“What the…” My voice trailed off as I turned around to face the painting of the woman in black, her dark hair cascading behind her in a wave. Her face was hauntingly beautiful, thin and angular with dark, eternally sad eyes. They were also familiar, because I’d walked by the same painting at least twice.
My stomach pitched toward the floor. There was no way I was going in circles.No freaking way.I’d gone down at least four sets of stairs. How could I have ended up at the exact same place again?
Pulse quickening as my mind began to spin out of control, I hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Instead of taking a right at the bottom like I had the time before, I went straight, hurrying into an unfamiliar hallway with the letter opener clutched firmly in my grip. I took a left, then a right, purposely attempting to get myself lost amongst the endless hallways that all seemed to look different, yet exactly the same.
The only thing creepier than the repetitive scenery was the impossible silence of the castle. My short, choppy breaths were the only thing to break the silence, along with the soft clop of my footsteps against the polished floor.
Where was the creature who’d brought me here? Was he hiding? Biding his time? Watching me?
There was no trace of him but I couldn’t shake the sensation that I was being watched. And that whatever studied me could see through more than walls. That they could peer straight inside me and see my anxiety mounting.
Taunting me. Taking pleasure in my suffering.
I made a left at yet another suit of armor, and stopped short when I found myself face to face with the same painting yet again, the sad woman watching me with a look of pity in her eyes. As if she could see my future. My stomach bottomed out as I stared up at her, my mind tumbling out of control.
There’s no way I’m back here again, unless…
Unless this entire castle was some kind of magic maze, purposely spitting me out back where I had started.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! How the hell would I ever get out?
Behind me, something rustled, making me jump, and I whirled around on the spot, brandishing the letter opener like a sword. I expected to see the monster, his giant skull face towering over me as he prepared to kill me, but there was no one. Instead, one of the walls was shifting, sliding slowly as it swallowed the hallway beyond it.
My mouth fell open in horror as the hallway narrowed, eventually closing off completely, and I found myself staring at a bare stretch of wall. Like the hallway had never been there at all.
My lungs seized as panic lanced through me, and I stared at the wall in disbelief. My suspicion had been correct.
This place was filled with magic that animated the walls, a labyrinth of stone brought to life by dark energy.
And I was the helpless mouse lost in the middle of it.
Chapter5
BELIAL
“Disappointing…”My skeletal figure skimmed the row of soul tombs for what had to be the dozenth time, my displeasure leaching into my bones and turning my marrow acidic. “I’ve spent eons as this realm's master, countless centuries sorting through souls, and these are the only witches we have in the library?”
I turned away from the bookshelf to see Cecil, the overseer of the Soul Library cowering behind me. He was tall and skeleton-thin with withered flesh, wrapped in a moth-eaten, brocade waistcoat, a yellowed cravat knotted tight at his throat. He wore glasses, which sat askew on his face. One of the lenses had cracked, which only made him all the more off putting.
Cecil didn’t have any eyes. The maggots had long since eaten them. What grew in their place was–well, what was always in abundance in my realm. Bone. Specifically, teeth. His eye sockets were lined with dozens of uneven teeth.
He’d been handsome once, if I remembered correctly. Time here had warped him, as it had warped all of us. At least he had a purpose now as my Soul Keeper.
Even with Cecil’s height, he looked so small engulfed in the shadow of my beast form. For such a frightening looking creature, he was a nervous thing.
“I-If I may be so bold to say, you don’t tend to keep souls for yourself, My Lord.” In addition to a slight stutter, his three sets of teeth had a tendency tochatter.“Most of these books are empty.”
I turned away from Cecil, peering down the long aisles between the towering bookcases that seemed to go on forever. So much space, yet it was true. I wasn’t in the habit of harboring souls. I allowed most of them to pass onto the lower layers of Hell, if I remembered to usher them on at all.
Admittedly, since Catherine’s death, my duties had fallen to the wayside. There was a long backlog of souls waiting to pass into the next realm. If I wanted to keep them, their souls would be cataloged into a book in my library. If not, I’d usher them to the second layer. Those who awaited Judgement would wander my halls, and eventually settle in whatever items they could find around the estate.
The souls I bothered to catalog were supposed to be notable, skillful people. Souls to make into my servants when the need arose.
“This won’t do. I need a witch, Cecil.”
“We might have one in the queue somewhere in the castle. I think she’s currently inhabiting a coat rack.”
“If she’s inhabiting a coat rack, that means she’s been in the queue for how long?”
