by Ryvr Jones
Wait for the rotten souls to come back, for Caeron to find some sliver of information about them, for a clue to the Heirs’ whereabouts, for a way to save his soul to be revealed.
All that waiting was slowly making him crazy. He tried to distract himself walking through the old house like a ghost, up and down the stairs, searching the shadows and hoping Tarani would emerge from every dark corner.
Rhys stopped short. He hadn’t told Caeron about her visit to the attic because he’d felt raw, vulnerable. He hadn’t wanted to discuss his feelings, and ended up letting a crucial detail slip from his mind. Fuck me to hell and beyond.
“Tell me something,” Rhys said as soon as he entered the library.
“Something,” Caeron replied without taking his eyes off his book.
“Hilarious as usual.” Rhys stood in front of the desk and crossed his arms. “How could someone get in and out of your house without asking for your permission?”
Looking up at him, Caeron leaned back in his chair. “Why?”
“Tarani did it, the night she went away. She came back while I was in the attic.”
Caeron closed his eyes. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Yeah, because I’m funny as shit.” Rhys rested his hip against the desk.
“Well, fuck.” Caeron looked at him, worry clear in his eyes. “There’s one way to cross my wards without my knowledge, and one way only. Using the Shadows.”
No. “That can’t be right. Only Seersha and her brethren can use the Shadows.”
“No shit.” Caeron leaned forward, clasping his hands and resting his elbows on the table. “I’m sorry, but that’s correct.”
Rhys shook his head, his gut screaming in denial. “There must be another way. Seersha can disguise her appearance, but I know it wasn’t her.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t her.” Caeron nodded. “Seersha and I have an agreement. She wouldn’t come here unannounced, I assure you.”
Relief washed over Rhys. It was hard to believe Seersha would stoop to trick him into having sex with her—but as he’d said, she hadn’t met a line she wouldn’t cross if it served her purposes. And he had no fucking idea what her game was. “An agreement?”
Caron shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. What matters is that Tamerah somehow managed to use the Shadows.”
“How’s that even possible? Can it be taught?”
“As far as know, no. Seersha can travel through the Shadows because she’s one of Death’s Bridges. You’d have to be one of them to be able to do it.”
Fuck. Tarani had been listening to Seersha’s bullshit, and now this. “Tarani is not a Bridge. There must be some other explanation.”
“I can’t think of anything—” Caeron stopped abruptly. After a moment, he hid his face on his hands. “Oh, man. I hope I’m wrong.” He looked at Rhys with…pity? “The only explanation would be that Tamerah is part of Seersha. Are you sure the letter was written by the Sheramath?”
Rhys recoiled, Caeron’s words hitting him like a punch. The box had Brianna’s runes, and the parchment had been closed with her seal, but both things could’ve been stolen. Her handwriting could be forged.
He wanted to vomit. If Seersha had indeed produced the box and the letter, she knew details from his personal life that he’d rather keep private. His relationship with Brianna. His fire bird. Rejan-Ashen, the name Brianna had given him. And Seersha was probably responsible for Tarani’s arrival.
“Rhys, man, breathe,” Caeron said. “You look like you’re about to go Hulk on me again.”
“Why would Seersha do this?” Rhys started to pace, trying to clear his head. “I don’t think anything is beneath her, but to create a demon and try to pass her as Brianna’s creation…It’s too complicated, and a huge violation of the Rules. She must have a hell of an endgame.”
I hope to fuck Tarani is not part of it. The mere possibility made him want to tear the world apart.
“Hold your horses.” Caeron stood. “We don’t know if Tamerah was created by Seersha, or even by one of the other Bridges.” He snorted. “Hell, we don’t know shit. I mean, it’s the only possibility I can think of, but I’ve been wrong before.”
“I’m going to the cemetery to get some answers,” Rhys said, walking to the door.
Caeron followed him. “If Seersha is lying, she’s not going to stop because you ask for the truth.”
“I know, dumbass. But I want to hear what she has to say.” He gritted his teeth. “And maybe, just maybe, find another explanation.”
