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Raika paled.
I didn’t like what Tanner was saying. Was he joking or something? “What are you talking about?”
Tanner watched Raika and me for four tense seconds. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
The elevator stopped, a sound dinged, and the doors opened.
Tanner’s nonsense was forgotten the moment we stepped out of the elevator and entered a dark room, like everything else in this palace, but this one wasn’t a room per se. After fifty yards, the ceiling and the floor ended in a cliff, revealing an infinite landscape of dark mountains cut by streams of red lava and constant lightning.
One lightning zipped down a few feet from the edge of the room, shaking the floor. A second later, thunder echoed through the room, piercing my ears.
I let go of Raika’s hand and walked toward the cliff. “What is this place?”
“Impressive, right?” Tanner asked, his tone amused. He was enjoying this. “That is the entrance to the soul vault. Well, that’s what I call it. Beyond this, there are gates, leading to where all the deceased are, and it’s divided in groups—the evil ones, the bland ones, the good ones, etc. It goes on forever. Anyway, here—” He gestured to his feet, and only then I noticed there were markings on the dark floor. “—is where the magic happens.”
Raika stepped back and took a good look at the markings. “It’s like a witch’s circle.”
I spun, taking in the slightly raised marble pieces forming a wide circle right at the edge of the cliff. Four equidistant points around the circle had waist-high marble pillars.
Tanner walked to the nearest one. “Something like that. Though we don’t need a witch for this.” He placed a hand on top of the black pillar. His palm shone green, and when he pulled his hand away, dark green flames flickered atop the pillar. He walked to the next one. “Just me.”
“If you don’t want to end up in the soul vault, you better get out of there before he lights them all,” Jasmin said to me.
I stepped out of the circle and stood beside Raika. “What happens now?”
“Now, I finish these.” Tanner lit the third pillar. “And then we summon your father. But there are some rules.” He stood in front of the fourth pillar. “Don’t walk in the circle, or like my sister said, you’ll end up stuck with him. He won’t be able to leave the circle, so don’t try to take him out. Even if you could take him out of there, he’ll still be dead.” Green flames topped the fourth pillar.
I frowned. I hadn’t even thought about trying to take my father out of the underworld. “What else?”
Hands behind his back, Tanner strolled back to stand beside us. “He can’t stay here forever. You’ll have fifteen minutes, then he’ll leave and go back to the vault. So, whatever you have to ask, do it fast. Understood?”
I nodded and inhaled deeply. This was it. I was seeing my father again after he was killed right in front of me over a year ago. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.
Tanner spun his hands around each other.
A dark swirl rose from the floor like a small tornado of shadows. It grew taller, a little taller than me. The shadows faded away as if blown by a gust of wind.
And there he stood.
My father.
My stomach knotted.
“We’ll give you some privacy,” Tanner whispered. “After he disappears, take the elevator to the top floor. We’ll be waiting for you.”
He retreated, but I didn’t spare him one ounce of my attention.
My father looked around, confused. “What is this?” His rough voice was the same. His eyes settled on me and they widened in surprise. “Shane? What is going on?”
“Dad,” I whispered, a sudden lump in my throat. This man hadn’t been the perfect man, he hadn’t been the best alpha, but he was still my father. “Do you know where you are?”
He shook his head. “I … I know I’m dead. I was in the underworld.”
“You’re still in the underworld.”
“Then, you’re dead?” A growl accompanied his words as if the idea of me dying upset him. “No, no. Only your mother is here. You, Tyren, and Minsi are fine. You can’t die.”
“I’m not dead.”
