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She beamed up at him. “Thank you, Dada Ash!”
“You’re welcome.” He ruffled her hair while slanting a fanged grin. “Now it’s your turn. The first thing you need to do is find the perfect stone.”
She spun a quick circle and dove for a stone, holding it up to him. “Like this?”
“Exactly,” he said while kneeling beside her and adjusting the slingshot in her grip. “Now hold the handle in your grip, aim, and release.”
She fired the rock, and it knocked a fruit out of the tree. She was so excited, she dropped the slingshot and threw her arms around Ash. “I did it!”
“Excellent shot.” He gave her a tight hug. “You’re a natural!”
She squirmed out of his embrace like he was on fire. “May I do it again?”
“Sure.” He dragged a hand through his long, dark hair. “Let’s collect some good rocks first. You can keep them in this pouch.” He handed her a leather drawstring pouch. “That way you always have ammunition.”
She took the pouch from him, tying it on the belt around her waist, then tucked the slingshot inside it. “I can keep us safe if King Fachnan comes back.”
“Don’t worry, child.” He flashed his fangs, his gaze locking with mine. “He’s not coming back.”
I swallowed, unnerved by the gleam in his eyes, and looked back at Ember and Finn. He looked like a perfectly content papa wolf as she sat on his knee while rocking her dolls in her arms. Though I tried to block that visual from my mind, I couldn’t forget the way my mates had shredded King Fachnan to pieces. There was no way he was coming back from that mauling, yet an uneasy feeling still churned my gut. I couldn’t explain why, but I thought I heard a whisper on the wind warning, ‘He has risen again.’
Selig
SELIG PACED THE KING’S bedchamber. Fortunately, this part of the castle had received the least damage. Just some fallen plaster from the ceiling, but the rest of his rooms remained untouched—with the exception of his expensive brandy. Selig had already helped himself to several glasses. He needed some sort of fortification for what he was about to do. He’d never practiced necromancy, but his demon had reassured him it would work.
A knock on the door, and Selig called for them to come inside. The Windhaven courier was first, the feather in his cap now completely gone, though his urine stain had dried. Two nameless soldiers came through after him, carrying the blood-soaked, shrouded body that reeked of decay.
Selig waved them from the sitting room into the king’s bedchamber. He motioned toward the four-poster bed. “Put it there.”
The soldiers unceremoniously dumped the body on the bed before stepping back. Flies swarmed the corpse as the smell of rot permeated the air.
“We couldn’t find one eye or all his fingers,” the courier said while wrinkling his nose.
“No matter.” Selig shrugged as he opened a jar of Inretius flowers, sprinkling them over the corpse, hoping their sickly sweet smell would cover some of the odor. “He doesn’t need them.”
The courier visibly swallowed. “What will you do with him, My Lord?”
He snarled at the courier. “Never you mind.”
“B-but, sir,” the courier stammered. “Necromancy is forbidden.”
Selig jutted a finger toward the door. “Leave!”
The courier’s eyes sharpened before he bowed low. “Yes, My Lord.”
The courier exchanged looks with the soldiers as they filed out of the room.
Selig realized why a courier from Windhaven had remained in Peloponese after all others had fled. He was a spy for Malvolia. Selig cursed himself a fool for realizing too late, though it wouldn’t have mattered. Nobody else had volunteered to assist him. After he resurrected the king, he’d have the courier killed—if he could find anyone reliable to kill him.
Selig got to work preparing the ritual space by lighting candles and drawing a pentagram of ash over the bed. He wrapped a scarf around his mouth before cutting open the shroud. Bile projected into his throat when maggots spilled onto the bed.
I can’t do this, Selig told his demon.
You can, and you will, his demon hissed.
More bile projected into Selig’s throat, and it took all his willpower not to vomit. He hated how easily his demon controlled him. He didn’t even know the beast’s name, a testament to how much power the parasite wielded. He’s too far gone.
Do it!
