River of Shadows (Underworld Gods #1)

She gives me a look of annoyance but pulls herself up over the top of the boot and slides on in. I have big feet, size nine and a half, so luckily she looks pretty comfortable in it—and photogenic. If I had the artistic ability of my dad, I think I’d try and paint her in it.

With Bell in my boot in one hand and the candlestick in the other, I creep toward the door and carefully open it. I don’t know what time it is in this clockless palace, but the halls feel hushed and still. Death’s sleeping quarters are on the same floor as the entrance to Stargaze Tower, so I have to be extra quiet when going along his floor, especially since his guards are stationed outside his room, doing the night’s watch. I don’t really know why Death has so much security, since I don’t think he’s easy to kill, but maybe it just helps boost his ego.

Sometimes I think that’s why I’m here, an ego boost. Who doesn’t want a woman screaming “oh God” every night at your touch?

The entrance to the tower is on the opposite side of the floor, away from sleeping Death, and once I’m on the spiral staircase, I hurry to the top, taking the steps two at a time, careful not to trip.

I gasp. The room looks completely different than when I was here the other day. All the paintings and charts of the stars on the wall gleam and sparkle like the stars outside. There are crystals placed around the room, on shelves and desks and stands, that I hadn’t even noticed before. Now they’re all bathed in moonlight and glowing different colors. Jagged chunks of amethyst, spears of clear quartz, glowing towers of translucent teal, and wands of what look like selenite, glowing a faint silvery gold that matches the shine of the moon.

Because the moon is the real deal here. I’ve seen the moon before at night in Tuonela, quick glances out my window if I happen to wake up early, and while it’s always been gorgeous, it’s looked more or less like the moon back home.

But tonight, it’s full, so full it seems to take up all the space in the sky. Before, if you raised your hand to the heavens, your pinky fingernail might block out the moon. Tonight, I’m not even sure my fist would block it out. I can see every single crater with such clarity that it’s making me anxious and dizzy.

I’m speechless.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Bell says breathlessly, gazing up with entranced eyes. I must look the same.

“Is that…Kuutar?” I ask.

“Kuutar is in the moon,” she says. “That’s where she lives. Look through the telescope.”

I put the boot down on the table beside a glowing cluster of rainbow quartz, and go over to the biggest telescope that Bell is gesturing to. I peer through it and somewhere in the back of my mind I am just in total disbelief over what’s happening. Am I seriously going to help this little mermaid escape the wicked castle by looking through a telescope for a woman on the moon to appear? It’s amazing what your mind gets accustomed to, whether the harshest conditions or the most fantastical situations, because I’m actually getting so used to dealing with this new world that I have to step back every now and then and go what the fuck, is this really my life right now?

And so, when I’m looking through the telescope, I’m not even surprised to see white sand dunes. They sparkle, like each grain of sand is made of a star, and they shift under unseen winds. I have to pause and take my eye off the viewfinder and look back at the moon with my naked eye, because what I’m seeing isn’t matching up.

This time when I look back through the telescope, the stardunes have shifted even more and something is starting to rise out of them, the sand moving around in a circle of sparkles.

A tall, muscular woman slides out from the sand. She has long silver hair and white skin and pale purple eyes, and has on a gauzy thin dress of shimmering stars. She’s beyond stunning, and is wearing the most serene smile.

“I see someone,” I tell Bell, describing her.

“That’s Kuutar!” she says excitedly.

“Aren’t I supposed to chant some spell or something?”

She shakes her head. “It will be fine since she knows I’m here. Bring me to the window.”

I bring Bell and the boot over to the window and open it, the cold night air rushing in. The moonlight feels like an icy caress against my skin, making my heart dance. Below the waves crash against the tower, the moonlight shimmering, making everything look coated in silver.

“Are you sure?” I ask Bell warily as I peer over the edge. “This can’t be safe.”

“Yeet me into the sea, fairy girl,” she says with a grin. “Kuutar will grant me safe passage once I land on the moonlight.”

I hesitate. I trust Bell and there’s definitely a goddess on the moon, but it doesn’t feel right to literally throw her out of a building.

“Please, before we lose the chance,” she adds, real urgency in her voice.

“Okay,” I say with a sigh. “I’m going to miss you, you know.”

“You’ll see me again one day, I’m sure of it,” Bell says. Then she nods at the water.

I take in a deep breath, pull back the boot and then thrust it forward.

“Bye Bell,” I whisper as Bell goes sliding out of the boot, diving headfirst into the water below. She’s so tiny that she barely makes a splash, just a rippling of silver moonlight.

I exhale, exhausted from the build-up to this moment, but relieved it all worked out in the end. I was able to keep a promise to someone and that feels good. Better than good.

But I also know that I took a risk in doing it and that if I don’t get back to my room soon, there could be hell to pay.

I pick up the candle, tuck the boot under my arm and make my way out of the tower and down the stairs, praying I don’t run into anyone. I’m not sure what my excuse would be if caught.

I’m finally on my floor, creeping as silently as possible down the hall, almost to my room when suddenly a dark figure steps away from the wall.

I can’t help the cry that falls from my lips.

It’s Surma, covered in his flowing black robe, his tattered skull visible.

“What are you doing?” he asks in a sinister voice, his teeth clacking together in that horrible way.

I open my mouth to talk, to lie, but he’s fast. He suddenly reaches out and grabs me, his bone hands crushing my wrist before pushing me back against the stone wall, holding me there, pressing against my shoulder.

“I-I thought I heard a noise,” I manage to say, fear crippling me.

Oh god, he smells awful. He’s what I always imagined Death would smell like, rotting flesh and meat left out in the sun. The horridness only adds to the terror.

“Lies,” he hisses. “You were doing something. I told Death you had no place being in this house.”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” I protest.

“Why are you holding a boot?”

Fuck.

“A weapon,” I tell him, raising my chin in false confidence.

“More lies,” he seethes. “You are no different than your father, always trying to get your hands on our secrets, and Tuoni is too trusting of you, too soft. He’s made too many mistakes, granting life to those who should have died, people like your father, messing up the natural order of things. Tuoni brought this reckoning upon himself. If I had his power still, the things I would have done to you would be too horrific to describe. And while I can’t rule over the land anymore, it doesn’t mean I can’t do what I do best.” He hisses out the last word, making my blood run cold.

“It’s time for Tuoni’s reign to come to an end. The Old Gods will see to it. There are so many of us who will do whatever it takes to make sure that the City of Death falls. They will place me back in the role that was always mine. But you will be long dead before then.”

I open my mouth to scream but then he’s covering it with his boney hand, smelling of rot, and I’m nearly choking on it. I try to summon all my strength and power to fight back, but it’s like he has me completely drained.