Page 33 of Monsters of Midnight

“Going into Undirheim will kill you,” Vina said. “There’s nothing I can do about that. It’s a one-way ticket. Even if I can get you in, you can’t come back.”

“I don’t want to come back,” I said.

“There’s two problems with your logic. If you don’t want to come back then we lose you anyhow, even if we give you this wish, so either way it’s a lose lose proposition for the DGC.”

“Unless…” I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Unless I traded in a favor with Thrain to get you permission to leave and return to earth.”

I nodded at her. “Precisely.”

“And why exactly am I going to do this for you?”

“Because I’m not going to stand in your way of taking down my brother. I think he has been a danger, and somebody needs to take responsibility for the death of a fae, or else they will come asking questions.”

“There is that,” Vina said.

“Also, if you don’t get me into Undirheim, I’ll retire.” I leaned back in my chair.

“You’ll what?” Vina asked in shock.

“Retire,” I repeated. “I won’t do anything to stop the monsters overrunning the earth.”

“I find it very difficult to believe you would actually do that,” Vina said.

“Watch me,” I insisted.

She eyed me up quietly for a moment. “Okay,” she finally said.

I wasn’t sure how to take it.

“Okay? You want me to stand by and do nothing about these monsters?” I asked.

“No,” she said to my relief. “I’ll get you access into Undirheim for one day. There’s no guarantee what shape you’ll come out of there in. I’ll have to ask him questions.”

The wave of relief that fell over me was amazing. It was as if my entire being was uplifted and settling in on a pink cloud.

I grinned at her like a child.

Now I just needed to get Ratchet and go with him to Undirheim together. We would come up with a way to get Caroline out of there and safely back to Earth.

Chapter 19

CAROLINE

The sun never rose, nor set an Undirheim. It was just a pale gray most of the time. The only thing I could tell of the passing of time was the moon. The moon hung low in the sky, as if we were so close you could almost reach out and touch it.

Oren told me we had a bit longer in Undirheim, but when the moon was full, that’s when I would make my transition to wherever it was banshees who had been married to demigod monsters went when they died. I only hoped there weren’t a whole lot of monsters in there. I would love nothing more than to see Ryder, without the protection of Ryder, monsters weren’t something I wanted to experience.

Instead, I felt lulled into the calming tone of Undirheim, enjoying the company of Oren. She made a point of coming by each day to the cell where I stayed and taking me around Undirheim to show me some other things that were going on besides the café. There was, of all things, a bookstore and some other gathering areas much like bars where they watched sports on projected screens. I didn’t recognize any of the sports they were playing, but I could tell by the chanting when they were losing or when they were winning.

It was clear after a while, that the Valkyries and the demons had a fairly odd relationship.

It wasn’t that they hung out together. They certainly didn’t. Valkyries moved in groups, and the demons moved alone, sometimes recognizing each other and giving a slight nod. There was an undeniable energy about the two of them. It was obvious in the way they each took up space around each other as if each one of them wasn’t there, then the other one would also cease to exist. Completely separate entities, yet completely reliant on each other.

Just thinking about it now gave me pause. It made me think of things that I could barely remember. A dim shadow of a memory made me feel and think as if a piece of me was missing, as if something was left in the shadows of my life.

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