Page 59 of Between Ghosts and Gods

“Do you know who I am? I’m one of the Pale Lady’s personal handmaidens. If you do anything to me, you will suffer the Pale Lady’s wrath!”

“I said, shut it!” The tall ghost spun on his heel and swung his stick against her cage. The resulting clang echoed through the room like a brass gong, though many of the other captives did not stir.

The girl shrieked and scrambled to the very back of her cage, so far back Kasu could not see her any more.

The tall ghost snorted. “The Pale Lady knows the nature of this city better than anyone. If you’re stupid enough to wind up prey, it’s no one’s fault but your own.”

He was right. Kasu did not like it, but she could not deny it. This was different from what was happening to the Pale Lady’s actors. Targeted attacks were not acceptable, but random violence was fine. Ghost City was dangerous by its very nature. And if you just so happened to maim, kill or eat a ghost who was working for one of the four great demon rulers … well, that was simply the nature of the city. There would be no retribution for Kasu’s death, and she had no protection from it either.

The only person she could rely on was herself.

She glanced at Arun. Under the light of the single lantern dangling from the ceiling, she could clearly see the sweat beading his forehead. His eyelids were drooping. Whatever was in that incense was starting to affect him.

They did not have much time. Even though Kasu was doing her best not to breathe in the smoke, she could feel it affecting her too. Ghosts who had been caught earlier shifted about in their cages in a dreamy haze. Demons smacked their lips and stared out into the middle distance through gormless eyes. Kasu wondered how long they had been kept there.

Just as their captors finished opening the rest of the cocoons and caging their prisoners, a shrill voice echoed around the room.

“Welcome,” it cried, “to the latest version of the meat auction! Meat for the Masses! There will be a new auction for ghosts and demons from all walks of life. And you’re on the menu!”

Kasu shrieked as something flew past her cage. A flash of dark blue. A glimpse of pearly-white teeth.

The thing whirled around the room once before settling in front of her with a deep, mocking bow.

“L–Lord Cobalt?” She couldn’t believe it. The ruler of the eastern quarter, lord of the meat market, was here. Standing in front of her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine Kasu

At a MERE six feet tall, Lord Cobalt was the shortest of all the demon lords. His appearance reminded Kasu of the way mortal children would pretend to be ghosts by throwing a bedsheet over their heads. A deep-blue robe covered the demon all the way down to his knobbly knees. The only other visible part of him were his bare feet, which looked human enough, though they were strangely hairy.

“You’re Lord Cobalt?” Arun stirred. “You… What did you do to my mother?”

“Do I know you?” Lord Cobalt squatted in front of their cages.

Arun suddenly hurled himself against the iron bars. “At the last meat auction, you sold a lady from the heavens. What happened to her?”

Lord Cobalt held a pair of long, ribbon-like arms to his face, his fingers covering where his mouth would be if not for the sheet on top of his head. He giggled. “What do you think happens at an auction? She was sold.”

“To who?” Arun ground out between clenched teeth.

The demon seemed to stare at him, though Kasu had no idea if Lord Cobalt could see through the sheet. She didn’t know if he had eyes at all.

“My stomach is rumbling.”

Without warning, another pair of ribbon-like arms shot out from underneath Lord Cobalt’s sheet, stretched across the length of the room and grabbed the cage with the Pale Lady’s servant.

Like a magic trick, both the cage and the ghost disappeared beneath Lord Cobalt’s robe. Kasu caught a glimpse of the demon’s body – an immense mouth that opened into an inky expanse of darkness. A void filled with fangs. A chasm of teeth.

The ghost’s screams were cut short by an awful crunching sound. When Lord Cobalt was done, he sat down and gave a loud burp.

“Disgusting. You ghosts taste utterly vile.”

“If we offend your taste buds so much, then let us go.” Kasu scowled.

“Oh no, no, no! But you are to be sold at my new auction. Meat—”

“—for the Masses. You said that already.” Kasu gripped the bars of her cage. “But the protestors want access to rare meat that is only offered to the most powerful of demons. The body parts of saints and chimeras – holy meat, rare meat, the kind you can’t get from any old stall – not plain old ghosts like us.”

“You think the idiotic masses will know what the flesh of a mortal princess tastes like? Those uncultured swine wouldn’t recognize gourmet if it hit them over the head! No, no, no! If we just dress you up a little – stick a fish tail on you and call you a mermaid, perhaps – they’ll never know the difference.”