I wished I could have refused Grismal's offer. It was too late now. Grismal's servants ventured outside and plucked up Julian's shadowy remains. It was the first time I could observe how things worked down here. Grismal's servants were humanoid in shape, but they were cloaked and deformed. I supposed they wore the same enchanted fabric that Grismal had given me to protect me from being attacked by the demons that lurked outside.

I caught a glimpse of the servants from under their hoods. They didn't have faces but rather seemed to have skin like sandpaper. Perhaps, they were human once and had turned into stone like the side of the cave this castle had been built into.

I wondered if, under the illusions, Grismal looked like the creatures which served him, but that was a set of questions for another time. The grey, shadowy men caught Julian's spirit by his arms and dragged him toward the majestic front doors. He didn't resist or try to run. I suppose this was what Grismal meant by mindless.

"Watch closely," Grismal offered with a devious smile on his perfectly sculpted face. "This part always amuses me, even after all these years. Look at what happens to the spirits as they cross the threshold into the doors of Seritalis."

The grand doors opened with a loud grating sound like the hardest marble being dragged against bedrock. There was an eerie mist just beyond it, and my human body recoiled again. Every cell in my body told me to run from what lurked beyond that ghostly fog. This palace was a refuge against the land of the dead.

As the guards dragged Julian's lifeless spirit past the threshold, I saw the ghostly outline of his body become enveloped with flesh again.

His body which had been merely a reflection of moonlight solidified into muscle and sinews. His once beautiful face, with its tanned skin complete with its lush slick hair, caught the light of the palace. Skin peeked out from under the sleeves of his dress shirt. His shoes were still covered with bits of grass and mud. I recognized the outfit he was wearing even though it hadn't been one of his more memorable ones. He had only been wearing a white shirt and black slacks that day in Diremore. His shirt was still ripped at the collar, stained with faded blood which had long browned with age. My husband's blood. I could even make out the messy imprint of a bloody finger on Julian's lapel. So many years ago, Blake had ripped the buttons off Julian's shirt inside Diremore.

Julian was still dressed in the clothes he had died in.

The clothes he was wearing the day I killed him.

I clenched my fists. It took every last ounce of willpower to keep my blue-fire-fueled rage at bay. I wondered if Grismal would find it amusing if I immediately killed Julian once again, even before his spirit could open the newfound eyeballs of his fleshly body.

"Can he feel pain?" I asked through the corner of my mouth.

Grismal laughed softly as though he was proud of my barely restrained rage.

"Most humans who are given a chance to face the ghosts of their past would not seek to resurrect their enemies only to murder them again. You, Melody, certainly are different."

"Throw him back with the other ghosts. I change my mind. I don't need a guide." I chewed on my bottom and turned away from the sight of Julian's slowly waking body. His eyes fluttered, and he dropped his knee as though the weight of the flesh was shocking. He was on his hands and knees. A sharp cough erupted from his chest as he took his first breath. Before long, Julian was hacking away on the floor, coughing out the dust and sand he had gathered in his years of wandering the grounds of Mearnox. The idea of Allison or Sallen wandering these dark forsaken grounds brought me endless pain. The thought of Julian wandering around a purgatory, forced to breathe sand and ashes, brought a gleeful smile to my lips.

"No, you've made your choice." Grismal smiled again, smugly this time. This was what The Reaper wanted, for me to admire him with awe. "But if it helps to erase troubling memories, he can be made to change his clothes."

One of Grismal's hooded servants grabbed ahold of Julian's shirt collar. Julian's entire shirt was ripped off his back with one hard, brutal yank. Julian was still in the process of catching his breath. His muscular chest was heaving less violently now. Julian wrapped his arms around his torso and used his palms to rub the bare skin on his arms as though he was freezing.

Could he feel the cold?

I didn't know. Perhaps, it was my imagination. If spirits were capable of looking so lifelike, why the heck was Grismal keeping me alive?

One of the hooded servants wrapped Julian with a black cloak, not unlike mine. Except his came with a hood, whereas mine was attached around my neck with a silver chain. I suppose mine marked me as a guest of Grismal, whereas Julian's was the typical fare worn by the servants of Seritalis. Or perhaps, Grismal didn't want to give me the option to cover my face and flee while he wasn't looking.

"This palace was created by the Goddess Xagilo who once ruled over the fountains of memories and guarded the entrance to rebirth. She disappeared many thousands of years ago. This palace is all that remains of her gifts."

