“Why? Tell me why.”
“Because you’re already dead, Rina.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“You’re lying.”
“I swear on my kingdom, I would never lie to you.”
The calmness, the pity only agitates the turmoil gurgling up my esophagus.
“You have to be, because I would know—”
“Not all who are do.”
His levelheaded tone is a stick stabbing at the hornet’s nest buzzing between my ears.
“My boys would have said. They would have told me.”
“They couldn’t.” He reaches as if to touch me but stops himself — part of me is glad. “New souls who don’t know they’re dead are volatile. Their emotions are no longer being regulated. A soul could turn into an Echo, a parasite, like your aunt if they lose control.”
This is all too much.
It doesn’t make any sense.
How can I be dead? When did I die? I would know.
“Show me.”
I’m not entirely sure how he’s supposed to do that, but I’m more surprised when he inclines his head and stands. With the same carefulness, he pulls himself free of my heat. The loss feels astronomical, but I push it aside as I’m set on my feet and watch vines slither into place to cover him.
“Did you not ask how it is that now, after all these years, you were finally able to return to Chthonia?” he asks gently as he leads me through the trees in the direction of an armoire built inside a sprawling oak.
“I thought it was time,” I mumble stupidly, realizing that probably should have been one of the questions I asked. “I thought the alignment was right or the rules changed.”
He draws open the ornate doors carved with plaited notches that resemble a leaf. Inside are rows upon rows of the most beautiful dresses. More than I could possibly wear in a single lifetime. More than should be possible to fit in such a confined space. They hang from rods that clink softly when he pulls one free and offers it to me.
It’s a yard of liquid silver draped over his arm. The fabric gleams in the navy hue, a cluster of finely woven strands that — once worn — spills over every curve to perfection. It sweeps in an elegant wave to the floor with a short train that gives the simplicity a touch of drama.
I am immediately in love with it. With the thin threads of silver pulled through the gossamer material. The sheer sleeves that bellow from the elbows and dance with the slightest motion. Even the dramatic plunge of the neckline framing the full curves of my breasts suits the outfit.
“It’s beautiful!” I gasp.
I lift my face when he doesn’t respond, and I’m kicked in the gut by the raw anguish twisting his features.
“After the first hundred years, they no longer smelled of you. I nearly threw them into the fire.”
My feet go to him before I can remember I’m leaving. His arms are already open, already scooping me up against his chest. His face falls into the skin between my neck and shoulder and he inhales deep.
“Please don’t leave me again,” he begs. “I will have no reason to keep going this time.”
“I don’t want to leave, but I have to see my parents. I have to explain...” I draw back enough to capture his face between my hands. “Imagine if I just vanished. No word. You had no idea what happened to me. What would you have done?”
A faint, crimson hue glows behind his eyes. Reflecting the simmering fury coiling out of his roots.
“I would burn Chthonia to the ground and take the earth apart from its very core.”
I feel myself grinning. “My parents don’t have that power. So, they will worry. My dad can’t be made to stress. He has a bad heart.”
