Page 76 of In Between Death and the Devil

I had no time to worry about what it meant. Death’s workshop door was open, and when I approached, she beckoned me inside.

“How are you feeling? Did you visit the healers?” She looked up from where she stood at her workbench.

“Yes, my goddess. I’m feeling much better, thank you.” I held out Daphne’s reply. My eyes darted around the space as Death read it. It was only the second time I’d been allowed in here.

Salamanders scampered to and from their tanks and the fire. Papers littered the top of the bench in front of her, far messier than any space I’d seen of hers until now.

“Good.” She tossed the message on the table, shut the notebook in front of her, and turned to face me. Clasping her hands in front of her, she gave me a bright smile. “I’ve done it, Maeve. I’ve figured out how to fix the In Between.”

I blinked, thrown by her excitement after what had happened in the Dungeon. “That’s…” I swallowed. “That’s amazing. How did you do it?” I added when it was clear she was waiting for more from me.

“Some old texts that took me forever to translate, and a little guesswork to fill in the gaps. But it will work. I know it will.” She took my hands. “I need your help.”

“What kind of help?” My muscles locked in an effort to stay in place and not back away from her.

“You are the only person I trust with this. Do you understand?” The look she gave me was intense.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“The In Between needs an anchor to return it to balance. It needs a soul to connect to and rest on.” Death looked at me calmly, like she was discussing what to have for dinner, not the fate of the realms.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I’ve watched you, Maeve. You have such a firm sense of duty, and a desire to do good. Not everyone who comes here is like that, believe it or not. It’s why we have to weed out those who aren’t suited to be Judges. You are a rare soul, and exactly what the In Between needs.”

I shivered. She sounded so complimentary, so reasonable. I almost forgot what we were talking about. “What exactly would serving as an anchor entail?”

“Nothing difficult or painful. The soul needs to enter a kind of stasis as I link the realm to it. It will be like drifting off to a comfortable sleep.”

“But I would never wake up. Right?” I yanked my hands from hers.

“No. You wouldn’t.”

I backed up a couple of steps until I hit a table with a salamander tank on it.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” she said.

I couldn’t hold back a sharp laugh.

“I wish there was a better way, a gentler way, to ask this of you, but there isn’t. The imbalance is getting worse, as you just saw. We’re running out of time.”

“You mean the Wraith?”

“Yes. Vile creatures.” Her lip curled. “Hardened souls. When the Devil fails to get through to them, they turn into what you just saw. Something that craves life. They feed on soul essence until they’re strong enough to pull themselves back to the World of the Living, where they prey on innocent people. At least that’s the official line.” She sniffed. “In reality, the Devil cultivates them and uses them as henchmen to do his bidding in the World of the Living. Anything too distasteful for his precious Order, they take care of.”

I couldn’t tell if she believed what she was saying, but I knew in my gut it wasn’t true. There was no way Fen would cultivate something like that.

Are you sure? A little voice in my head piped up, but I shut it down. If I was going to trust Fen, I needed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I wish things were different, but they aren’t,” Death continued. “This is the only solution that I’ve found. I wouldn’t ask you to give up your soul unless it were absolutely crucial, Maeve. I don’t expect you to do it for nothing.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

“Come with me.” She opened a door behind the fireplace I hadn’t noticed. It blended seamlessly with the wall.

On the other side was a room I’d never seen before. A few chairs stood at one end, facing a familiar-looking platform in the center. It was the same one that I’d seen souls appear on to be judged on my second day.

My stomach plummeted into my feet, because we weren’t alone. The platform wasn’t empty.