Page 74 of Death Raiser

He smiled, slow and wide enough to show off his long point fangs, before he waved his arm at the room for me to walk ahead of him into the space. “I have many skills, Lark, but mindreading isn’t one of them.”

I shook my head and walked forward a couple of steps. A dark-stained, solid oak table, at least ten feet long and five feet wide sat in the centre of the room with matching leather chairs tucked around it. The walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, stained the same dark colour. Every shelf was stuffed with books. For every ten feet of shelf space, there was a tall window, almost floor-to-ceiling, with a cushioned bench at the base. Fluffy pillows and soft throw blankets lay stacked in each reading nook and my fingers itched to grab the nearest book, settle in, and lose track of time.

“I think this will be an excellent first date,” Levi said.

“Wh…what?”

“A reading date. It will also help settle your mind after your traumatic experience. Maybe you’ll even tell me about it when you’re ready. Pick a book. Pick a spot. Let’s read together.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You said you couldn’t read my mind.”

“And I can’t.” He smiled again, flashing his fangs yet somehow not coming across as scary as before. “But I can read body language.”

Well, that wasn’t very disconcerting at all.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I curled up on the cushioned bench with the book, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by pillows. After using a small bathroom off the side of the library to wash off the blood and sweat, I’d found a book and a spot and tried to relax. Only a few hours ago, I’d been shot and running for my life and my mind still reeled and looped through the same unanswered questions from before.

Did Steve still search for me on Murder Island, or had he given up and returned to Victoria to find his next victim? Would he try to hurt Kang? He seemed fixated on the detective. My detective.

Had anyone noticed my absence yet?

I tightened my grip on the book’s hardcover, then forced myself to loosen my grip.

Logan and Brandon would be so worried. Mom, too.

And Kang? How would he feel?

My body heated, warmth flooding my cheeks. I looked away from the blurred lines in the mystery book in my hands and turned my attention to the scenery outside the window. There wasn’t much to see. The veil was a barren wasteland full of shadows, mist, and lost souls. The only thing separating the castle from the ethereal mists were the surrounding curtain wall and those horrid, spiked skeletons. More bodies had joined the line-up since the last time. I wouldn’t have noticed except some looked fresher. They still had flesh attached to their bones and contemporary clothing hung from their limbs.

“Ah,” Levi said. He’d taken a seat on the floor to rest his back on the bench I sat on. He turned to study me without me realizing it and now he wore an unreadable expression. “You’re no longer thinking about books.”

“No.” I’d been thinking about Kang and then tried to distract my thoughts with depressing scenery. But I couldn't tell Levi that. We were supposed to be on a date, and I promised to give him a chance and keep an open mind.

“I wish I could be confident your thoughts involved me.”

I narrowed my eyes. He might not read minds, but he must have additional senses because I refused to believe he got all that from my blush. I could’ve just been reading a naughty scene in a book after all.I liked my books on the spicier side. Could he hear my heartbeat? My sharp intake of breath? Was that it?

“Why do you stake them?” I asked. “The bodies.”

Ah yes. Classic redirect. He wouldn’t see through that at all.

Levi hesitated. “They are the remains of my enemies. Staking them anchors their souls in the veil and prevents them from moving on or from being called upon by necromancers.”

“I thought all souls in the veil were lost.”

He pressed his lips together, probably debating how to explain it or choosing how much he wanted to share. “It’s more complicated than that. If the veil only housed lost souls, you wouldn’t be able to recall every soul to you, would you? All souls come to the veil, and this is where you call them from. There isn’t a heaven or hell so much as the veil has many layers. The souls waiting to get reborn are all in a specific area. Some souls can move between the layers. And of course, your magic can force them to travel through the layers. But these?” He jerked his chin at the window. “Those souls will never move unless I allow it.”

Okay then.

“I can smell him on you,” he said.

“What?” I jerked my head back from peering out the window. I’d been wondering what the heck those people did to Levi to warrant eternal immobility. But now I wondered something else entirely. “Who?”

“Not the man who harmed you. That scent is tangier and filled with rage. This man’s scent lays beneath the latest one. It’s subtle, like expensive cologne and a little smoky.”

Geez.

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