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“Even if that’s true, that isn’t what Salainen thinks,” I tell him. “They won’t be safe around her.”
He gives his head a shake. “They’ll figure it out. They won’t be fooled. They know their father.”
“But their mother knows him just as well. She’ll play you like she’s Meryl Streep.”
He frowns at the comparison. “It didn’t work on you.”
“I doubt your kids will notice your smell has changed,” I point out. “Louhi is going to do all she can to make sure the ruse is a success, and we’re going to have to hope and pray that Salainen doesn’t hurt Tuonen or Lovia in the meantime.”
“Prayers don’t work down here,” he mutters, eyes blazing. “We need to get out of here and stop them before they reach Shadow’s End.”
He makes it sound so easy, as if Louhi and her crew didn’t just hand us our own asses.
“And how do you propose we do that? They’re long gone by now, probably at Shadow’s End already. Who is to say it won’t be on lockdown? Won’t they be controlling your army? Won’t they try and paint us as impostors the moment they see us coming? What do we have?”
He stares at me for a moment, his expression a mix of frustration and pride. “You’re thinking like a queen already.”
“I’ve been a queen for a while, if you haven’t noticed,” I say, punching him on the arm. Though I meant for it to be light, he winces, and I can’t tell if I actually hurt him or not.
“I’ve noticed,” he says, his eyes glimmering. “First, we get out of Inmost. Shouldn’t be too hard. Unless Louhi has spies everywhere, which she might, everyone here will still recognize me as the God of Death.”
“And then?”
He frowns in thought. “Then, we gather our allies before they’re tricked. We head to the Hiisi Forest and seek out Tapio and the Forest Gods. He’s the closest to us.”
“And my mother?”
The stern expression on his face softens. “That may have to wait. We’ll put out the word that you know your lineage and would like to meet, but it can’t be a priority at the moment.”
Part of me is relieved; the whole meeting-my-Teletubby-sun-birth-mother-who-is-a-Goddess thing will be put off for now. The other part of me is impatient—I want to know everything, including what kind of powers I might have. The more information I have, the better chance I have to protect myself during this next round.
Because Sala made a grave mistake by not killing me and locking me up with Death; she won’t be so careless the next time around.
“You’ll meet your mother,” he says, placing his hand on my shoulder, and it’s not lost on me that his hand is still bare, and I can feel the warmth of his large, soft palm. “I promise you that.”
I nod and then look at the heavy door locking us in. “Who knows? This might be as easy as you busting a move and breaking us out of here.”
“Busting a move?” he asks, his brow raised quizzically.
I shake my head. “It will never cease to annoy me that you only know some slang, not all slang. I mean, kick down the damn door.”
He shrugs. “As you wish.”
“Oh, but of course you’ve seenThe Princess Bride.”
“The princess what?” he asks, but there’s a knowing gleam in his eyes.
Then he turns and, with a grunt, heaves himself at the door. He collides into it with a bone-jarring thump that shakes the room and causes dirt to fall from the ceiling, but the door doesn’t move.
He grunts. “Salainen must have magicked it.” He looks back at me, wiping away dirt and dust that has fallen on his forehead.
I nod with a scowl. “She did; she’s brimming with fucking black magic. I heard multiple locks when she closed it. Can you undo them?”
Death looks back at the door. “I’ll try. Believe it or not, dark magic was always Louhi’s interest, not mine. I don’t have a lot of experience with it. I’m not even sure a God should be dealing with it at all, let alone the God of Death. Magic doesn’t always come easily to me.”
“I’m sure there are exceptions.” I refrain from reminding him that he created his Shadow Self, and that magic didn’t seem all that kosher.
He makes a low noise and then closes his eyes, his palms out toward the door. He’s mumbling something under his breath, a chant or spell of sorts, and while the room seems to grow colder, the light from the crystal waning as if the power is being sucked out of it, nothing happens.