After delivering the message with Caeron’s address, Tamerah went back to the abandoned factory. She emerged from the Shadows, stepping into a spot illuminated by the moonlight. “Nobody saw me.”
“Great.” Seersha nodded her approval. “Did you see her?”
Tamerah opened her mouth to answer but only a gasp came out. The ache in her chest had been her constant companion since she’d walked away from Rhys, but it had been muted, like an echo. Now it was flaring, burning. “Something is wrong.”
As if trying to hear something, Seersha lifted her head. “I was wondering when he was going to realize what happened,” she murmured. “Rhys wants to talk with me. It’s about time.”
Tamerah’s heart slammed against her ribcage, cold sweat breaking out all over her body. She’d been equally dreading and looking forward to the moment when she’d see Rhys again.
Getting some distance from him had been the right decision. She’d needed time to think, to come to grips with who she was, and decide what she was going to do with her life.
While Tamerah practiced using the Shadows, Seersha had explained the supernatural world’s Rules, and told her stories about Brianna, bringing more of Tamerah’s own memories to surface. Tamerah had ended up feeling proud of the trust the Sheramath had put in her.
The woman who’d been the Goddess’ face on this world believed Tamerah could help to protect humankind, and had given her a part of herself to assist in the task. She wanted to be worthy of that trust.
Besides, if Rhys failed, she wouldn’t have a future where she could make decisions about her life. Nobody would.
“I need to go,” Seersha said.
“Should I go with you?” Tamerah leaned against the wall, needing something solid to support her.
“That’s your decision.”
Tamerah closed her eyes. She missed Rhys a lot, but she didn’t know how he’d react when she went back. She’d broken her promise and had abandoned him.
It doesn’t matter. Even if he doesn’t want me anymore, we need to find the Lineages.
“Where?” She straightened.
“Tarmanagh’s cemetery,” Seersha said, stepping into the Shadows. Tamerah took a deep breath and followed.
Rhys and Caeron exited the house and crossed to the cemetery through the side gate.
As soon as they were on the grounds, Rhys let his anger loose. “Seersha! Get your ass here, you little schemer!” He kept walking until they reached the central tree.
Seersha was waiting for them, sitting on a stone bench. “You don’t need to yell, gravedigger. I can hear you perfectly from anywhere, when you’re on the grounds. Did you miss that class in gravedigger school?” She lifted a hand to stop his reply and tilted her head. “Let me guess. ‘Cut the crap, Seersha’. You’re no fun, Rhys. I don’t know what the Sheramath ever saw in you.”
He gritted his teeth. She was messing with his head, and he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of responding to her taunt. “You know why I’m here. Talk.”
“Did you go to gravedigger school at all.” Seersha put a foot on the bench, bending her leg and resting an elbow on her knee. She seemed too comfortable for his peace of mind. “Because it seems you also missed the class about how I can’t give undue information to the living, blah blah blah. I’ll give you the cliff notes—mostly, I can’t tell you anything that you don’t already know.”
Rhys wished, for the umpteenth time, he could kill Seersha. Caeron ma
de a weird sound. Rhys turned to him—he was trying to stifle a grin. “You find this amusing?”
“No.” The denial was negated by a small laugh. “Forgive me. I’ve never seen you two together before, and it’s refreshing to see somebody other than me at the end of Seersha’s stick.”
“This is fun,” Seersha interrupted, “but I don’t have time to entertain you boneheads. Ask what you want to know, Rhys, and let’s finish this meeting.”
“Where is Tarani?” He missed her so much his bones ached.
Seersha cocked a brow. “Tarani, huh? I see.” She grinned, and Rhys was sure that indeed, she saw. Fuck. “Tamerah is safe. If she wanted you to know where she is, she’d have told you. Next question.”
Gods, please, just kill me. “I found a box in the ruins.”
“You got the Sheramath’s message.” Her face turned serious.
“I got a message.” He watched her closely, looking for anything that’d give away what she was thinking. “But I’m not sure it came from her.”
