I’d never felt so lonely and helpless before. It was a hard pill to swallow, especially when it came on top of the fact that I’d been killed. My mind still had trouble processing this very basic fact. It had come so unexpectedly that there were moments when I felt like I still had a body. Phantom limbs tingled. A missing heart beat frantically, signaling fear and turmoil.
The ghouls, now chained back to the wall, occasionally chirped and growled, sending shivers down my spine. I dared not go in again, though I could’ve. The cell was warded to keep the ghouls and Seeley in—not to keep a spirit like me out. But my presence would have stirred the creatures. All I could do was sit and hope the guards would soon leave. At least then they wouldn’t have been around to notice the ghouls getting all anxious.
I went back over the events that had led to my death. The fault was mostly mine. I should’ve paid more attention, especially since I knew very well that ghouls could kill the living and the spirits alike. I thought about Lumi, about what the news of my demise would do to her… to Kailani… to the other girls. I knew my Hermessi-apocalypse crew would be devastated. We’d been through so much together, only for me to end up dead in the dungeons of a palace far away from home.
But I couldn’t dwell on my misery for too long. There were too many questions left unanswered, especially where Zoltan Shatal and his black guards were concerned. How had they gotten their hands on Reaper scythes and death magic? How’d they come across the ghouls to begin with? Their taming didn’t seem so far-fetched, since the white witches and the warlocks had already broken that ground, back in the Supernatural Dimension.
Who else knew about these dungeons? That question, in particular, bothered me. Did the Lord and Lady Supreme of Visio sanction all of this? If so, it could easily put Derek and Sofia’s crew in danger, especially since I knew they wouldn’t rest until they brought my killer to justice.
I searched for enough energy to pull myself back to my feet, almost ready to go back up and check on my friends, when the cell door finally opened and the black guards came out.
“Don’t even think of trying to escape,” one of them shouted back at Seeley. “You don’t have your scythe anymore, and we’ve got replacements coming in soon.”
“I’ll see you again, though,” Seeley replied. “If not later while I’m still chained, definitely when I’m free to tear your spines out.”
The guards were tempted to respond, but the looks they exchanged reeked of fear. They both knew that Seeley wasn’t making a threat, but rather a promise. All it took was for him to be free again, and I doubted he’d care much for the laws of Death where these two and Zoltan Shatal were concerned.
“Lock the door,” the second guard muttered to the first.
They went back up the corridor, their massive silhouettes black against the diffuse amber light coming from a distant room. Their armor jingled. Their boots thudded and splashed in the occasional puddle. In some parts of this underground maze, water poured down the walls, gathering on the stone floor.
Now that they were gone, I had very little time alone with Seeley—at least until others came in. Clearly, Zoltan didn’t feel comfortable enough to leave him on his own for too long. Maybe he’d realized what sort of badass he was dealing with.
Taking a deep breath, I walked through the door, almost feeling the cold stone seeping through my spirit, making me shiver. Slowly advancing through the narrow but short corridor, I analyzed the circular room carefully.
There was no trace of the murdered Rimians in here, except for the dried blood on the floor. The ghouls rested against the left wall, curled up in fetal positions, sniffing and huffing and puffing, their big eyes closed and their long limbs twitching. They were fast asleep, and I wondered whether all ghouls slept, or just these four. Maybe there was something about their condition and imprisonment that required them to catch some Zs. Then again, after that Rimian feast, seeing them like this didn’t really surprise me. I figured they had a limited digestive system of sorts, too.
Seeley was chained to the right wall, his arms up, his wrists cuffed and fixed against the dark stone. A strange pentagram had been drawn under him. I recognized some of the symbols, as well as the engravings on the iron collar around his neck. He’d been trapped here with death magic, and once more I found myself wondering—how the hell had Zoltan come across this stuff?!
“Seeley?” I whispered, having reached the circular room.
He lifted his head. His galaxy eyes found mine, and for the briefest of moments, time seemed to stand still. I had not seen him in a long time, but he certainly hadn’t changed a bit. He was definitely attached to his black-suit-and-white-shirt style, though the red tie had come loose—probably when he’d been tackled by Zoltan’s magic.
The shadow of a smile fluttered across his face. “Nethissis,” he murmured. A few moments passed, as I realized I was buck-naked. I had died as I had been born, and Seeley could see it all.
Oh God. I pulled my long copper hair over, trying to cover as much as I could, given the circumstances. Everything had happened so fast… so strange, that I’d not even considered this particular little nugget. Seeley kept his gaze up, though, and I had to appreciate him for it. My hair did a decent job of covering most of what I needed covered, and I had no choice but to get used to being like this. “This is awkward,” I mumbled.
If I still had a body, I would’ve been burning red with embarrassment right now. However, none of that mattered much anymore.
“Not really your fault,” Seeley breathed, looking away. “Death caught you like this. For what it’s worth, you mustn’t be ashamed. I’ve seen my fair share of naked bodies… It’s not in my nature to gawk.”
That was somewhat comforting. I wanted to get closer to him, but the ghouls woke up, their large, beady eyes already fixed on me. One by one, they got up, stretching their bony limbs, and growled, eager to get to me. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t reach beyond the short length of their chains. All they could do was growl and snarl, strings of drool clinging to their gaping jaws.
