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.
“Do you know who I am?” Surma rasps on. “I was the one who killed. I was the Killerling. All feared me. The mold from my decaying body would make people go insane before they died. I should do the same to you, or I could make your death even more painful than you can imagine. You don’t belong in this world, girl. You belong in Oblivion. Let’s see if Death misses you if you’re gone.”
Suddenly my nose fills with the warming scent of sea salt and smoke.
“You belong in Oblivion,” Death’s voice growls from the darkness. “Let go of her, Surma.”
Oh thank god. That God, in particular.
“Do you know what she was doing? Sneaking around in the night?”