“I think that's a good idea, General,” Rath said.
“Ten?” I asked. “That's a big group.”
“If you're attacked by an army of the dead, you will be glad to have them,” the General said, then grimaced. “I must return to the Emperor, and ask him to adjust the summoning crystal. Go to bed, all of you. You're going to need the rest.” Then he turned around and stomped out to the entry hall, muttering, “Fucking Corrupter.”
It was a common curse among the Wraith Lords.
Chapter Twelve
I was too tired for sex, and my men knew that. We got undressed and climbed into bed, me in the middle. Then they curled in around me, Rath's arm over my chest, and Xae's arm over my waist. Looking side to side gave me stunning views of their sleeping faces. And yet, I couldn't follow their lead.
I tossed and turned despite my exhaustion and comfort. Finally, I fell into a fitful slumber plagued by nightmares in which my parents' corpses attacked me. When the second such dream woke me, leaving me sweaty and my heart racing, I was on the verge of tears.
“Wouldn't it be better to control Death,” someone whispered.
I shot upright, my throat closing on a squeak that had started as a scream. But no one was there. No one other than my sleeping lovers. I scanned the room again, but the shadows were empty. My mind must have been playing tricks on me. Still, my hands shook, and I knew I'd never get back to sleep.
“I need some air,” I muttered as I climbed out of bed, carefully moving out from under the blanket, then going down to the foot instead of trying to climb over one of the men.
I pulled on a pair of pants and then left the room. Summer was near to an end, the days getting cooler and the nights crisp. I longed to feel some of that cool night air on my skin. So I went through the sitting room and out into the hall. But instead of going downstairs, I headed up, to the keep's roof. It would be a faster trip and I doubted anyone was up there at that hour. The Wraith Lords on night watch would be atop the lookout tower that rose from the curtain wall. They might notice me, but they wouldn't bother me.
The stairwell that led to the keep's roof was narrow, probably for defense. Most of the architectural details of the citadel were designed for defense. My tired body protested the climb, but the thought of the wind kept me going. At last, I made it to the top and unbarred the solid door before shoving it open. Instant relief. I sighed as I stepped out onto the expanse of stone.
With the same width and length as the keep, the roof was massive, but the central portion was taken up with huge cylinders and pipes that ran out from them and down, into the keep. They were reservoirs used to supply water to the keep. I had no idea how they worked, but one of them was open, to collect rainwater even though I knew the keep got most of its water from the river below.
Wind whipped my shoulder-length hair as I left the shield of the small building that contained the corner stairwell, but I didn't care. I headed to the waist-high wall that hemmed the roof and, once I was facing into the wind, my hair swept back from my face. The sweat on my skin magnified the cold, and I shivered but welcomed it. It was so much better than the stifling heat of the keep. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let it out.
“You're a fool,” someone whispered.
I whipped around. “Who's there?”
I searched the roof as I headed around the huge metal containers in the center. It was the only spot where someone could hide. Then again, each corner held a room with a stairwell, just like the one I had exited through, but the other three came up from lower floors. Someone could be hiding in the doorway of one of the access buildings.
“Your power will soon rival the Corrupter's. Especially with my help,” the voice came stronger this time, loud enough for me to recognize.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered and stumbled to a stop, the shivering becoming a trembling. “No. No, you can't be here! Go away!”
“Death is everywhere, Ember. I'm a god. No ward can keep me out. But there is no reason to fear me.”
“I am not going to use Death Magic.” I backed up until I hit the wall.
“Not even to save the children?”
My knees went weak. Instead of leaving the roof, as I'd intended, I slid down the wall and crumpled onto my butt. “The children?”
“No one can get through the Corrupter's ward,” the Consciousness of Death Magic taunted. “No one but I. Because it is my magic that empowers it.”
“Fuck. You motherfucker!” I bent my head and pulled up my knees. “Go away.”
“Why are you fighting me? I could give you the world, Ember.”
“Why?” My head shot up. “Why would you want to do that when you have the Corrupter?”
“I'm tired of the Corrupter's plots. You may not believe this, but I don't want war. I don't crave pain or destruction.”
“You don't want war? But war brings death.”
“I do not need more death. IamDeath.”
