A Shade of Vampire 79 A Game of Death - Bella Forrest Page 0,6

have been around to notice the ghouls getting all anxious.

I went back over the events that had led to my death. The fault was mostly mine. I should’ve paid more attention, especially since I knew very well that ghouls could kill the living and the spirits alike. I thought about Lumi, about what the news of my demise would do to her… to Kailani… to the other girls. I knew my Hermessi-apocalypse crew would be devastated. We’d been through so much together, only for me to end up dead in the dungeons of a palace far away from home.

But I couldn’t dwell on my misery for too long. There were too many questions left unanswered, especially where Zoltan Shatal and his black guards were concerned. How had they gotten their hands on Reaper scythes and death magic? How’d they come across the ghouls to begin with? Their taming didn’t seem so far-fetched, since the white witches and the warlocks had already broken that ground, back in the Supernatural Dimension.

Who else knew about these dungeons? That question, in particular, bothered me. Did the Lord and Lady Supreme of Visio sanction all of this? If so, it could easily put Derek and Sofia’s crew in danger, especially since I knew they wouldn’t rest until they brought my killer to justice.

I searched for enough energy to pull myself back to my feet, almost ready to go back up and check on my friends, when the cell door finally opened and the black guards came out.

“Don’t even think of trying to escape,” one of them shouted back at Seeley. “You don’t have your scythe anymore, and we’ve got replacements coming in soon.”

“I’ll see you again, though,” Seeley replied. “If not later while I’m still chained, definitely when I’m free to tear your spines out.”

The guards were tempted to respond, but the looks they exchanged reeked of fear. They both knew that Seeley wasn’t making a threat, but rather a promise. All it took was for him to be free again, and I doubted he’d care much for the laws of Death where these two and Zoltan Shatal were concerned.

“Lock the door,” the second guard muttered to the first.

They went back up the corridor, their massive silhouettes black against the diffuse amber light coming from a distant room. Their armor jingled. Their boots thudded and splashed in the occasional puddle. In some parts of this underground maze, water poured down the walls, gathering on the stone floor.

Now that they were gone, I had very little time alone with Seeley—at least until others came in. Clearly, Zoltan didn’t feel comfortable enough to leave him on his own for too long. Maybe he’d realized what sort of badass he was dealing with.

Taking a deep breath, I walked through the door, almost feeling the cold stone seeping through my spirit, making me shiver. Slowly advancing through the narrow but short corridor, I analyzed the circular room carefully.

There was no trace of the murdered Rimians in here, except for the dried blood on the floor. The ghouls rested against the left wall, curled up in fetal positions, sniffing and huffing and puffing, their big eyes closed and their long limbs twitching. They were fast asleep, and I wondered whether all ghouls slept, or just these four. Maybe there was something about their condition and imprisonment that required them to catch some Zs. Then again, after that Rimian feast, seeing them like this didn’t really surprise me. I figured they had a limited digestive system of sorts, too.

Seeley was chained to the right wall, his arms up, his wrists cuffed and fixed against the dark stone. A strange pentagram had been drawn under him. I recognized some of the symbols, as well as the engravings on the iron collar around his neck. He’d been trapped here with death magic, and once more I found myself wondering—how the hell had Zoltan come across this stuff?!

“Seeley?” I whispered, having reached the circular room.

He lifted his head. His galaxy eyes found mine, and for the briefest of moments, time seemed to stand still. I had not seen him in a long time, but he certainly hadn’t changed a bit. He was definitely attached to his black-suit-and-white-shirt style, though the red tie had come loose—probably when he’d been tackled by Zoltan’s magic.

The shadow of a smile fluttered across his face. “Nethissis,” he murmured. A few moments passed, as I realized I was buck-naked. I had died as I had been born, and Seeley could