“I know you can’t be convinced that what happened to Nethissis was an accident,” Kalon said slowly. “And I don’t wish to change your mind. I trust your instincts. You knew Nethissis better than any of us.”

I looked at him, surprised by his softness and his sincerity. After all the back-and-forths we’d had, I would’ve expected a darker, perhaps more mysterious version of him to present itself, but… Kalon was genuine in his remarks. I needed that. Badly.

“You do realize we’re going to investigate this?” I asked.

He shrugged. “You do what you have to do. But you can count on me, Esme. I’ll support your every endeavor, until the truth comes to light. You must be willing to accept said truth, though, regardless of where it leads you.”

The intensity of his stare made my skin tingle. There was kindness in his half-smile. Compassion. Emotions I had yet to observe in him. “Whatever the truth may reveal, I will accept it. I’m not looking to be reckless or to stir some kind of conflict with your people. That’s not what this is about,” I said. “I simply believe, with all my heart, that Nethissis was murdered. For what? I’m not sure. But I do know she was out exploring, in snake form. She did that when she didn’t want to draw any attention.”

I embellished the truth a little bit. Kalon didn’t need to know exactly what Nethissis had been up to when she’d gotten attacked. He didn’t need to know we’d been sneaking around, invisible, trying to see if they were all keeping secrets from us.

“You think she saw something she shouldn’t have?” Kalon asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“I cannot exclude that possibility.”

Tristan walked up to us, joined by Valaine. “Derek and Sofia have given us full authority to investigate,” he said.

“And my father has authorized me to assist you with whatever resources we can spare,” Valaine added. “Whatever happened to your friend, we’ll figure it out.”

“Oh, you bet your ass we will,” I muttered, then exhaled sharply. Every breath was painful, my whole body still reacting to this loss. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to turn this whole bloody place upside down.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it, Esme,” Kalon said, in a bid to reassure me. “But we will have to be cautious, too. As you might’ve noticed, our upper echelon doesn’t like the idea of murder on the palace grounds, especially when the victim is a foreigner.”

“I doubt Esme cares about upsetting our leaders, Kalon,” Valaine interjected. “This is her friend we’re talking about. I would do the same if something happened to you, and you’d do much worse if something happened to me.” She paused to look at me. “We’re with you, Esme, all the way. No matter where it leads.”

I couldn’t help but smile. For some reason, her and Kalon’s support mattered immensely. We were pretty much on our own in this world. Nethissis’s killer had to be one or more of their people. This was bound to explode in someone’s face eventually. It was nice to know that we had Kalon and Valaine making sure we weren’t the ones who wound up with gum in our hair by the end of this journey.

Nethissis and I had not been close, but she was our colleague, our friend. She deserved justice.

And I was more than willing to oblige and deliver, with the wrath of a thousand storms, if needed. Whoever had hurt her needed to learn a valuable lesson. If you come after one of us, all of us will come for you.

Nethissis

I hadn’t been able to move away from the cell. Not that I didn’t want to. I was dying to learn what they had done with my body, and how they thought they might get away with my murder. But being close to Seeley had held me down. I never would’ve forgiven myself if something happened to him.

After all, he’d jumped in to stop the ghouls from eating me.

The hours had passed, and I’d almost dozed off, crouched against the cold wall. The two black guards had remained inside, making it impossible for Seeley to talk to me without letting them know that I was out here. The last thing I needed was for them to take the ghouls they had in there and bring them out to chase me down—the guards couldn’t see me, but the fiendish creatures definitely could.

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.