My heart was as tiny as a bead, but I couldn’t stand back anymore. Seeley needed me. As far as I could tell, he had no one else to rely on. I dashed across the room and to the right, keeping a reasonable distance from the ghouls. They jerked against their chains, roaring angrily when they finally understood that they could not touch me.
Kneeling in front of Seeley, I briefly scanned him from head to toe. “You don’t seem hurt,” I said. He frowned, and I was quickly reminded of how grouchy he could get if things didn’t go his way.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “It’s not safe.”
“Nowhere is safe, if you think about it,” I replied. “Besides, no one’s come to reap me.”
“Someone will, soon enough. Rudolph and his crew should reach Visio soon.”
Shaking my head slowly, I looked at him. “How did all this happen?”
“I don’t know,” he said, virtuously ignoring the ghouls. They were vocally pissed off about their restraints. I was a delicious morsel that they simply couldn’t get their claws on, and it was driving them insane. “Zoltan blindsided me. I did not see that scythe of his coming.” He lowered his gaze for a moment. “To be honest, I was following you when it all happened.”
“What do you mean, you were following me?” I blurted, my eyes widening.
“Death assigned me to you and your crew. I was to shadow you, to figure out what this place was all about,” Seeley explained. He sighed deeply, resting his head on the wall behind him. “I knew you were going to check out the palace, so I followed you. I had no idea we’d both be stumbling into this tangled ball of crazy.”
I got up, crossing my arms and taking a couple of steps back. That got the ghouls riled up again, but I was no longer worried about them. The chains had already proven their effectiveness. “You need to fill me in on the details here,” I said. “Because I’m getting a majorly creepy vibe from you right now.”
&n
bsp; Seeley shot me a cold glare. “Really? After everything we’ve been through?”
“Would it have killed you to say hello?!”
“Ah. So that’s your problem. Not me following you guys around.”
“That too, yeah,” I retorted, wondering if he could see me blushing—I could swear I felt my cheeks burning, despite having no physical form anymore. On one hand, I was thrilled to see him again. On the other, it broke me that we were meeting again in these circumstances.
“Death forbade me from reaching out to you. To any of you.”
I scoffed. “Still following her blindly, huh?”
“My options are rather limited in this, Nethissis,” he said. “I don’t have the luxury of being able to disobey an order. She might be under those seals now, but once she’s out… I’ll be on the receiving end of her wrath if I go against her. And trust me, you don’t want to piss off a cosmic power like Death. You just don’t.”
Exhaling slowly, I tried to put my frustration aside. This was not the right time to bicker about keeping in touch. After all, we belonged to different worlds—or at least, we used to belong to different worlds. I was on his side of the veil now. Either way, it wasn’t fair to him. We had bigger problems to deal with, such as my unexpected death.
“Why did Death want you to follow us?” I asked him.
The ghouls had given up already, merely scowling at me and baring their ginormous fangs whenever I looked their way.
“She didn’t say,” Seeley said. “I know it’s not the answer you want, but—”
“Yeah, I know, she has a tendency to withhold important information until the very last minute. I remember,” I grumbled, scrunching my nose. “How are those seals of hers coming along, by the way?”
“Slowly but surely. Though, frankly, she’s struggling. She wants all the remaining First Tenners back. Apparently, they can help speed things up if they’re together. I reckon it’s about a power balance.”
“And what about Rudolph? You said he’s on his way? Where are the other Reapers? I haven’t seen anyone around. Shouldn’t someone have come when the Rimians were killed here?”
A bitter smile danced on his lips. “So you’ve noticed that, too. It’s been bugging me since I first arrived on Visio.”
“Is Zoltan catching them, keeping them here in these dungeons?”
“I’m not sure. But there wasn’t a single Reaper in sight, and no wandering souls, either. It’s why I called for backup. Some of the doors I’ve tried going through are riddled with warding magic, designed to keep my kind out. Something weird is going on here, Nethissis, and I think it’s got something to do with Zoltan Shatal and his ghouls and his death magic.”
My soul ran cold, as if I’d been suddenly submerged in ice water. My death seemed trivial, in hindsight, compared to the plethora of strangeness that clearly dwelled in these parts of the palace. I didn’t have answers, only more questions. The worst part was that Seeley was as confused as me about all this. Usually, I’d have looked to him for knowledge and wisdom.
“It’s death magic he’s using to keep you here, isn’t it?” I asked, and he nodded in return.
“I’ve never seen some of these symbols before, but it’s definitely from our repertoire. Someone from the upper echelons taught him about this stuff,” Seeley said. “I’m talking first circles, at least.”
“What’s the point of all this?” I mumbled, looking around once more. “I get that they’re keeping ghouls here, but to what end? I don’t see any of the Aeternae feeding on souls—unless I missed something?”
Seeley shook his head. “No, you’re right. They’re not eating souls like the Nerakian daemons and Maras used to. There’s something else afoot, but I’m a bit tied up at the moment and unable to investigate further.”
