Chapter 9
My days with Death took on a new kind of urgency as the Devil’s deal made me hyper-aware of everything I saw or heard. Knowing I’d have to recount them made me jumpy. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Death could tell I was betraying her, even though her behavior towards me didn’t change.
Having a constant shadow didn’t help. Talia had introduced me to another female servant who now followed me around, helping with my duties. We didn’t speak any more than necessary, but I could feel her watching my every move.
I was also aware of the thread that connected me to the Devil. Every time I moved, it pulled, and sometimes I thought I could feel him on the other end. Out of nowhere, I’d get a strong sense of him, the feeling so startling I’d look up, expecting to see him standing nearby.
It was intolerable, being in his thrall.
I needed to end it as soon as I could, which meant doing whatever it took to get control of my curse.
Except, I couldn’t do anything until he decided to hold my first ‘lesson’.
Nothing but grit my teeth and keep my head down, praying my curse didn’t make an appearance in front of anyone.
Fortunately, the Devil didn’t make me wait long. A few nights later, Marcus was waiting for me in my room when I returned for the night. At least this time I saw him the minute I opened the door instead of him appearing out of the shadows.
“Is this going to be a regular thing, me finding Tempters in my room?” As relieved as I was to start training, I wondered how they got in here without anyone noticing. I didn’t need anyone finding out that I was working with the Devil.
“Don’t worry, no one saw me,” Marcus said, reading the worry on my face.
“They better not have.”
The appraising look he gave me made me feel stripped bare, and not in a fun way, like he was assessing me for something. “Is there somewhere else you’d rather we find you to deliver messages?”
My eyes narrowed for a beat until I realized his question was sincere. “No.” I sighed. “What’s the message?”
“The Devil will meet you on the bridge tomorrow night at midnight.” He brushed past me, reaching for the door.
I’d have to sneak out, but the late hour would make it easy to avoid being seen. “Thanks.”
With a nod he was gone.
* * *
As instructed, I made it to the bridge just before midnight the next evening. I’d seen no one on my way there. Wiping my sweaty palms on my apron, I looked around. It was empty but, standing in the middle of it, I felt exposed. There was nowhere to hide.
Completely enclosed, the bridge was essentially a long hallway connecting the two castles.
One wall was a solid bank of windows through which I could only see the thick swirling darkness that encompassed everything—the essence of the In Between, I’d heard Death call it.
Why there were windows anywhere in either castle if that was the only view, I didn’t understand.
The other wall was solid, covered in gold and silver paper.
I tried not to fidget while I silently cursed the Devil for choosing this as our meeting spot—if anyone walked by there was nothing I could pretend to be doing—until the air next to me shifted.
That sudden sense of his presence rose, and I turned to see shadows snaking up the opposite wall until they formed a solid arch, like a doorway.
A shiver ran through me, dread and excitement tangled together.
I was only a little surprised when the Devil’s head popped through the shadows.
“Follow me,” he said, not bothering to see if anyone else was watching before disappearing again. Like he already knew they weren’t.
I stared at the portal for a beat. Of course he’d choose a location that forced me to walk through his shadows. My hands fisted. At least no one would be able to walk in on us. Holding my breath, I stepped through.
It was like walking through velvet-coated air. The caress on my skin was soft and pleasant. I almost wanted to linger, but I was through before the thought fully formed. At least I thought I was. The air felt normal again, but it was pitch black.
Light flared, a small ball of it appearing a few steps in front of me, and the Devil’s face materialized out of the darkness, making me start. Shadows caressed his features almost lovingly in the low light, making him seem both sinister and sad.
“Sorry to startle you.” The rest of him appeared as he produced a few more balls of light, directing them above our heads. We were in a small room, bare of furniture. I caught a glimpse of cobwebs in the corners and piles of dust on the floor.
“Do you always hide in the shadows?” I asked, my hand at my throat. My pulse thrashed beneath my fingers.
“Only around you.” He turned and walked away. Three of the lights he’d produced followed him. The last stayed floating above my head.
I glanced behind me, but the shadow portal was gone.
