“Whoa,” I whispered. Then I asked Nex, “How big do you get?”
“Huge.” Nex grinned. “I'm a shower and a grower. You wanna see?” He started to unbuckle his pants.
“Nex!” Rath smacked him.
“I'm just having a laugh.” Nex resettled his belt. “Seriously, kid. I become a dragon. My other form is bigger than your house.”
“Whoa,” I whispered again.
“Come on, Ember.” Rath held out his hand. “We've tarried too long. The Corrupter could return at any moment.”
I took his hand and let him draw me into an embrace. “Can I still call you Rath?”
Wraith Lord Ratharin looked down at me and smiled. “Yes. Now, close your eyes.”
I closed my eyes.
Chapter Four
I could feel Rath's thick shoulders under my hands. I clung to them. And yet, they weren't the same. I would have opened my eyes to see why he suddenly felt cold and a little squishy, for lack of a better word. But I knew why. I also knew what I'd see—Rath, but not Rath. A shadow version of him billowing with Spirit Magic. Tendrils of his wraithform would be trailing through the air around us, maybe even touching me.
Nope, I wasn't ready for that shit.
“Ember, you can open your eyes,” Rath said.
“Are you sure?” I squished my eyes tighter.
He chuckled. “Yes, I'm sure. We're in the antechamber of the Emperor's living quarters.”
“We're in the Emperor's living quarters?!” My eyes blasted open.
Nex snorted as I spun away from Rath to look around. Antechamber, my ass. The room was bigger than my house, with a polished stone floor and pale walls that surged up to the high ceiling in sections divided by elaborate plaster moldings. Within those rectangular sections of wall, landscapes had been painted. The artwork was exquisite, beyond anything I'd ever seen before, and they weren't even on canvas. If the Emperor ever moved, he wouldn't be able to take them with him. Still, I couldn't focus on the paintings for long. The ceiling drew my stare, with lanterns that shone brighter than any amount of candles could. And the light was a crisp white, not the golden glow of flames.
“What's lighting that . . . that lantern?” I asked as I pointed upward.
“It's called a chandelier,” Rath said. “Magic lights it.”
I swung my head toward him. “You use magic to light your house?”
“Well, this is the Emperor's house, but yes.”
I blinked. “Oh. Right.” Then I frowned. “We just poofed here.”
“Faded,” he said.
“Yeah, that. The Corrupter does the same thing.”
“No, he does not,” Rath said firmly. “He uses Death Magic to travel, we use Spirit.”
“Still, can't he Death Magic himself here?”
“No, we have wards around the palace and our citadel that protect us against Death Magic.”
“Wards?”
“They're like invisible shields,” Nex said. “No Death Magic can get past them.”
“Oh.” I processed that, thinking about the shield my magic had set around me to protect me from corruption. It had to be similar. “That's reassuring. Why don't you put those wards around all the villages and cities?”
