Page 123 of In Between Death and the Devil

“Thanks.” I gave them a tight smile, trying to rein in my anger and anxiety. Why was he making me chase him all over the damn castle? Were things not as good between us as I thought? And how did he know I was coming? There was nothing unusual coming from his end of our bond.

The thought pulled me up short. Our bond. Could he tell where I was from our Death Chord? I’d never used it that way before, but maybe I could.

Exiting the kitchen, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, focusing on my connection to Fen. I imagined it as a golden string stretching between the two of us. In my mind’s eye it extended off to my right, so I headed in that direction.

It was like trying to chase a slippery snake. Every time I moved in one direction, Fen changed his. After a few turns, I stopped. Unless I could take him by surprise, at this rate I’d never catch him. Switching tactics, I focused back on our bond, on him at the other end. Fixing him in my mind, I created a portal of light and stepped through it into the atrium.

I spotted him right away, jogging up one of the central staircases.

“Fen.”

He stopped mid-stride. I could tell from how long it took him to turn around that he debated brushing me off.

“Why are you avoiding me? I need to talk to you.” I stood at the base of the stairs.

A group of Tempters looked at me funny as they walked by, but I ignored them. If shaming Fen into a conversation was what it took, so be it.

He turned around and raised one eyebrow. “I’m not avoiding you. I’m a busy man.” His air of I’m so reasonable, and you are not raised my hackles, but I refused to let him bait me.

“This is important.”

Glancing at the Tempters milling around us, he descended the steps to join me. “Maybe we should go somewhere private.”

“So you can seduce me into forgetting about this? No. We can talk here.” I crossed my arms.

“You’ve been an active participant in any and all seductions recently.” He smirked.

“Precisely.” Leaning in, I lowered my voice. “I still can’t pull enough power to defeat Death. I need you to help me figure out what’s going on.”

A mixture of anger and something I couldn’t read flickered across Fen’s face for a moment before his expression settled into a frown. “I told you, you’re overestimating how much you need.”

“You can’t know that.” The words came out louder than I intended. I lowered my voice again. “If I only have a finite amount I can use, my window for defeating Death is small. She can easily outlast me.”

“Then you’ll defeat her quickly.” He put his hand on my arm. “You should have more faith in yourself. I know you can do this.”

I glared at him. “Why do you refuse to see this as a problem? You know the stakes. I have to deliver, and I don’t know that I can.”

“You—”

Screams sounded from the Dungeon, and a moment later a small stampede of people rushed from the entrance down the hall towards us. A blur of black was followed by three separate shrieks that abruptly cut off.

My eyes widened in horror when I realized what I was seeing. Standing amidst the panicked crowd were Wraiths feeding on Tempters. Three of them.

CHAPTER 32

Light appeared at my fingertips, and Fen’s shadows were already snaking towards the Wraiths.

“What are Wraiths doing outside the Dungeon?” Titus asked as he ran up to us. “The altar is how they get to the World of the Living.”

Marcus joined us a second later, and I saw Bea and Daphne appear behind the commotion at the Dungeon’s entrance with a bunch of Judge trainees.

Fen’s shadows reached the Wraiths just as they dropped the Tempters they were holding, having drained them. Two of them blurred and disappeared, but he caught the third. Black ribbons wrapped around it, pinning its arms to its sides. It gave a high-pitched shriek and the shadows around it dissolved, like they’d been sucked into the Wraith’s body.

My eyes went wide and Fen jerked back.

It raced towards us. My hands flew up out of instinct, and a bolt of light shot towards them. They stopped and ducked to the side, cringing away from the fiery arrow which hit the wall inches from a white-faced Tempter.

I needed to get a grip. No more throwing light around unless I had a clear shot.