Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Kicks hadn’t come back until late last night, and I pretended to sleep, even though he probably knew otherwise. He’d been gone before I woke in the morning.

I didn’t bother nodding to anyone in the morning as I retrieved a duster and rags. No one tried to speak to me or stop me as I left. The only acknowledgment I got was a nod from Didi.

I scanned the halls, determining where I should explore next. I wanted to know this place like the back of my hand.

There were soft footsteps on the stairs, and Aunt Elara appeared seconds later.

“There you are,” she said softly.

“Hi, Aunt Elara,” I said, matching the softness of her tone. She clearly didn’t want it on blast that she was being friendly toward the enemy. I didn’t have the luxury of alienating anyone.

“I’m glad I found you. How is it going?”

“All right.” I was a lot better than when I’d been sitting in the dungeon, that was for sure.

She smiled as if she were listening, yet her eyes kept darting around. “Come, I want to show you something.”

She waved for me to follow her as she took a couple of steps. At this point in my life, I was having a hard time following anyone blindly. Maybe I was being na?ve, and her softness was a lure to pull me in? Still, my gut told me she was safe.

She led me down another hallway I hadn’t explored yet, to a small set of stairs that winded upward and continued on. When they finally stopped, she opened a door to the top of the estate.

The wind blew my hair back, the smell of salt filling the air, with the view of the ocean in the distance.

“It’s nice up here, isn’t it?” Aunt Elara said.

“It’s amazing.” For the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe.

“This is where I come sometimes when I need a moment.”

I turned toward her. Need a moment ? From who? Varic? Or was I making things up in my mind because I found him so disgusting? I was having a hard time imagining that anyone liked him, but I couldn’t afford to jump to conclusions.

“I come here in the mornings sometimes, right before dawn, if you ever need to speak to me.”

“Thank you.” She was still Varic’s aunt. Don’t read into it. Maybe her and Varic were trying to set me up so I’d tell all my secrets. Good luck with that. I hadn’t told the dirty truth to people that I trusted a lot more than them.

“Have you always lived here, at the castle?” I asked, trying to steer us into nice, shallow waters.

She turned and looked out at the sea, her chest visibly rising and falling. “I lived here when I was younger. I left but still lived nearby. After Death Day, it got harder to be alone, even as a shifter. It’s difficult to be here sometimes, but we’re all making compromises.”

Shared woes? Was this more bait? She didn’t feel like a fake.

She turned and gave me a knowing look, filled with old wounds. Still, I wasn’t saying a word of my secrets. I’d trusted the wrong person too many times in my past. No way was I doing that again.

She patted my hand. It always shocked me when people weren’t afraid of touching me.

“I’ve got things to handle, but I’m glad we had a chance to talk,” she said, turning to leave.

“Do you mind if I stay up here for a few minutes?” The idea of going back into the building after being inside for so many days seemed like torture.

“Feel free to come here whenever you want. I find just being able to get away for a few minutes helps me immensely. Not many come up here, so you usually have the place to yourself.”

“Thank you.”

She left, and I turned back to staring at the ocean. I could make out the waves breaking in the distance, hear the sound of the surf and see the birds swooping down. It wasn’t my rock by the river back in Arkansas, but it was a close second. It might’ve taken first place if the inhabitants of the building were more palatable.

I closed my eyes, letting the breeze wash over me as the seagulls called to each other in the distance. I’d almost been able to forget where I was when I sensed the presence of something behind me. It was definitely other , as there hadn’t been any noise of an approach and that piece of darkness was clawing at me. It wasn’t Death, though. There was a different feel to her presence, a chill. This felt more like a void.

If it was other , and not Death, who was here? Was it the robed man who’d been appearing, staring at me? Whatever the creature was, if it wanted to hurt me, I’d already be dead.

I could feel it waiting for me to turn around and confront it. I didn’t need another otherworldly creature stalking me, but it didn’t seem avoidable.

I was trying to center myself, preparing for this confrontation, when I felt a brush of fur against my fingers. I looked down to see the glowing eyes of the wolf from my dreams by my side. Was I losing my mind? It rubbed its muzzle against my side, bolstering my courage as I turned toward the unknown creature.

The robed man stood in front of me, even taller than I’d realized. I had to crane my neck back to look at his hooded head, and not a single feature was visible.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Charon.” His voice was deep, with a strange timbre that sounded a little eerie.

“Did Death send you?”

“No, I came of my own accord.” Although I couldn’t make out his face, I could still somehow feel the heaviness of his gaze.

“Why do I keep seeing you? What do you want from me?”

“Because of what’s been happening, you’ve come to the attention of many of my kind.”

Yeah, this was exactly what I hadn’t wanted to hear from the creepy nonhuman robe guy. It was amazing to me how so many people wanted to be somebody , and all I wanted was to get back to being a nobody. I didn’t want people to notice I was alive. I didn’t want to be on anyone’s radar. I wanted to be so inconsequential as to never be recognized beyond my small ring of people. Life was much safer that way.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” I wasn’t sure what I was apologizing for, since the only thing I regretted was being noticed.“You are clearly familiar with me, but who are you if Death didn’t send you?”

“As I said, I am Charon .” His head notched up an inch, as if that should carry some weight.

And then that was it, as if his name should’ve explained it all. Having to ask for more details was awkward, but since I had no idea who he was, it was unavoidable.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, trying to sound as pleasant as I could, since he wasn’t going to like my next question. “Should I know that name?”

“You don’t know me?”

“No.” This man definitely took himself too seriously. This had to be an otherworldly creature problem.

“I’m Charon ,” he repeated.

What was this guy not getting? Repeating a name I didn’t know was not going to suddenly make me remember. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are.”

“The ferryman ,” he said, as if I had to know that.

Ferryman? Was he a ghost that used to run a ferry line somewhere? I hadn’t taken enough ferries to have gotten chummy with anyone, passenger or captain.

“You still don’t know who I am?” The patience I’d sensed wearing thin before was truly gone now.

“I’m sorry, but no. I have no idea who you are. What ferry line did you run? Maybe that’ll help.”

“I ferry the dead across the River Styx!” His voice boomed like thunder.

“Ah.” Okay, now I was getting it. That , I’d heard of. But wait, he ferried the dead but he was on his own? “But you aren’t with Death?”

“ No .”

“Then why have you been watching me?”

“What she’s been doing has instilled a great deal of power in you.” He said it like he’d spoken of some immense crime.

This did not sound good.

“I didn’t ask for it. I also can’t use any of this power, at least at the moment. I wouldn’t still be here if I could. I’d be more than happy to get rid of it.”

Had I made a deal with Death only to get taken out by this Charon creature? This wasn’t like my run-of-the-mill shifter threats. This was another creature from the unknown. This guy might be able to kill me, and I didn’t feel like waiting to see who won a cage match between him and Death to find who won the right to choose.

“You have to relinquish the power. A human cannot have this type of power.”

“I can’t. I’ve asked to get rid of it.”

He didn’t say anything, and that was enough. Was he going to kill me? Some of the powers I couldn’t use might’ve come in handy at this moment.

My wolf began to growl by my side. If Charon could see him, I didn’t know. He didn’t seem to react, and I couldn’t see his eyes, if he had any.

“Will you give me a chance to say my goodbyes?” I asked. If he was going to kill me, I didn’t want to just disappear on Kicks and Charlie. They deserved to at least know and not wonder.

He didn’t even deign to answer before he disappeared.