AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She glanced from body to body—seven all told—and her voice echoed out of the folds of her hood. “Where do you wish me to begin?”
Chase shrugged, so I pointed to the nearest body. The man had been a half-breed, perhaps half-Svartan, half-Fae. Whatever the case, he’d been gloriously handsome when he was alive, but now he lay silent on the metal slab. Still beautiful, but not for long.
The Corpse Talker leaned over him. Her cowl shrouded her actions, but we knew what she was doing. As she kissed him deeply, sucking in all that remained of his soul, a faint bluish tinge rose from his body. I could hear her murmuring, coaxing the spirit to enter her body and speak through her. An ancient ritual as old as the Fae themselves, the rites of the speakers for the dead never failed to amaze me.
After a moment, she raised her head. “Ask.”
I sucked on my lip, trying to think of the best questions. If we were lucky, we’d get two or three answers from each body. If not—as few as one. Or none. I decided to start with the most obvious. “What killed you?”
A raspy breath emerged from the Corpse Talker, and then, in a voice as dry as old parchment, she said, “Squid . . . it was horrible.”
Delilah shuddered. “She’s right. They’re terrifying.”
I motioned for her to be quiet. “Let me finish before the soul disappears for good.” I turned back to the Corpse Talker. “Where are your wounds? We can’t find them. How did you die?”
Again, a shudder, then the whistling voice. “Sucked dry—”
Before the soul could finish, the Corpse Talker shuddered, and we lost the connection. I motioned for her to move to the next body. We didn’t have long from first contact. Once the souls were free from the bodies, they began the journey to their ancestors. Then the game was up, and we wouldn’t have a chance to summon them again until the festival of Samhain. Unless, that is, the soul rested uneasy and journeyed to the Netherworld instead of the Land of the Silver Falls.
The Corpse Talker kissed the second body. I glanced over at Chase. From what Camille had told me, the first time he encountered one of the speakers for the dead, he’d almost fainted. This time, he seemed to be keeping it together.
As the transfer of soul essence took place, I became aware that Camille was faintly singing. She was barely mouthing the words, but I could catch the tune. It was a rhyme we’d chanted as children for protection.
Lips to lips, mouth to mouth,
Comes the speaker of the shrouds.
Suck in the spirit, speak the words,
Let secrets of the dead be heard.
The second victim was as unhelpful as the first. The only question he was able to answer was “How did you die?”
“Don’t know . . . was there, then . . . eating at me . . .”
I frowned and glanced over at the others, who looked as puzzled as I did. The soul vanished before I could ask what it meant. The Corpse Talker moved to the third victim, who was gone, and the fourth, who also had joined her ancestors. The fifth, however, gave us a little more to go on.
“What killed you?” I asked after the ritual kiss.
In the same rustling voice all spirits used, the Corpse Talker said, “Demon. A demon. I could smell it. I was so afraid . . .”
I stared at the body. This man had realized it had been a demon. “How did you die?”
“Something entered my mind and ate away at me until it broke through the silver cord that tethered me to my body.”
Delilah had mentioned feeling like there was something crawling around in her brain. Could it have been looking for her cord?
Curious as to how the man had recognized it as a demon, I asked, “What were you when you were alive? What did you do?”
“I worked in Y’Vaiylestar as a seer for the Court and Crown. They sent me over Earthside to do research . . .” His voice began to fade. “Mother—” was the last word he said, and then he vanished, and I knew that he’d gone to his ancestors. Grateful his mother had come for him, I rested my hand lightly on his.
After a moment we led the Corpse Talker to the two victims Chase had called us about, but they, too, had vanished to the Land of the Silver Falls. The Corpse Talker stood silent, then turned to Sharah, who nodded.
“Come with me,” she said. “I’ll take you to a place where you can wait until I . . . procure your payment.”
As they headed out the door, Chase shuddered. “All of their hearts?”
Camille shook her head. “Only of those whose souls she actually touched. It’s the rite. Communion with the dead through the consumption of the heart.”
