AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And then she vanished. I turned back to the ocean, folding my arms across my chest. So this was the Netherworld. I’d been here before, but never so far in, and I knew that I had to leave this place soon. The living did not fare well here, whether in spirit or body. As I stared out over the sheen, the wind sprang up and buffeted around me, bringing with it the scent of decay, and old arguments, and long-forgotten furies. I blocked them, putting up a shield to keep them from infecting my mood.
Gulakah had long been banished from the Netherworld, and this ocean had been churning all that time. Perhaps this was why there seemed to be so much ghostly activity over Earthside. How long had the balance been disrupted? For centuries, at least. And how many spirits had been trapped, unable to move on, because they’d been caught up by the primal force of anger that kept them bound to the world of the living?
Too many. The words sprang to my thoughts. Too many, and they would only increase until we stopped the Lord of Ghosts. But could we truly kill him? And were we supposed to? Killing a demon general was one thing. But killing a god…that just seemed wrong.
She didn’t say Gulakah’s death…but his defeat.
True, I argued with myself, but what did defeat mean? If we sent him back to the Netherworld, would they just evict him again? If we sent him back to the Subterranean Realms, Shadow Wing would just use him again. If we killed him…then what?
More confused than ever, I decided it was time to leave this place. I sucked in a deep breath, blinked, and opened my eyes.
The bubbles had dissipated, and the water was cooling. I waited for the water to drain out, then turned on the shower and quickly rinsed off the residue soap. As I toweled off and padded back into my room to dress, the thought crossed my mind that we might have met our match in Gulakah.
And then the unwelcome thought intruded that if Gulakah was this strong and he was working for Shadow Wing, just how the hell strong was the Demon Lord himself? And with that cheerful question playing and replaying in my head, I slipped into a calf-length gauze skirt, fastened a plum-colored bustier over the top, and headed downstairs to eat a late lunch and talk to the others.>Morio took hold of me and held me tight. “It’s okay, Camille. It’s okay.”
I shook him off. “I can’t have landed in the mind of a god. That means that…the ooze…the water and the creature…”
“Must be parts of him. I’m not sure about this, but Camille—” Shade held his hand up as I started to protest some more. “Calm down. You may just have netted us some very valuable information. If you did manage to mind-touch Gulakah, we can learn from what you experienced.”
Pressing my lips together, I leaned against Smoky, wanting to forget the whole thing. I wasn’t sure why the idea bothered me so much. Maybe it was that Gulakah reminded me of Hyto, only worse. Gulakah wanted to be feared and revered. He was terrifying, and his energy was warped and twisted, a lot like Hyto. The gods weren’t all that more powerful than some of the ancient dragons.
But Shade was right. If I could remember anything that might give us a clue on how to fight the Lord of Ghosts, it would help us. I strained to recall anything I hadn’t already told them, but nothing cropped up.
“I’m sorry…I told you everything I remember.”
Shade let out a sigh. “If there is any way…if we could only go into your mind and see what you saw…”
I shuddered. I’d already had someone root around in my head, and I wanted no part of that.
“Maybe you’ll remember more later,” Morio said, changing the subject.
I tossed a glance at Smoky. He pressed his lips together, saying nothing.
“I’ll do my best.” I leaned back, closing my eyes. So much had gone on today that all I wanted was a chance to go home, take a long bath, relax, and prepare for the evening ahead. Training under Aeval was difficult at best, and I needed to recharge and calm down before I headed out to Talamh Lonrach Oll.
We arrived home. I asked Delilah to phone Chase and tell him what we’d found out. She nodded, and I headed upstairs, nixing any company. I wanted to be alone, to relax. Smoky and Morio went out to work on Iris’s house, while Trillian took over in the kitchen, helping Iris and Hanna fix lunch.
As I filled the bathtub with water and poured in caramel-apple-scented bath gel, the bubbles frothed up. While the tub filled, I went into the bedroom and stepped out of my skirt, unfastened my corset, and shimmied out of my panties.
Misty was wandering around, and she looked up at me with her plume of a tail waving, then padded behind me as I returned to the bath. I sat down on the edge of the tub and petted her, my hand gliding over the silky energy that surrounded her spirit. It wasn’t the same as petting a living cat, but it felt softer, and—in some ways—her purr seemed louder, the song reverberating through my aura rather than in through my ears.
“Today freaked me out,” I told her.
She purred, leaning into my hand.
“And now I have to go out to Talamh Lonrach Oll and face another challenge. I’m tired.”
Gazing up at me with those beautiful green eyes, she let out a purp.
“Life is getting more complicated,” I continued as she jumped up on the edge of the tub beside me. I stroked her under the chin. “It’s been eighteen months since Jocko died and we first found out about the demons and Shadow Wing. Now the war is getting worse. And Menolly and Delilah and I all have our separate paths to which we also have to devote time and energy. The world is getting bigger, Misty. There’s more to do. And less time in which to do it. I miss the old days. I miss not being afraid of who’s just around the corner, waiting to destroy the world. But I guess…there’s no going back, is there?”
Misty cocked her head, then rubbed against me again and jumped back onto the floor. The tub was full, so I turned off the water, as—with one last tap on my leg for another head scratch—Misty vanished, disappearing through the door.
It had seemed odd at first, seeing her walk through the walls, but now I was used to it. Lighting several candles, I dimmed the light and dipped one toe in the tub, taking a deep breath as the heat registered through my foot. It was almost too hot, but not quite, and I sank gratefully into the mass of bubbles, leaned back, and closed my eyes.
As the warmth of the water raced through me, loosening my muscles and helping me relax, I tried to let go of my worries and just drift in the comfort and safety of being home.
Images floated through my mind—Smoky’s stern but loving embrace, Trillian’s cunning smile, Morio’s passion when the magic caught both of us up in its grasp…Then I flashed on Delilah and how far she’d come over the time we’d been Earthside. Menolly, too…