With a sigh, I followed him through a large arch into a room as large as the Great Hall in his castle.
It looked like a throne room, with a dais at the front and two sweeping sets of staircases on either side that led to a long, curved balcony along the back.
There was no furniture, and except for the lights hovering over us it was dark.
Windows on the sides reached floor to ceiling, making the space feel cavernous.
The swirling darkness outside looked different from where we stood.
Thousands of pinpricks of light glittered within it, too small to be stars.
“What is this place?” I asked, awed by the size of it.
“It used to be the heart of the In Between.” He looked almost angry.
“Why was it shut away?”
“Things changed.” He didn’t elaborate further and I didn’t push.
I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. The sooner I gained control of my curse, the sooner I would be free of him. “Where do we start?”
He shook his head. “You first. Give me a report.”
I tensed as the compulsion to tell him what I’d seen rose within me. A gentle pressure. The desire to speak. It wasn’t as strong as I’d feared, but there was no mistaking it. I just hoped it would let me choose what I said.
My hands shook, despite the fact that I’d practiced.
Up until this moment, I hadn’t actively betrayed Death, but that was about to change.
Tucking my arms behind my back, I met the Devil’s gaze.
“Death meets with Talia in her rooms, but no one else. They spend their time together assigning soul cases and discussing castle business.” The words flowed easily, exactly as I’d rehearsed.
“Death never uses her powers in private, only when she’s in the presence of others, usually a large group.
I don’t think anyone notices, except Talia, but she doesn’t seem to find it odd. ”
The Devil’s jaw worked, but his expression remained impassive.
“Death spends a good portion of her days in her work room. No one else is allowed in. I don’t know what she does in there.
I’ve only caught glimpses of the inside when she opens the door.
It looks like an apothecary shop. My duties are still confined to her quarters; she doesn’t trust me.
I think—” I licked my lips. “I think she suspects there’s something different about me, though I don’t believe she’s figured out what.
Yet.” My voice trembled, despite my best efforts.
“If she had,” the Devil said, “you’d know.” He sounded so certain. I envied him. “Is that all?”
“No. A trainee has gone missing. They were seen returning to their rooms last night but were gone this morning. They’re the second one to go missing since I arrived.
Death thinks you’re stealing people.” The compulsion to speak lifted, but I barely noticed.
I was too focused on his face, not wanting to miss his reaction.
He didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “Of course she does. She blames me for everything.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
I tried to reject his answer, but my mind wouldn’t release it. Grinding my teeth together, I remembered I’d vowed to keep an open mind. So I took a different tack. “If you didn’t take them, who did?”
“What would I do with a Judge trainee?” The offense in his tone surprised me.
“Something to increase your power. That’s all you care about, isn’t it?”
“No, Maeve. I don’t give a shit about that. I get plenty from the work I do. I don’t need to go searching for more.”
I hated that he made sense. I’d felt his power increase with every soul he transferred to his Dungeons. “You could have taken them to get back at Death.”
“For what? I’m more powerful than she is.”
My conviction that he was responsible faltered. Even though I knew I couldn’t trust anything he said, his answers sounded so reasonable. “Then where did they go?”
“I don’t know.” His jaw worked for a moment as he stared at the floor, thinking.
I frowned, unsure what disturbed me more, the fact that there was an unknown threat stealing Judge trainees from their beds, or that our deal gave him a chance to manipulate me so skillfully.
Having an answer for everything didn’t prove he hadn’t taken them, but I didn’t think he did, and that was terrifying.
“I’ll look into it,” he said after a moment. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, it’s your turn.”
All the awful things I’d imagined over the last four days about what we’d be doing spun through my mind. I bit the inside of my cheek to stay in the present.
“We need to figure out what sets you off.” He walked in a slow circle around me, his hands behind his back, as if assessing me from all sides.
The back of my neck prickled when he disappeared from view, and I had to plant my feet to keep from turning to face him. “So, we just talk about it?”
“To start with.”
“And then what?”
“And then I will help you face whatever is holding you back.” A moment later he appeared in my peripheral vision on my right.
“Face it how?”