She freezes the moment she spots Kosac, chin dropping to the floor.
Kosac beckons her closer with one hand, and I hold back my gasp. His fingers are skeletal, literal bones without flesh. Is this how the rest of him looks beneath that dark robe? Is he entirely a walking skeleton, or just partially decayed?
“Please escort our guest back to her room, Henrietta.” His chasm-deep voice echoes.
I frown. “Am I a prisoner?”
“On the contrary, you are my guest. I am pleased you are here.”
I hesitate before replying with, “I’m not staying. I’m looking for a boy. One of your rangers stole him. He’s about four years old. I want to take him back to the land of the living with me.”
Kosac begins walking back in the direction I came from. “Let’s continue this conversation inside,” he says.
Inside where? Reluctantly, I follow the Death God and his ghostly servant.
I suspect she might be a ghost. However, here in Mictlan, she appears in flesh and blood, solid beneath her clothing. Strangely, she is the only ghost I’ve encountered since I arrived. I know Mictlan has many layers, but I expected there to be more ghosts on this first level. Have all of them descended to the other levels? Where is Aradia?
“Henrietta,” Kosac addresses the ghost walking behind him, “prepare our guest’s bath. She must be freezing.”
Henrietta performs a small, albeit shaky, curtsy before entering the room I woke up in.
Kosac gestures for me to follow her. I consider disobeying him, but he’s standing between Fynn and me.
With a huff, I step inside. He is right behind me.
“Where is he?” I question.
Kosac shifts. “Who?”
I bristle. “The boy.” He doesn’t answer, and I cross my arms. “Why did you take him? And what do you want from me to get him back?” Maybe I’m wrong and the Dullahan took Fynn without Kosac knowing. I shake off the thought. I doubt anything happens in this realm without their ruler’s knowledge.
Kosac’s laughter is a thundering grumble.
“You want money? Jewels?” I ask, but he says nothing.
“All I want is the pleasure of your company,” Kosac finally says, inadvertently confirming he does have Fynn.
I purse my lips.
“I’m having a party, and I’d like you to attend as my guest,” Kosac says. “Please, it would mean so much to me. It has been so long since we’ve entertained the living in this realm.Your vibrance is such a wonder to us who live in perpetual stagnation.”
A party? “I don’t have time for that.”
“Then you must not care about the child.”
A sinking feeling grips me. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s unfair to deny the ghosts and me your company—the company of the queen.”
Henrietta, whom I’ve determined must be Kosac’s obedient servant, returns from the bathing chamber, still carrying that bundle in her arms. She presents it to me. It’s a red dress. One with a low neckline, a dropped waistline, and a heavy skirt. I stare at the ancient garment through slitted lids.
“I’m not wearing that,” I say.
Henrietta says nothing. Her gray eyes are filled with sorrow behind her lace shroud. Not gray like mine—gray like they once were a different color but lost all their brightness and cheer. I look away, my own eyes stinging with tears. I don’t know her, yet something about her breaks my heart. How long has she been here?
“Is the dress not fine enough for you?” Kosac asks.
“I have my own clothes.”
