I liked to dream about what it might have been if it was made from desire instead. The gift of flight always sounded nice, but it was mainly because I dreamed of flying straight through the thick fog and as far away from Moriann as I could possibly get.
Hell, even invisibility would have been more useful than what I actually got. My Token was transparency. All I could do was turn myself gray and make my body intangible, and even then I couldn’t control it.
But I guess it didn’t matter. Ididbecome Dahes’ slave and my Token manifested because of it, because I needed him not to touch me.
The ghost smiled again before turning around and floating down the hall.
Despite the multitude of them that filled the palace, not everyone that died remained a ghost. The only thing that was the same foreveryone was that you had to pass through Dahes. It didn’t matter if you were from Moriann or Viven—once you died, your soul went to him. I just had no idea what happened after that.
I couldn’t comprehend the logistics of how some souls moved on and some couldn’t, and it wasn’t like I could ask Dahes. One time I had questioned him about death and what happened in the After. His only answer was a grin as he got into my personal space and taunted me to kill myself and find out.
The first time I saw a ghost, it was terrifying. They weren’t common on the streets of Moriann, but everyone knew Dahes’ castle was filled with them.
Aside from the one who just gave me the paper, they all gave me the creeps.
As soon as she rounded the corner, I moved from the door, not wanting to see any more float past my room. The stone slammed shut behind me the moment I cleared the threshold, sealing me inside.
Finally looking down at what she gave me, my reality started to seep in. It was a map of Viven and all four Provinces that made up the kingdom.
I could see the Black Sands sprawled out, cutting the kingdoms in half before they met with the Valdern Forest on Viven’s side and the Senith Cliffs on Moriann’s.
I couldn’t believe I was actually going into Viven. I would finally see the kingdom my kind originated from, and for however long I was there, Dahes wouldn’t be inside my head.
I walked over to the chair, trying not to smile as I studied the map.
This was the first hunt I was actually excited to go on.
The cutacross my neck burned, but it was nothing compared to the pain clawing up my throat. My voice was raw, scathing ulcers were running down my esophagus every time my sobs pierced the chilled air.I couldn’t stop screaming as the hole over my heart grew, as it felt like I was the one drowning.
The bread had been ripped out of my pocket. The guy who attacked me was long gone as I sank onto the bank of the river, shrieking as I watched two blue eyes disappearing within the translucent current.
It all happened so fast…
The moment the knife sliced the first layer of skin over my neck, Masin attacked, jumping onto the back of the guy holding me down. But he was too strong and Masin was too starved, too weak. I hadn’t even registered the pain across my throat before he was pushed into the river and the bread was ripped out of my pocket.
MASIN. MASIN. NO! HELP. SOMEBODY?—
I kept screaming, kept sobbing, but only ringing registered through my ears.
I was two seconds away from jumping into the river after him. I didn’t want to be anywhere in this world he wasn’t. He was the only person I ever cared about, the only person I ever loved. He couldn’t be gone…
A shadow stepped into my view, blocking the iridescent water.
I tilted my head up through the fog, but all I saw was a blur of white. Tears had consumed my vision, casting everything in a haze.
“I can bring him back,” the deep voice crooned.
I blinked then, the tears falling down my cheeks enough to let me glimpse horns and a silhouette of a man.
“Please,” I sobbed, my voice still raw. “I’ll do anything.”
More tears fell, enough for me to make out glimpses of an alabaster smirk, like skin dipped in white paint.
“I will bring his soul back, if you give me yours.”
“You want my soul?” I sank back onto my knees. I stopped screaming now as his words registered. I’d do it. I’d do anything to save Masin.
“Yes,” the voice crooned. “Your soul will be mine to control.”
