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“I don’t understand. After they are sorted by the Da’Nu, why doesn’t the council talk to them and see what’s going on?” Kaleb asked.
“It’s like I’ve said before, the Spirit Realm is not in the business of looking after what’s killing those in the Living Realm, despite how much it has increased its toll on us and the Da’Nu. The Living Realm belongs to the New Gods—it’s their jurisdiction.”
I turned, my brow lowering. “Do you mind me asking what you two are talking about?”
Kaleb and Fallon exchanged a silent conversation, one I clearly was not privy to, before he nodded. “There’s been an uptick in deaths as of late. All women of childbearing age.”
“I’ve heard about that,” I said, lacing my arms loosely over my chest. “I spoke with a healer earlier this morning and she said people think it’s a plague, but she doesn’t think that’s what it is.”
I didn’t bother to tack on that she figured it was because the Creator was mad at them for killing off the Cursed because my gut feeling told me that wasn’t it—there was something else going on.
But what?
I thought back to the conversation I’d overheard at the dinner table, between Aurelius and that man. He’d said his brother’s pregnant wife had become ill. If she was with child, that would put her in the right age group as the other women. Was she connected to this somehow, or was that purely coincidental?
“Plagues don’t cut into abdomens,” Fallon said, shaking her head. “Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of the bodies are when we get to them.”
“Why there?” I asked, my brows crinkling.
“We think they were pregnant,” Kaleb said somberly.
Chills ran down my spine.
On the verge of blowing its lid, the teapot sputtered in protest. I grabbed a cloth, slid it around the handle, and carriedthe teapot over to the small, round table, setting it on the trivet. “Are any . . . with child when you find them?” I asked, this conversation not sitting well with me. And judging by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t sitting well with them either.
“No,” Fallon answered.
A pool of unease sloshed around in my gut, making me feel sick.
“And because we have only noticed an increase in young female souls—that means the infants are alive . . . somewhere,” Kaleb sighed as he scrubbed at his jaw.
I placed a scoop of tea leaves into the teapot, put the lid back on, and let it steep. Doing something so mundane while having this conversation felt so incredibly wrong.
“Why don’t you just ask the dead themselves what happened?” I inquired.
Fallon rested one leg over the other, suspending one ticking foot in the air. “We have customs in the Spirit Realm—it’s extremely rude to ask souls what they died from at the end of their time in the Living Realm.”
“That sounds ridiculous,” I stated bluntly, unable to help myself.
“Sage,” Kaleb scolded me under his breath.
I shrugged unapologetically. “If finding out why young women are dying helps to save the lives of others, wouldn’t it be worth asking?”
“You are viewing things from a mortal’s perspective, wrongly thinking that death is the end, but as you can see . . .” She gestured to Kaleb. “It isn’t the end. The time humans spend in the Living Realm, in comparison to living out eternity in the Spirit Realm, is minuscule.”
“That doesn’t mean their time in the Living Realm isn’t important,” I replied, my tone a bit more aggressive than I intended for it to be.
Her foot quit ticking. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I did not say that.”
“Ladies, please,” Kaleb interjected, his hands held up defensively.
I ignored him, narrowing in on Fallon. “No, but you refuse to ask the dead what happened to them because it might result in lives saved? Do explain that to me.” I didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm.
“I thought you were supposed to be a goddess—” she gave me a once over, the demeaning action landing its mark, “yet you act like a foolish, little girl.”
“Fallon,” Kaleb reprimanded her softly.
My temper flared. After my fight with Aurelius today, my nerves and patience were shot. Leaning forward, I placed my hands on the table and brought my face to the same level as hers. “And you act like a heartless bitch.”
