Page 61 of Between Ghosts and Gods

But … wasn’t that why Ruo was upset with her? Because they had wanted Kasu to rely on them. To trust them.

“Ruo,” she whispered beneath her breath. “Ruo, can you hear me? I need you.”

She knew that it was pointless. Even if Ruo wanted to come, they were inside a building. The cat could not teleport into enclosed spaces, nor could they appear anywhere they had never been before, and Kasu was certain Ruo had never been here … wherever they were.

“To make a powerful elixir, you need powerful ingredients. The blood of someone from the heavens, their soul, their suffering. I bet that lady died in agony.” Their captor grinned.

In the cage next to hers, Arun’s breathing had grown more ragged. He was leaning heavily against the bars of his cage, using them as a crutch to push himself to his feet.

“You damn…”

“Arun!” Kasu hissed. “Arun, stay awake!”

Their ghost captor looked at them, triumphant. Kasu was sure he was going to gloat some more when a faint drumming sound caught her attention. A distant, rhythmical pounding that was growing louder and closer with every beat.

Something crashed through the far wall.

“YOU! MASK THIEF!”

Chapter Thirty Kasu

A familiar booming voice echoed through the air. Kasu pressed a cheek against the bars and craned her head as far as she could to get a glimpse of the Sage of a Thousand Faces. A red mask with a thunderous expression was tied securely over the demon’s face. His pounding footsteps shook the ground as he marched towards the line of cages, searching for someone – searching for her.

“Oi! Who are you, demon? What are you doing here? Don’t you know Lord Cobalt will—”

Their captor’s furious yell was cut short. The Sage wrapped his thin, elongated fingers around the ghost’s middle, and lifted him kicking and screaming into the air. Another hand wrapped around the top of the ghost’s head. Kasu looked away but couldn’t avoid the awful cracking, squelching sound that followed.

“Kasu! Hey Kasu!” A voice behind her hissed.

“Ruo? What’s going on?” Kasu turned around to see the cat crouching close, belly pressed flat to the floor. Relief and fear warred inside her. Relief that Ruo was all right. Fear that they might both be ripped apart by a demon out for Kasu’s blood.

“I heard you call, but you were inside a building and I couldn’t teleport to you so I decided to get someone who could break in,” Ruo whispered as the Sage howled and raged. Another of their captors tried running, but the Sage seized him as well. Kasu flinched as the ghost’s head sailed through the air and rolled past her.

“Help? You call this help?”

The Sage swept through the rows of cages, throwing them aside without a thought and trampling on the incense burner. There was a loud bang and Huina, the spider lady who had fought Kasu and Arun, burst through a door hidden away in the far corner of the room.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” The Sage flung himself at the spider.

As the two demons battled, Ruo slunk around the side of Kasu’s cage.

“Wait here,” they murmured before creeping to where the Sage had flung Kasu’s captor.

From between the folds of the ghost’s clothes, Ruo grabbed a metal ring with a small iron key attached. The master key for all the cages. Hurrying back, the cat deposited it in front of Kasu.

It was difficult to undo the lock from behind. Kasu could barely see what she was doing, and there was not a lot of room to manoeuvre her wrist, but eventually she heard the click of the latch coming undone.

Kasu kicked the door open and rushed to Arun’s cage. She felt more awake than ever. In fact, she noticed that the smell of incense was fading away. The other ghosts and demons were beginning to stir too, though Arun remained slumped against the bars.

“Wake up!” Kasu unlocked his cage. She almost dropped him as he staggered forward and leaned all his considerable weight against her.

“Let me.” Ruo sank their fangs into his arm.

Arun screamed and stood bolt upright.

Ruo grinned at him.

Another shriek pierced the air. Kasu whipped round just in time to see the Sage step over the spider lady’s body and make his slow way towards them. Arun grabbed the iron key Kasu had left in the lock to his cage and held it above his head, as if he thought stabbing the Sage with it might do anything at all.