I raised my eyebrows at Grismal. I was well-versed in the legends and myths surrounding Black Waters, but I had not heard of that goddess. It appeared Grismal had a thing or two to teach me.

"It allows the dead and the living to coexist under one roof. It is . . . remarkable."

"Yes," Grismal eagerly agreed. He snapped his fingers at his servants. They seized Julian by his arms and dragged him over. They threw Julian disdainfully at the Reaper's feet, so close that Julian was practically kissing the god's muddy boots. "On your knees, lost soul," the Reaper ordered.

I didn't think it was possible, but with one desperate pushup, Julian forced himself up to his knees. He bowed his head in subjugation to the Lord of Death. Did all the souls here obey Grismal without question? Was that why they bored him to such a degree that he had to seek out the company of the living?

I had never seen Julian behave with such absolute deference when he was alive. Perhaps, even though this fleshly body looked exactly like the man I killed in Diremore twenty years ago, this man before me was only a shell of what had been.

"Lost Soul, you will protect Lady Melody while she resides in Mearnox. If any harm should befall her, I will feed you to the boulder snakes in Lake Sidus."

Grismal glanced at me and winked. Oh, there he was, trying to charm again. It had irked me just moments before, but suddenly, I reflexively smiled out of the corner of my mouth. Yes, there was once I would have hated threats such as these, but now, it amused me. I wondered if my hatred now really ran so deep, so ravenous, that I enjoyed the suffering of my enemies.

"The souls aren't afraid of much. They are, after all, almost completely unable to feel. However, they fear being made into river dust in the Lake of Stars. It is the source of your Black Waters, created by the remains of broken souls that never found their way to the afterlife."

"A soul simply ceased to be once it is drowned in those waters?" I asked quizzically. "And you are the one to condemn them to that fate?"

"Not always," Grismal replied. "Oftentimes, the souls quarrel with each other. As time passes the lake's level rises with the weaker souls. As you can see, the population of Mearnox is ever-growing and ever-expanding. There are only so many places for the souls to hide before they meet a dark fate in the lake. However, they have more to fear from each other than from me."

Slowly, the pieces were starting to come together for me. The Blight Rain occurred because Lake Sidus was overflowing and emptying into the sea. It happened because too many infected dead souls needed to pass through Mearnox before entering the afterlife. This place functioned as a purgatory which many of the condemned never managed to leave.

I wondered if there was a way for me to help Allison and Sallen leave this place. Was Orienne's Grace the only way they could be saved? Or was there another way out?

"You're concerned for your friends," Grismal chuckled. "Their souls are gone into the darkness of the Forest of Dreams. You'll never find them unless I have my goblins bring them back."

"Perhaps that is just as well," I mused. "As you said before, Orienne would never help the likes of me. The two of them have made it this far without me. I'm sure they'll find their way out of here without my help."

"I'll make you a deal," Grismal remarked, raising a finger as though an idea popped into his fearsomely handsome head. "Kiss me, and I'll let you have your two female friends as your servants here. They can keep you company in addition to your little groveling pup here."

I snorted, a bit too loudly. His request was ludicrous; I couldn't help but laugh. A kiss? In exchange for what? To have his stone goblins drag back Allison and Sallen to serve me. They both probably hated my guts, even when I was poor helpless Vivienne. Now, I was going to ask for the honor of having them follow me around, spy on me, and likely betray me in the process?

If there was anything the last twenty years of imprisonment inside Villaris had taught me, it was that everyone betrays you in the end. No matter how long-lasting the friendship, how deep the gratitude — I didn't trust anyone. I needed to stop my eyes from rolling out of my head.

"No," I chuckled and covered my mouth with my hand in one last-ditch effort to be polite. "You are mistaken, Lord of Death. This pitiful Lost Soul you have assigned me is already one too many."

"Very well," Grismal relented with a nod of his tall head and a glimpse of his luminescent pupils. "Return to your room and make yourself comfortable there. You might be residing here for a very long time. This will be your home sooner or later."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, once again feeling as though there was quite a bit that he was keeping from me. "I thought I was still counted among the living."

"Did you believe Orienne would ever let the likes of you cross over to the afterlife, sweet fool?" Grismal remarked with a hearty, wicked laugh. "Even if you hadn't made a deal with me, you will one day die. When you die, and you will one day die as all humans do, your soul will never leave Mearnox."