“You think I left it there for you?” Seersha threw her head back and laughed out loud. When her eyes turned back to him, they twinkled with mirth. “Don’t underestimate me, gravedigger. If I were deceiving you, you wouldn’t be aware of it. At all.” She winked. “Besides, my machinations are way more efficient and elegant than the mess you’re suggesting.”
“That’s reassuring,” Caeron muttered.
Rhys wasn’t convinced. “If the message is real, and Brianna is Tarani’s source, how in the name of fuck did she enter Caeron’s house without his knowledge?”
Seersha shrugged. “You’re smart enough to figure it out. In fact, I think you,” she pointed at Caeron, “already have.”
Caeron cursed, and Rhys turned to him. “Explain.”
The dullahan narrowed his eyes, his gaze focused on Seersha. “The only way Tamerah would be able to use the Shadows is by possessing something that belongs to one of Death’s Bridges. A piece of a soul.”
Rhys scrunched his eyes closed. Please, Gods, no. “Tell me he’s wrong.”
“He’s not,” Seersha said and Rhys looked at her. Instead of the smirk he was expecting, there was sorrow in her face. Why?
“Her soul was born as a piece of you.” Rhys spat, repulsion bubbling in his stomach. Souls were organic, capable of growth. Almost like plants. If Seersha had given Tarani a piece of her own soul, it would’ve grown to form a new one. But he hated, hated to think Tarani’s soul had begun as a part of Seersha. That she’d forever have a part of Seersha in her makeup. “You’re lying. Tarani is pure light, and you’re…not.”
“I don’t give a shit if you think I’m disgusting. Too bad if it offends your delicate sensibilities, but it’s the truth. Deal with it.” She stood. “My patience is waning. What else?”
May I strip your skin and flesh off your bones? That probably wouldn’t go well. “We were attacked in the ruins. By fucking rotten souls. You wouldn’t know anything about them, would you?”
“Rotten souls?” Surprise flashed on Seersha’s face. That’s a first.
“Literally rotten,” Caeron intervened. “Attached to rotten bodies. Those things weren’t dead, but they weren’t exactly alive either. And we can’t collect their souls.”
“Of course you can’t,” Seersha said as if it was obvious, putting her hands on her hips. “C’mon, Caeron, you’re the second least stupid gravedigger I have. You know this one.”
“Gee, thanks,” Caeron drawled. He scrubbed his chin. “Tamerah is right, isn’t she? Somehow, these fuckers have cheated you.”
“Probably,” Seersha conceded, her face even paler. She crossed her arms. “Which means they’re outside the natural order, and none of us can collect them. This is bad, really bad.”
Fuck. If they couldn’t collect them, they were going to remain free to roam among the living. He just hoped they didn’t have the ability to do anything that affected the physical world.
Normal souls usually didn’t—except when dullahans failed to collect them in time, which didn’t happen often. After a few weeks of being detached from a body, if the soul was strong enough, it started to develop the ability to do all the crap commonly attributed to ghosts. Since the rotten souls didn’t seem to be anything like normal souls, it was anyone’s guess what they’d be able to do as time went by.
Rhys rubbed his forehead. “How did they cheat Death?”
“Don’t waste my time with questions you know I can’t answer!” Seersha pointed a finger at him. “I want to help, but I won’t risk raising the Enforcers. Stop fucking around!”
The urge to tell her to go to hell was strong, but she had a point. The Rules didn’t allow Death’s Bridges to say things the living wouldn’t know otherwise, because such information often altered the course of events. Sometimes the information would only affect one person, but there was no way of knowing if something unduly shared wouldn’t end up changing history and affecting humankind as a whole.
Sharing anything was strictly forbidden and harshly punished—by imprisonment, torture and even the Nameless Death. And as much as Rhys disliked Seersha, she didn’t deserve any of that.
“All right. It’s too much of a coincidence that these fuckers have appeared now, when the darkness is stirring, to be completely unrelated.” He dipped his head slightly. “How’s that?”
“I’d hurry the fuck up if I were you,” she said. “You don’t have much time. If you don’t find out soon how to keep the darkness under control, and how the rotten souls are connected to this, everything will be lost.”
