Page 36 of In Between Death and the Devil

Midday, she gave me a few messages to deliver to the Devil’s castle. As I crossed the bridge, I wondered if I would see him while I was there. None of the messages were addressed to him, but we might cross paths. Something fluttered in my stomach that felt a lot like anticipation. Gods, what was wrong with me? I’d shown him the darkest parts of me; I should be cringing at the idea of seeing him again, or angry with him for trapping me in a situation that required that kind of intimacy, not wanting to see him again.

Yet I found myself reaching for the thread that connected us, searching for a sign of him. It was dormant. I couldn’t sense anything. Shaking off my disappointment, I focused on the papers in my hand.

I delivered the messages as quickly as I could, resisting the temptation to look for him in every hallway and room I passed. I didn’t see or feel him once, though I did see Bea with a group of trainees in the Dungeon. Remembering what had happened last time I encountered her, I avoided her gaze.

About halfway back across the bridge, a piercing headache struck, making me gasp. I squeezed my eyes shut against the sharp pounding at my temples. It was so strong, I blindly reached for the wall to keep myself upright.

Behind me, footsteps approached. People walking back to Death’s castle. I winced against the sound as they neared and then started to pass me. It sounded like a horde was descending. Bursts of light spotted the darkness behind my eyes and the pressure in my head increased until it felt like it might split open.

“Are you okay?” Bea’s voice sounded distant, but I felt her hand on my arm.

The floor creaked under my feet as I let out a groan. Of course it would be her to find me like this, even if a part of me sagged in relief.

“Where does it hurt?” Bea’s hands ran up over my shoulders, up my neck to my head. “Here?” She caressed my temples.

“Yes.” I hissed.

“When did your headache start?”

The sound of cracking stone made us both jump. My eyes flew open.

“What—?”

I followed Bea’s gaze to the ceiling above us. Another crack sounded and this time I saw it—the pop of dust as a fissure formed in the stone above our heads.

“That’s not—” Before I could finish my thought, the entire bridge started to shake, hard enough to knock us off balance.

Bea pitched into me and I grabbed her shoulder, bracing against the wall to keep us from falling.

A crack sounded right behind me. I staggered away as a fissure opened in the wall where I’d been leaning. Within a couple of heartbeats it had spread, spidering down and onto the floor underneath our feet.

The bridge was coming apart.

“We need to get out of here,” Bea said. “Can you walk?”

I staggered forward a couple of steps before the pain in my head made me double over.

Bea grabbed my arm to sling it over her shoulder, but I jerked back.

“I can make it on my own. Run.” I leaned on my knees, panting, needing a second.

“Don’t be stupid.” Grabbing my arm again, she hauled me up and forward, surprisingly strong for someone so small.

I didn’t have it in me to argue with her, so I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, letting her steer us out of harm’s way.

Trainees stumbled past us as we made for Death’s castle, dodging more fissures that appeared beneath our feet, and falling bits of plaster and stone. To our left, the distinct tinkle of cracking glass sounded. I sucked in a breath, hoping it wouldn’t shatter, that we wouldn’t be engulfed in the essence of the In Between. The crack spidered outward, but the window held.

My head throbbed with every break, until it felt like it was me that was breaking, splintering into hundreds of pieces. I forced myself to move faster, gritting my teeth against the pain.

Just before we crossed the threshold, an explosion sounded behind us, and someone cried out. Bea and I glanced back. A piece of the ceiling had fallen on a trainee, knocking him forward. The large chunk of plaster and stone pinned his legs so he couldn’t move.

He moaned and tried to pull himself out as four other people scrambled for him. They managed to heave the ceiling piece off of him and get him through the castle entrance.

Bea’s grip on me tightened as we limped on. My legs buckled, and we stumbled to a bench out of range of falling stone.

A familiar tug in my chest made me look up. I squinted, looking across the bridge, already knowing what I’d see.

The Devil stood at the entrance of his castle, shadows swirling around his hands, his gaze on something behind me.