side of Astoria, where the soldiers were resting and drinking blood from brass flasks.
“If you behave, I’ll make sure you never go hungry,” Veliko told Rudolph, staring at the soldiers. “See? Like them.”
Rudolph followed Veliko’s gaze from his sitting position. He sneered at Veliko.
“Lie down,” Veliko ordered him. Rudolph obeyed, lying down on his side. “Get up.” In an instant, Rudolph was back on his feet. “Sit.” The ghoul sat. Veliko grinned. “Who’s your master?”
“He is,” I whispered, looking at him.
Rudolph hissed and nudged Veliko’s hand with his crooked nose. It pleased the Darkling, and he produced a piece of dried and cured meat from his pocket and gave it to Rudolph. The ghoul practically inhaled it, eager to get more. “Jeez… I’ve seen Hazel do the same with Lucifer back in The Shade,” I grumbled. “He’s literally turning you into a pet.”
Rudolph looked at me, and I offered a deep sigh in return, feeling genuinely sorry for the poor creature. Not that long ago, he’d come to help Seeley. And here I was, the dead girl, trying to help him instead.
“As soon as he leaves you with one of the black guards, I’ll need you to prepare yourself,” I said. “When the time comes, you’ll be in charge of swiping a scythe and handing it over to me.”
I felt the need to repeat these things to him sometimes, just to keep him focused and away from the darkest pits of his animalistic nature. The ghoul nodded slowly. Veliko noticed, frowning as he followed Rudolph’s gaze. Since he couldn’t see me, there was no reason for me to worry.
It had already become common knowledge that I was around but harmless.
But Veliko took out his scythe, his lips moving as he whispered a spell, persistently staring in my direction. That worst-case scenario Seeley had mentioned with regards to my visibility was finally coming true.
“Oh, crap,” I mumbled, while Rudolph froze, his black eyes wide. He looked at Veliko, then at me, and back at the Darkling again.
Veliko slashed at the air with his scythe, its blade glimmering white as it missed me by mere inches. He’d just tried to cast magic in my direction, probably to reveal me.
“Oh, crap, crap, crap!” I yelped and jumped back. Maybe that worst-case scenario wasn’t going to happen, just yet!
“What are you doing?” a black guard asked from nearby.
Veliko stilled, looking at him over his shoulder. “Nothing. I just thought I heard something. Figured a reveal spell might clear the air.”
He didn’t hear anything! He just thought Rudolph was looking at… something. Something dead. Me. That had been a close call, I realized. Whatever spell he’d used, it clearly had needed to hit its intended target. Given that I was invisible, however, and that I’d moved quickly out of its way, the spell had failed to touch me. Come to think of it, maybe Veliko wasn’t all that good at spell casting in general. Maybe that was why he’d been struggling to advance into the upper ranks of the Darklings. It could certainly explain his whole garbage attitude.
It didn’t mean I could relax in his presence, though. Veliko was the persistent type.
“Maybe I should keep a safe distance from you while this maniac is around,” I whispered to Rudolph. “And you shouldn’t look my way so often. If Veliko keeps noticing this behavior, it won’t take him long to try this revelation spell again and nab me. They already know I’m loose, but if you, a ghoul, don’t eat me… it’ll stink.”
Rudolph exhaled sharply and looked to Veliko for his next command, playing along as we’d planned from the moment I’d found him in that blasted cell.
“You!” Veliko called out to the black guard. “Get over here.”
The soldier got up from beneath the shade of an old tree that had grown through the foundations of an ancient house and walked over. “Yes, milord?”
“Take him and finish the round,” Veliko ordered, handing him the rune chain. “I need to talk to Scholar Shatal about something.”
What were the odds that Veliko would address the issue of me being a literal free spirit, after what had just happened? He had to have guessed I was around, otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to… I don’t know, hurt me with that death spell. Veliko didn’t strike me as the kind who would be kind to souls—especially a subversive like me.
“Yes, milord,” the soldier replied.
“And once you’re done, bring him back to me. I want to see how good he is