“What can I do to help?” I asked, crouching beside him. Reaching out a hand, I wanted to see if I could at least touch his collar and set him free. Vesta had pulled quite the ghostly stunts during the Hermessi debacle. Maybe I could do something similar.
My fingers went right through the metal, but I could feel his skin, strangely warm and sending all kinds of sensations through my very core. Gasping, I jumped away. My breath had left me, and I had trouble getting it back.
Seeley was equally surprised. “The veil is thick on Visio,” he said, his voice low. “But since I’m a Reaper, you can still touch me.”
“Wait, the veil is thick… what do you mean?”
“You can’t touch these chains.”
“But I leaned against the wall outside. I could touch that!” I replied, growing restless.
“That’s just a phantom sensation. It’ll wear off, the longer you stay here, in the world of the living. You weren’t leaning into the wall. You just thought you were. The ghostly psychology is a little tough to explain right now.”
“Great. So I’m useless. That’s what you’re saying.”
He smirked, as if an idea was brewing in his head. I liked this look on him. It gave me a sliver of hope, though I dared not allow such an emotion to take over. Not in my condition.
“You’re not useless,” he said. “You can still move around freely. And Rudolph is still an option.”
It hit me then, and I couldn’t help but smile, a new kind of energy surging through me. “I can find Rudolph and warn him about all this.”
As Seeley nodded in agreement, I wondered—would this be enough? Would Rudolph maybe summon a whole army of Reapers to come to Visio and tear this whole place apart? Surely, Death would sanction something like that, given the attack on Seeley. Zoltan had no intention of letting him go, but I didn’t know what he planned to do with him.
I had a feeling we were barely scratching the surface of the nefariousness in this place. Nevertheless, someone had to. Someone had to cast a light on this darkness and reveal the ugliness it had been hiding.
Maybe I’d get back to my body, too. Maybe Death would decree that my passing was unnatural, much like she’d done with the five million fae. Maybe this wouldn’t end in tears, after all.
Nethissis
After a few minutes of rigorous planning, I finally found the courage to ask Seeley the big question.
“Do you think she’ll bring me back?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Who, Death?” he asked, and I gave him a soft nod. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s up to her, really.”
“Because Taeral still has Thieron, as you know. He could easily—”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there,” Seeley replied, cautious with his words.
I understood then that the decision didn’t belong to him. It made me feel heavy. Even though I’d left my physical form behind, my limbs were leaded, anchoring me firmly to the stone floor. Seeley noticed my reaction, a shadow drawn between his eyebrows.
“I’m sorry, Nethissis. I’m sorry this happened to you. It’s not fair,” he continued, looking away for a moment. “Let’s find a way to get me out of here first. One step at a time, because there are things going on here that are completely wrong.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m perfectly okay with sticking around as a ghost for as long as possible.” I chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. It was the best I could do, not only for myself, but also for Seeley. After all, he was practically helpless—our only true ally among the Reapers, and he was chained to the wall.
“You’re not a bad-looking ghost,” he replied, giving me a faint smirk. Darkness smoldered in his eyes as he shifted his focus back to me, and I suddenly felt like the very center of the universe. I’m still naked. Oh, boy…
“Are you trying to give me a compliment?”
“I’m a little rusty in terms of social skills. I thought you knew that. Your bare form isn’t helping, either. I’m doing my best.”
“Well, I was hoping at least one of us on the Death crew had rubbed off on you during our Hermessi adventure,” I said, trying not to laugh. He was right, though. My nakedness wasn’t of any pos
itive assistance. I had to cut him some slack.
“Forgive me, but none of the champions on our crew made me want to follow their lead where wooing a woman is concerned,” he replied. “I had enough time to watch them all get together, and I was rolling my eyes. Hard.”
Heat burst through me, like an unexpected fever. “You want to woo me?”
Only then did he realize that he’d been talking out loud, for his demeanor changed so quickly that it was nearly impossible to keep up with him. “Okay, so Rudolph should be on Visio already,” he said, switching back to business mode. I pressed my lips into a tight line, wondering if I should pursue the wooing part nonetheless, since there were a lot of logistical issues attached to it—such as, how would we even be together, since I was dead and he was usually tasked with reaping the likes of me?
I decided to let it go for now, because I had yet to figure out where we’d even stood while I was still living. We hadn’t seen each other since the Hermessi debacle, and there had been many thoughts and feelings left unspoken between us. Seeley was right. We had bigger problems to deal with. Freeing him was at the top of my list.
“Where would I find Rudolph?” I asked.
“I told Kelara I’d meet him inside the palace library, since it’s one of the easier places to find,” he said.
“Chances are we won’t be having any ghoul problems, since it’s all the way up there and not in these wretched basements,” I noted.
Seeley shook his head. “Let’s not underestimate Zoltan again. He’s already pulled a fast one on us. Remember, ghouls and Reapers can make themselves unseen and unheard to the living. And Zoltan knows there will be others coming to Visio, looking for me.”
“That’s right, because you’re cut off from them now,” I said, pointing at the collar around his neck. “That thing’s keeping you docile and unable to call for help, huh?”
A Shade of Vampire 79: A Game of Death Page 3