Prologue #3
“I know, darling. I already miss you, too.”
The shadow wolf disappeared in an eruption of black smoke, and Elsie’s panic rose. She wouldn’t see any of them for a long time; she just knew it. She wrapped her arms around her mother, clinging tight. Santa Muerte allowed it for a full minute, then kissed her forehead and looked to Stolas.
The demon pried Elsie off as the girl kept reaching for her mother, and for a moment, the goddess’ true form was visible even to the general.
He gasped as the ancient image of the grim reaper stood with a bone-white grin.
Santa Muerte was more than a reaper. She was the mother of all reapers.
Elsie blinked, and the skeleton was gone.
Her mother’s soft face slid into place once more.
“Be a good girl, Elspeth. Stay true to yourself and what I have taught you, no matter what you learn here. Remain pure,” Santa Muerte pleaded with her.
“Yes, Mamá,” Elsie promised through tears. Stolas set her on the ground but continued to hold on to her so she couldn’t run back to Santa Muerte.
“Promise me you will stay with the hunters until I return. Do not come looking for me. He will find you, and he will hurt you,” Santa Muerte said seriously.
“I promise.” She tasted the salt of her tears in the back of her throat as her breath came in sharp, hiccuping gasps.
“As soon as I can,” she repeated, then vanished.
“Mamá, don’t leave me!” Elsie screamed, fighting against the demon’s hold.
She tried to call her ethereal magic, but the marks on her throat heated alarmingly fast with her efforts, burning deep into her bones.
No magic came. Elsie couldn’t even feel where her mother had gone to follow after her if she chose to defy Santa Muerte’s command.
It was as though the magic had never existed.
“Elspeth,” Stolas growled, and she stilled, head held low, shoulders slumped. She knew better than to disobey when he used that tone. “Look at me, child.”
She looked up, his face swimming in her tears. Strict and frightening as he was, Stolas was her last hope. If he left her, it would be real. She’d be alone. The demon loved her in his own strange way, but he said it with actions, never words.
“This isn’t forever, we will return for you. Don’t forget what I taught you. Practice the ancient language. You must remember, it’s imperative to your future.”
She nodded, wiping tears and snot on her sleeve. “Okay, Stolas.”
“Good girl,” he praised, startling her into silence. Praise was a rare thing coming from him. He released her and took a step back. Elsie wanted to cling to him too, but he would never allow it. She’d just get scolded again.
“Goodbye,” she whispered. He bowed to her. The demon prince of a thousand hell dimensions, showing a mere child respect.
“Until we meet again.” He burst into feathers and flew away without a backward glance.
Tears flooded her vision, and Elsie’s chest heaved.
She wanted to throw herself to the ground and scream, drowning in the depths of her grief.
She wanted to be alone with her pain, but she wasn’t afforded even a single moment to compose herself.
Elsie’s little hands balled into fists as she glared at the man towering over her.
“Well, you’ve certainly lived a full life, haven’t you, Miss Elspeth?” the general questioned in a way that didn’t sound like a question. Elsie contained herself, studying the hunter as closely as he studied her. He peered at her curiously, a glint of something Elsie didn’t like in his eyes.
“I’m not supposed to tell you about it. My mother doesn’t like the hunters.” She looked at him from head to toe, curling her lip as she did. He took himself too seriously for a man who barely had any magic. “Neither do I.”
He burst out laughing, tossing the remains of his cigar to the ground and grinding it into the dirt. “No, I don’t suppose she does. But we’ve agreed to take care of you in exchange for her promise not to target us without cause for the next century. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“Because you don’t want the Shadow King to eat you,” Elsie scoffed, stuffing her grief and fear aside until she could be alone. She’d seen his type in hell dimensions before, and knew better than to show weakness to men like him.
“You’re feisty! I like that. I’ll have to be careful, I wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of a demigoddess,” the general teased, and Elsie felt her cheeks burn.
Without her ethereal magic, she wasn’t powerful enough for him to worry too much about her temper. She’d have to get stronger.
“Well, let me show you around the compound. You’ll have your own room, and a full-time tutor. There aren’t any kids your age here. The children live in the colonies, but we’ll keep you busy enough that you won’t get too lonely,” he said. “Do you prefer to be called Elspeth?”
She firmly looked him in the eye, deciding that nobody would call her that until her mother came for her. “No, just Elsie.”
“Alright, just Elsie. Welcome to your new home.”