Between Soul and Vessel (Between Life and Death #4)

Chapter 1

Sage

I drifted on the current of nothing.

The vessel that housed my soul was weightlessly suspended in the air.

It was as if someone had severed the cord that connected me to my body—but there was something about this place of nothing.

Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

A finger I did not need. Nor a hand, nor an arm.

Because in the realm of nothing, I didn’t need my body.

. . . I didn’t need anything.

My eyelids were closed, and yet I could see.

In particular, I could see what was above me—

A plethora of stalactites reached down from the rocky ceiling. The uneven, icicle-like structures were luminescent, glowing a brilliant, effervescent blue on the roof of the cave’s mouth. The color pulsed, growing brighter and then dimmer, as if it were breathing. As if it were alive.

I recalled that feeling. I had been alive once .

But when or how, I could not recall.

I admired the sparkling, brilliant, breathing formations.

How lovely. How true.

How true?

It made no sense and yet, it made perfect sense.

I would stay here for the remainder of eternity, drifting on the river of nothing.

Please do not leave me, Little Goddess! a male roared inside my head.

But the owner of the voice I could not place.

Hands that were tipped with vicious claws fished me out of the waterless river.

They hoisted me onto the rocky bank and began to drag me along.

My soul peered at them, taking in the strange, beautiful, enchanting creatures, their skin forged of charcoal gray and intricate white markings.

They were tall and lean, their faces long and finely tailored and so heartbreakingly beautiful.

Both of them had large, ethereal wings, tucked neatly in.

And their eyes—housed beneath hairless brows—were completely black.

“It’s a pretty one,” said an ethereal voice, beautiful and soft and . . . male.

“Indeed. The empress did a good job upon its creation,” said the other one. The sound was equally lovely, but this one was higher pitched. Female, perhaps?

“Yes, she did,” agreed the male as they continued to drag me forward. If they found my body heavy, they didn’t let on. In fact, by the way they walked, one would think they were hauling something as light as a pillow behind them.

Weave her another fate! a masculine voice demanded—the same one I had heard before.

“Where do you think she will send it to next?” asked the female as she glanced down at me. Her hairless brows lowered, her expression changing to confusion.

“I dare not make a guess. The empress knows things we never will,” replied the male in his soothing voice.

He dropped my arm, and it slapped against the rocky floor—the sound echoing.

“Put her on the table and I’ll prepare for the extraction.

” His clawed toes scratched against the ground as he walked away.

“Nemtuk,” the female said as she quickly dropped my hand.

“You know I can’t let you perform the extraction,” the male—Nemtuk—said. “Not after what happened last time. You nearly destroyed that poor soul.”

“No, that’s not it. I think it’s watching us,” the female said, her eyes fixed on mine.

“Impossible,” Nemtuk scoffed. “They do not possess the ability to be conscious here.”

“I’m serious. Come over here and look,” she said.

“Fine. Fine,” he sighed. His nails clicked against the ground, growing louder as he approached. Clawed fingers clamped onto my cheeks, moving my head from side to side as he gazed into my blank, lifeless face. He let out a shriek and dropped my head. “We must take it to the empress at once!”

All around us, minuscule water droplets were suspended in the air, blanketing it in a heavy layer of fog so thick I did not know how the strange, beautiful creatures were able to fly through it.

Yet, they did, as if they had some inner compass guiding them.

Light fought its way through the mist, bouncing off the frozen crystals, making them glitter.

It was beautiful.

If I had breath to take, I imagined it would have been stolen.

Nemtuk carried me in his unusually long, lithe arms, his wings stretched out behind him.

They were a shade darker than his charcoal skin, almost black but not quite.

My gaze drifted to the end of his left wing.

There, the air worked away at one loose feather, as if it were chiseling it out, desperate to take it.

I had been watching it for the duration of our flight, a time I had no means of measuring.

Did time even exist here? Or was that back . . .

Back where?

My thoughts stumbled, tripped, and fell, straight down a black hole of nothingness. There was a lapse, something I was missing or forgetting. But when I tried to reach for it, it was fleeting.

I returned my attention to the feather, watching it tick back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. I wondered when it would give up its fight and just let go.

Nemtuk cleared his throat. “Imari.”

“Hmm?” she answered, her face fixed ahead.

“I must admit . . .” There was a small bit of hesitancy, as if he didn’t want to reveal the next part. Slowly, he continued, “ The closer we get to the Celestial Opal Palace, the more anxious I become.”

“I can understand why. If I was your gender, I would probably feel the same way.” She let out a breath through her narrow nostrils—more slits than circles. “But you must remember, Empress Avena’s laws do not extend to our kind. We are her most prized creation. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I suppose you are right,” Nemtuk agreed, albeit his teeth weathering against his bottom lip spoke otherwise. Charcoal skin crinkled between his hairless brows as he stole a quick glance at me. When our eyes met, he swiftly looked away.

Attention returning to the wiggling feather, I noticed the stubborn current had made some progress, as I could now see a bit of the quill. At any moment, the wind would have its way and finally pluck the silky, shiny plume free—stealing it away like a thief in the night.

When it finally did, I expected to feel some satisfaction at seeing the lone feather fly into the air, something I had been heavily invested in, but as I watched it fade into the distance, there wasn’t a sliver of feeling to be found.