Just when I thought I could rest for even a second, the snarls began again. My head snapped around, and I saw more of those…things. They were filling in the tree line one by one. Some looked like Shae,almosthuman still, but others… They were no more than walking skeletons.
“What are they?” Azrael’s entire body shook with fear.
Why do they look familiar?I asked myself, narrowing my eyes.I’ve seen them before. Not in person, but in drawings. In a textbook Harley had given to me.
Necroviants… Soul Eaters…
But necroviants only existed in one place…
Oh, gods…
This wasn’t Andonia.
This was a place made of death and ruin, filled with the worst kinds of creatures—ones that wouldn’t hesitate for a second to kill either of us.
The Netherworld.
Chapter 11
MORRIGAN
Harley snatched the pencil from my fingers, puffing air out of his nose in annoyance.
“If I had known you planned toeatmy pencils, I never would have lent them to you.”
Slightly embarrassed, I perked up in my chair and straightened my spine. “Sorry,” I breathed out. “I just… I’m confused about something.”
Harley tossed the pencil onto his desk before turning around to face me. “What is it?”
“I know it’s written that the gods created the Netherworld to confine the monsters that Rosina created during the war,”I began, leaning my elbows onto the table before me. “But what Idon’tunderstand iswhy. Why place so many unpredictable monsters in one place rather than destroy them?”
“Well, then, who would be there to torture the souls deemed unworthy to ascend to Eden in death?” Harley countered, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Who tortured thembeforethis prison existed? You mean for me to believe that evil only existed once Rosina started the war? What happened to people before any of this? Where did their souls go?”
Amusement flickered in his striking blue eyes as the hint of a smile played on his lips. But as quickly as it appeared, the humor faded into something darker. “They didn’t go anywhere, Morrigan. Any soul deemed unworthy would have been denied access to Eden. They would roam the plane between our worlds, empty and alone, until their light vanished.”
I thought long and hard before asking my next question. “And whose job was it to decide someone's worth?”
His jaw ticked before he pushed off of his desk and began walking away. “The very same people that did everything they could to try and destroy yours.”
As I stared at the creatures that stood in formation, watching for our next move, I thought of Harley’s words.
I thought of Shae, and the kind of person that she was. At the palace, she had been so gentle with me. Why would she even be in the Netherworld to begin with? How could anyone submit a woman like her to a place as horrible as this?
Maeryn.She had been there. Perhaps the poisonous seed that grew within her spread far wider than any of us could see.
Before another thought could cross my mind, I noticed as the sea of necroviants began to part. Something dark filled in the spaces between their bodies.
“What is that?” Azrael asked, looking over his shoulder.
I had to squint my eyes at first. The substance looked like mist, almost similar to the power that Kaiden could wield. For a fleeting moment, relief almost washed over me.Did he find us? Could he be here somehow?But as it grew closer, I realized just how different it was from his power. It clung to the ground, crawling across the dead terrain and burning the withered grass until only ash remained. Where Kaiden’s darkness looked like shadows and mist, this was more solid. Black smoke rose from it like poisonous steam.
“Nothing I want to stay around for,” I answered him, taking a step away from it. Behind me, the heel of my foot met an empty space, and I quickly regained my balance, glancing back and realizing I was standing at the cliff’s edge.
“It’s getting closer,” Azrael whispered, followed by the snarls in the tree line.
We were running out of choices. We could stay on this cliff and take our chances with the necroviants—or worse, with whatever this black stuff was that had the ability to burn everything it touched. Or…
