AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My stomach lurches, and my hands tremble as I approach the lifeless body. Dread washes over me like I’ve jumped into a frozen lake. I’ve had to do a lot of terrible things in my life, but handling a dead person is not among those things. This man might have been a creep, but I didn’t want his blood on my hands.
This place is even more dangerous than I thought.
My vision gets blurry, so I close my eyes and try to think about what I need to do, like I’m going to approach this like any other cleaning job. I take a deep breath and realize that I need to get him out of the house. He’s bleeding all over the floor, and I’m going to have to clean that up, too.
My feet are bricks as I step closer to him.Do I grab him by the shoulders?I gag. No, that’s too close to that bloody gash across his neck. I have to grab him by his feet and drag him out. It’s the only way.
The walls seem to be closing in on me, but I have no alternative. There’s no one to help me. I have to persevere until I can find a way out of this situation.
When I finally get the strength to touch his feet, I feel a shiver roll down my spine. I close my eyes again to collect myself, and I muster all the strength I have to drag him out the back door. Luckily, because of his weight, how gross this is, and my ball and chain, it’s a short distance. I drag him just out of the way of the entrance, then release him.
Turning around, I don’t look back at him. Instead, I creep back into the house to face the rest of the task: cleaning his blood off the floor. Maybe Etha will make me bury the body later. But for now, I’ll just do what I was told.
I move on unconsciously, detached from reality. I try to convince myself that I’m cleaning animal blood from a hunt, but it doesn't work. Guilt and horror roll through me. I watched the life drain from the man, and I’d just dragged his dead body out of the house. I’d made this trail of blood I’m cleaning up.
And I haven’t been here long. This is just the beginning.
When I’m done, I wash myself at the kitchen sink, until my skin is pink and raw, then I collapse by the fire in the kitchen, knowing that this will stay with me forever. The image of his dead body will never leave my mind, no matter what happens to me here.
I just hope my family and the princes are doing better than I am.
FOURTEEN
Zane
We’re led down flights of stairs underground. The air turns damp and chilly as we descend further, and each step feels oppressive, like we’re entering the bowels of the earth. Tree roots jut out from the ground like fingers reaching out for us, making us duck to get past them so we can continue down the stairs. The occasional candle lights the way, but a lot of the journey is in near complete darkness–a suffocating darkness that puts all of us on edge.
“Would you rather stay above ground?” Sulien asks, coming to a sudden stop.
“We understand the cost,” I tell him. “And we’re all here by choice.”
The others nod. Logic might say that it’s better to sacrifice Sulien so the rest of us can keep going, but Sulien is our friend, and Cassia is our woman. I would never let a friend take a blow for me, nor would I let another man protect my woman.
“We’re all her mates,” Forrest reminds him, with only a slight possessive edge to his words. “We’re all here for her.”
Sulien nods. “I just pray I’m not leading us all to our doom.”
He and I both.
Dripping water echoes through the passage, and as we approach a landing, we see bones and skulls lining the walls on both our sides. It’s as if body after body had been placed to make up the walls, and the sight is more than a little unsettling. This is not how the dead were meant to rest, but then, nothing in the House of Death makes sense to me.
As we continue on, there are some places where the candles barely made a dent in the darkness, and we have to touch the skull-lined walls to find our way on the narrowing path. Wherever we’re going, I hope it’s not a trick by Lady Grave. I wouldn’t put it past her. But if she pulls such a thing, she’ll experience the rarely seen fury of a Winter Fae.
When we emerge, our relief is short-lived, for we’ve entered a beautifully haunting room full of catacombs. The catacombs are ornate, with crystals and jewels signifying that they belong to royal fae. I gaze up, and the glass ceiling overhead feels like it’s hundreds of feet above us. The moon shines through, and I wonder where we are beneath the House of Death.
None of us says a word. Cobar wanders off a bit and explores the room, taking a closer look at a column of skulls with green jewels in the eyes. Some jewels catch the moonlight and send reflections throughout the room. It’s an oddly beautiful sight. But it’s also terrifying. The rest of us continue walking, and Cobar follows not too far behind.
We finally enter a throne room. Silver lights shine out of the maze of tree roots behind the throne, where a breathtaking lovely older fae woman sits.It’s the Keeper of Death.Her skin is an unsettling shade of gray, as if she’s been touched by death himself. She has long, pitch black hair that cascades down her back. It’s thick and shines in the light in a way that’s almost normal, but then, her eyes are all white without any pupils. They’re unnerving, like she has no sight and no soul, and her dark green dress looks like it’s made from rotted flesh.
Fuck. Is it too late to get the hell out of here?
“What brings four fae princes down here to my dark realm? Could it be your missing bride?” She asks, with a smile. Her blood-colored lips part and reveal black, rotted teeth.
“Yes, my lady,” Sulien answers her, with peak politeness. “We need a favor from you. We need your help to find her.” He bows, putting his rank to the side. He’s practically begging.
The Keeper of Death tilts her head to the left so far that she’s looking at us sideways and taps her fingers on the arm of her throne. Cobar flinches. I maintain my composure, but it’s tough.
“You must be desperate. Completely out of sorts. No one comes to me for a favor unless they have no other choice.” She’s smiling again.