“No.” Tarani’s voice came from behind him and Rhys spun around. His heart thundered, unbelievably, stupidly happy to see her. She came closer and stood by his side, facing Seersha. “We’ll find a way.”
Fighting the urge to haul Tarani to his arms and never let her go, he nodded. “We will.” He turned to Seersha. “But it would be easier if you’d tell us something useful.”
“Everything I say is useful.” Seersha shot them an annoyed look. “If you’re smart enough to pay attention and think. You know what?” She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t have to listen to your crap.” Without another word, she stepped into the tree’s shadows and disappeared.
“That went well,” Caeron quipped.
“I don’t care. Seersha is never helpful, anyway.” Rhys turned to Tarani. “Are you going to stay?” Please stay.
“I drank the blood. I’m starting to remember things.” She tilted her head. “I remember you.” Tarani shoved her hands in her pockets and kicked a small rock. “The Sheramath created me, and released me to Seersha’s care. In order to keep me, Seersha had to do something to me. My memories are still fuzzy, but I think she killed me.”
“What?” Caeron and Rhys exclaimed at the same time.
“I don’t know for sure.” She gave a small shrug. “But she has carried me with her all this time. And I’m remembering bits and pieces from my time with her. She’s not as bad as you think.”
Caeron snorted. “Right.”
“I know it seems unlikely,” Tarani insisted. “But she was always nice to me. She took care of me, showed me things and talked to me. She didn’t have to do any of that. I didn’t even have a soul, but I think she cared about me.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rhys interrupted. “Seersha may have a hidden side that’s all unicorns and rainbows, but you’ve seen what happened just now. She refused to help. And she thinks that taunting us is fun.”
“Maybe. But she likes and respects you. Both of you.” She smiled, and he felt like a beam of light and warmth had landed on him, until her next words. “She told me stories about you.”
“Stories?” Rhys’s blood turned to ice. There was too much shit, too much shame in his past that he wished would stay there, forgotten and buried.
Tarani was still smiling. “About your service to the Goddess. About the Medjah-Merah, the battles you’ve fought, how much you’ve sacrificed.” The light in h
er eyes dimmed, the smile washing away. “How much you’ve lost, and the price you’ve paid for fighting the evil.”
Rhys stiffened his spine, trying to hold back the bitterness. “None of it matters.”
“It matters to me. Now I understand why I feel like I know you. It’s because I do. I have known you for a long time.” Some of the earlier light brightened her eyes again. “And I have liked you, almost as long.”
Will you stay with me? Rhys didn’t dare to ask what was burning in his throat. He was sure that if he had to face another rejection from Tarani, he’d go straight back to the Abyss, do not collect a hundred dollars, do not pass go.
What she said next was unexpected. “I’ve liked you since Seersha met you. I was there.”
No. Gods, no. Tarani had witnessed one of his biggest mistakes—the deal with Seersha. His skin burned with shame.
She went on, oblivious to his desire to disappear. “I already knew who you were. The passage of time is not clear in my memories—I guess it felt different when I wasn’t attached to a body. But she’d told me all these stories about a brave and handsome warrior, cursed with an unspeakable burden.” She turned her eyes to the ground. “Then you came searching for her. I could see you through her eyes. And you were, indeed, so handsome. And fearless.”
Because I didn’t have anything to lose. He remembered that damn night too well. It had been his last, desperate shot, after having spent centuries trying to die. If somebody knew how he could kill himself, he figured it would be one of Death’s Bridges.
He still believed it to be true, but Seersha had screwed him. Once he was bound to her as a dullahan, there was no getting out unless she said so. And after all this time, he’d lost hope she’d ever would.
Tarani stepped closer to him, her cheeks flushed in pink. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I think…I think I started to fall for you that night.”
His heart tried to escape from his chest. Rhys opened his mouth but nothing came out. Unable to speak, he pulled her to his arms and hugged her, burying his face in her hair. Inhaling her scent, he finally found words. “I’ve missed you.”
“I still don’t know much more than before. But I have some memories of my own, now.” She rested her head on his chest and hugged his waist, whispering, “I remember you.”