Page 18 of Between Ghosts and Gods

“So who did you kill?”

Ruo shrugged. “Some woman.”

“You don’t know who she was or what she did?”

“I didn’t kill the wrong person, if that’s what you’re thinking. It felt good when she was finally dead. That’s proof I got it right.”

Arun tried not to shudder. “Then who created you?”

Ruo shrugged again. It was a strangely human gesture coming from a cat. “Not sure. Don’t care. The only thing I remember from my time in the mortal realm was killing that woman. It was a wonderful feeling! Like curling up in your favourite sun spot and sleeping the day away.”

There was something in the way Ruo’s golden eyes gleamed in the light that made Arun uneasy. Ruo seemed content, proud even, that they had murdered some woman they didn’t even know. Had they killed anyone else? Maybe he would be next.

Ruo’s chest rumbled like the living earth and Arun felt a shiver travel down his spine. Once, when he had visited the temple to Bakrute’s guardian god, the head monk had shown him a mural on the wall depicting the three realms. The heavens above with its hundreds of gods, the mortal world of humans in the middle, and the under-realm full of ghosts and demons below.

“Humans who fall out of the cycle of souls become ghosts. Humans who commit unspeakable atrocities transform into demons. But humans who are good and noble are called to the heavens, and eventually become gods.”

Humans, humans, humans. Perhaps that was why the Camellia House staff tried to keep Ruo away. No matter what they became, both ghosts and demons had been human once. Curses were different.

“But Kasu isn’t afraid of you,” he said.

“Kasu is special. I like Kasu. She told you to look for gossip, didn’t she?”

Arun blinked at the sudden change in topic. He nodded.

Yawning, Ruo stood up and arched their back. “In the dice hall up ahead, there’s a ghost wearing a red ogre mask yelling about the heavens. You should talk to him.”

“I—” He did not get the chance to finish. Pressing back against the wall, Ruo slunk away, their fur melting and eventually disappearing into the shadows.

Arun watched the cat disappear. No wonder other ghosts and demons found curses unsettling. He let his unease sit with him for a moment before shaking his head.

There was still much to do.

The corridor led into another wide hallway. The dice halls. As Arun stepped inside, he briefly locked eyes with a young ghost, dressed in a forest-green dealer’s uniform, sitting in the middle of one of the circular tables. Two dice were lying on the table. Their upturned faces showed a red lotus on the first die and a green dragon on the second. The dealer pushed both into a clay cup and closed her hand over its mouth.

“Place yer bets! Place yer bets now!”

Gamblers jostled Arun, stepping on his toes and elbowing him in his gut as they clamoured for the dealer’s attention.

“Paradise with the dead!” they shouted.

“The death of dragons!”

Gambling tiles were slammed down so hard Arun was surprised the table didn’t break. Ghosts roared. Demons snarled. The dealer shook the dice.

When she threw them out of the cup, they came to a stop in the middle of the table: a red lotus on the first and a golden lion on the second.

“The enlightenment of beasts!” she announced to a chorus of cheers and groans.

“I don’t understand this game,” Arun muttered.

“Then piss off up to the kirit tables! You’re in the way!” The ghost standing next to him turned to scowl. He wore a red ogre mask.

Arun tried his best not to smile.

“I don’t know how to play kirit, either,” he lied.

“Oh?” The ghost slung an arm around Arun. Greed danced across his expression at the thought of an easy mark. “Well, I’d be happy to teach you.”