River of Shadows (Underworld Gods #1)

“What do you mean?”

“Well let’s get my needs down first, because they’re the easiest to fulfill. When the moon is full, you must take me to the Stargaze Tower. It’s at the very south of the building, has a telescope and star maps and everything. You can’t miss it. You’ll watch through the telescope for Kuutar to appear, and she’ll make sure I have safe passage to the sea. In other words, you can finally chuck me out of a window. The water is right below.”

“Kuutar!” I exclaim softly. “Vellamo mentioned her. I thought it was a place.”

She shakes her head. “Kuutar is the Goddess of the Moon. Anyone from the sea worships her, as she controls the tides. And because we rarely get the sun here, we bask in her light when we can.”

“What if it’s cloudy?” I ask. “It’s always cloudy. Because of Death.”

“His moods make it cloudy, but there are exceptions. When he’s asleep, it clears. It’s why so much of Tuonela worships the stars and astronomy. It’s a celebration. When he’s happy it clears too, but that rarely happens. More often than not it snows or rains or is this never-ending mist. Drives you bonkers.”

“Like living in San Francisco.”

She frowns. “I guess?”

“Speaking of bonkers,” I say. “Where did you pick that word up?”

“Lovia,” she says proudly. “When I was gifted the chance to speak, not all the translations went through properly. Lovia taught me the rest. But she also spends a lot of time in the mortal world, so she’s picked up on a lot of your slang through the ages. I wouldn’t know if what I’m saying is right or not.”

“It’s all good,” I tell her. “What is your name anyway? I’m Hanna.”

I smile and hold out my fingertip, wondering if this is weird or cheesy or offensive to mermaids.

But she just laughs and grabs hold of the tip of my finger, shaking it. “I’m Bell. It’s not my real name, that name doesn’t translate. But Death named me Bell. Well, actually it was Tinkerbell, but Lovia made him change it.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. What is his obsession with Peter Pan?

“Anyway,” Bell says, “I really appreciate you doing me this favor. Once Kuutar gets me to the sea and guides me home, I’ll be reunited with Vellamo and my sisters again.”

“But you’ll be small.”

“I’m sure it will have its advantages. After all, the giant pikes are giant, no matter if you’re my size or if you’re full-grown. But the sisters will take care of me.” A serious look comes across her face. “But while that takes care of me, it doesn’t help you much, does it? You want to know how to get out of here, don’t you? Back to your homeland? The Upper World?”

I nod eagerly. “Yes. Yes, more than anything. Please.”

If I could escape from here, I could be reunited with my father, who will be cured of his cancer. I’ll have a do-over for everything. I can bring him back home with me to LA, or we could move somewhere else in Finland and I could get a new job, it doesn’t matter anymore. Wherever he will be, I will be there too. I’m never letting go of our second chance.

“Then take it from me,” she says gravely. “Because I’ve been in your shoes. Whatever Death wants, you do it and you do it with a smile on your face.” My face must immediately fall because she cocks her head. “I mean it. Be as charming and seductive and willing as possible. You want Death to want you, not just physically—I’m sure that’s a given there—but emotionally. That’s the key. That’s what I didn’t have the strength or the foresight to do, but I think you could do it. You seem strong enough.”

I slowly blink, my stomach sinking. “But you…originally you were into him, were you not?”

She laughs dryly, the sound echoing off the glass of the tank. “I was. I’m a mermaid. And he is the king. The ruler of the land. There is something…undeniably sexy about that.”

I make a face, which makes her laugh again. “I take it you haven’t seen him without his mask on,” she says.

“Mask?” I repeat, leaning in. “He’s wearing a mask? I thought he was just a skull.”

“It’s a mask,” she says. “He has many of them. He wears them outside the castle to instill respect and fear in anyone in Tuonela, but especially the City of Death. After all, he has a reputation to uphold. He wants the newly dead to fear him so that they behave. He also wants the Stragglers to fear him too, but that’s another story.”

“What are the Stragglers? I keep hearing them mentioned.”

“They’re the original dead. When Death was brought in to rule the land, and lift it out of Kaaos, the dead had the choice to either join the new afterlife in the City of Death, or stay behind. A lot stayed behind, fearing their lives in the City would be worse. Some of them may have been right. Maybe a lot of them, because Inmost is a horrific place, and most of them deserved to be in that place for all the things they’d done. So in other words, the worst of the worst opted to stay behind in Tuonela. Some say they’re plotting an uprising against Death, some say that they’re under control of Louhi.”

“Who is Louhi?”

She gives me an incredulous look.

“I’m sorry,” I explain. “I literally know nothing.”

“Louhi,” she says softly, as if she’s afraid of being overheard. “Is the Goddess of Death. Or the ex-Goddess of Death.”

“Death’s wife?”

“Ex-wife. They separated long ago. She ran off to the Star Swamps with Ilmarinen, a shaman, and built a new home there. No one has seen her in years. Even Lovia doesn’t see her and I don’t think Tuonen, her brother, does either. Some say she’s also a witch, but she’s always been part demon, and that part is the one you’ll know her by.”

Again, so many questions, but I know I have to let some go for now.

As if reading my mind, Bell licks her lips and says, “I don’t think Death realizes I’m still alive and still here, so I would appreciate it if you don’t mention me. When Raila is here, don’t talk to me. Or look at me. Or mention me. Just pretend I don’t exist. Otherwise I’m afraid he’ll take me away, or worse.” She shudders, perhaps picturing herself being eaten as fish food.

“I can do that,” I tell her. “I don’t want you taken away. So, I can’t trust Raila?”

She makes a so-so motion with her hands. “You can trust her in that she won’t hurt you and she won’t purposely go and tell anything to Death. But he is her master so under oath, she may blab. On the other hand, there are rumors that one of the Deadmaidens is part of the uprising. It might be her. Might not be. Best to just keep your mouth shut when it comes to important matters.”

I look away at the room, at my prison for the next while. Perhaps forever. It’s not awful. But you know, I’d rather not be here forever.

“What does Death want from me?” I ask after a few moments pass.

“I can’t say for sure,” Bell muses, “but I think he gets lonely.”

I give her a steady look, brow raised. “Lonely? Death gets lonely? How could he lonely, when he’s got a constant influx of people to deal with?”

“Everyone dies. Everyone goes to the City of Death. But he doesn’t live there, he lives here. He’s forever their ruler, their overlord. He can’t befriend them. He has to make do with what he has here. I think that’s what his problem is. He just has a funny way of dealing with it. Sometimes a cruel way of dealing with it.” She sighs, her attention to the window, lost to her thoughts.

Finally she looks back to me. “But in the end, if you want your freedom, you have to make him love you, and if you can’t make him do that, at least make him want you around. I know it seems counterproductive, but if you do, he’ll give you all the freedom in the world. And I know there’s some prophecy about Death falling in love again. Maybe you could play into that?”

I scoff, shaking my head. “No. First of all, I’m not that good of an actress.”

“Not even if your life depends on it?”