs. Abernathy Meet Again, Which Only Delights 50 Percent of Those Involved

Chapter XXXIII:
In Which a Third Force Intervenes in the Conflict

Chapter XXXIV:
In Which We Encounter Some Cunning Disguises

Chapter XXXV:
In Which Battle Commences, and a Rescue Mission Is Mounted

Chapter XXXVI:
In Which a Certain Someone Wakes Up with a Sore Head

Chapter XXXVII:
In Which We Get to the Happy Ever After Part

Chapter XXXVIII:
In Which We Discover the Limitations of the Term Happily Ever After

The
INFERNALS

T HE PLACE GENERALLY REFERRED to as Hell but also known variously as Hades, the Kingdom of Fire, Old Nicks Place, and assorted other names designed to indicate that this is not somewhere in which you might want to spend eternity, let alone a short vacation, was in a state of turmoil. Its ruler, its dark king, was unwell, and by unwell I mean mad as a parade of March hares.

This source of all Evil, the ancient thing that hid itself in the darkest part of Hell, also had many names, but his followers called him the Great Malevolence. He wished for many things: he wished for every star in every universe to be snuffed out like candle flames between his fingers; he wished for all beauty to cease to be; he wished for cold, and blackness, and a great silence that would last forever.