The Death Seer (Skeleton Key) (5 page)

I stood and replaced the book. I grabbed the most recent volume. But no, this one wasn’t the most recent. I turned and saw a book on his nightstand. Of course it would be there, he would still be writing in it. I picked it up, sat back down on the bed, and opened it to the most recent entry. It wasn’t one of the rambling scrawls. It was a neatly penned documentation of his thoughts and actions.

Need to go shopping today. My refrigerator is empty. There’s so little pleasure in food.

I think I’ll go over to the tavern, tonight, and play cards and drink beer. It’s been a while and those guys are always a lot of fun to be around. There’s Margaret, too. If she’s sober, maybe I’ll get lucky.”

I slammed the book shut. No doubt if there’d been a mirror in front of me, I’d see myself sneering in derision. He was getting lucky right now. It didn’t appear he had a problem finding bedfellows here in the underworld. Not that it was any of my concern.

I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. It couldn’t be more than early afternoon, yet I felt like I’d been awake for days.
 

Perhaps I only drifted, or maybe it was a long nap, but I was awakened by a hand gently shaking me. “Brenna, we need to go.”

“Where?” I asked, still reorienting myself.

“King’s Hall. I took a little longer with the girls than I expected and we need to get to our destination before nightfall.”

Stiffly I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. “I was under the impression that night didn’t fully fall, here.”

“It’s not the darkness I’m concerned about. There are nocturnal creatures. Most people know to be inside and locked down by the time the light dims. Are you ready?”

I gathered my bag, checked the little pocket on the side to make sure the key was still there, and slung it over my shoulder. “You sure the ‘girls’ will be okay without you?”

His arrogant smirk might have been charming if I weren’t so disgusted by his behavior.
 

I followed him out the door, which he locked closed behind us, and then onto the streets. “We’ll need a car,” he muttered.
 

We strolled up the sidewalk. The street was lined with cars and, upon closer inspection, I saw that there was quite a variety of makes and models. Ordinary sedans, expensive German cars, vintage muscle cars—even a Model T, or something that looked very similar.
 

“Excuse me, sir?” Kord said.

I bumped into Kord as he’d stopped rather abruptly. My attention turned from examining the street. There was a gentleman of middle age wearing a suit climbing into his BMW. “Yes?”

“I wonder if I might trade you something for the use of your car.”

The man chuckled. “I don’t think so, son. I doubt there’s anything you have that could separate me from my baby.”

“It’s a very comfortable looking car. But I do have something you’ll want.”

Kord, who had been holding my hand, let go of my hand and stepped closer to the man. He slipped his hand in the man’s, taking hold of it. He pressed close and whispered something in the startled man’s ear.

The man’s face went from startled to confused to…hopeful. His eyes filled with tears, his mouth dropped. “You can?” he said. “You can give me that?”

Kord stepped back, releasing his hand, and smiled. “Yes. But you must promise not to tell anyone. For if you do, I’ll be overwhelmed and unable to share with you as much.”

The man nodded frantically. “Yes, yes of course. It would be our secret. Only, it seems so impossible.”

“Let us drop you off at your home. I’ll go in with you and show you. Then we’ll borrow your car.”

“Yes,” said the man. “Okay. If you can do that, then yes, you can have my car.”

Kord smiled, then turned to me. He gestured toward the car. The man opened the back door for me and I slid in. I glared at the back of Kord’s head the entire ride uptown.
 

We arrived at a tall building lined with windows all the way up. A doorman stood under an awning. The man got out of the car. Kord turned. “Wait here. I won’t be long.”

I merely arched a brow at him and watched as he followed the man into the building. I got out and moved to the front passenger seat. There was nothing to do but stare ahead while my erstwhile childhood friend whored himself out for a car.
 

He was right. It didn’t take long. He came out of the door, skidded to a halt to keep from running into a pair of well-dressed elderly women, and then jogged to the car, climbing behind the wheel. He grinned. “I’ve always wanted to drive a Beemer.”

“Apparently.”

He started the engine, checked his mirrors and over his shoulder, and pulled into traffic. “You sound a little condescending. You don’t approve?”

“Of you prostituting yourself for a car? Not really. But I suppose it’s none of my business.”

He chuckled. “What exactly is it you think that I did with that man?”

“I’d rather not speculate.”

“You can ask me, if you want to know. Ask a question and I’ll answer it.”

I pondered for a few minutes. “Tell me about King’s Hall.”

“You’ll see it soon enough. But it is what it sounds like. A place where dead kings go.”

“Why should they get a special place?”

“Well, they were kings once, weren’t they?”

“They were also men. Isn’t death supposed to be the great equalizer? Why should they get a special place of prominence in the underworld?”

Kord laughed. “I see. You misunderstand. It’s not Valhalla. It’s simply a building where former kings and a few queens go to hang out. I suppose they feel like they’re better than the rest of us. Or maybe they simply feel isolated and want to be around others who can relate to their plight. True, Death doesn’t discriminate. But the fall is further for men who have elevated themselves above others.”

The traffic was horrendous. We kept starting and stopping, my body jolting forward and back over and over. “So, it’s like an Shriner’s Club?”

“I’m not familiar.”

“You know, where all the old men go. They put on their little red hats and gather together in their meeting hall.”

Kord smiled, his dimples stretching. “Yes, I suppose so. It’s a private club.”

“Then how will we get in?”

“They always let me in.”

“Because you provide special services for them?”

Kord glanced at me, though the glasses still hid his eyes. “Yes.”

I sighed. “I’d rather not lodge somewhere that has to be paid for with sex.”

“I shall do my best not to have sex with anyone, then.”

I rolled my eyes.
 

Suddenly, Kord took a hard right turn into an alley. Another alley with a brick wall at the end. He gunned the gas, flattening me into my seat. I knew from experience that not all walls were really walls, but I had yet to gain full faith in my guide. “Kord?” My voice pitched high.

“Scared?”

“Yes.”

“You should be. If the door decides to move at the last minute, we’ll both be in a lot of pain. And I’m not sure if you can die here.”

He floored the gas pedal. I closed my eyes and maybe screamed a little. There was a massive bump which caused me to shriek, and for a moment I was sure I was dead. But the car didn’t stop, it simply slowed.
 

“You can open your eyes now. We’re through.”

We were on a dirt road surrounded by trees. The road was fraught with ruts and bumps. Not at all healthy for the poor car.

As we drove, the land seemed to incline. We were trending upwards and the ground became rockier. We came out of the woods and suddenly in view of an ocean, black under the reddish sky. Our road took us along the cliffs at the edge of the ocean. “Here, you’ll see it in a minute, if it’s still on the outcropping. Sometimes it moves. They fight over who had the best castle.”

We took a turn round a particularly high cliff and then it came into view. A majestic castle situated on a small cliff jutted out into the sea. “Wow,” I whispered.

I sensed him glance at me, but my eyes were glued to the castle. I’d never seen one before.

We had to drive a long way around to get to it, but at last we were on the road that led directly to the castle. It was even more massive than I’d first noticed. A mishmash of styles ranging from medieval starkness to Gothic intricacy. Over here was a grand turret covered in gargoyles. Over there was a blank stone wall with narrow slits for windows.

“Oh. Umm…you might wanna hang on,” Kord said.

I searched to see what he was seeing. The castle abruptly flickered out of view and back again. It continued flickering, like a television screen on the blink. Kord slammed on the brakes and put the car in reverse. “This is why we don’t let them live among the people,” he said. “They can’t make up their mind about the landscape.”

“What’s happening?” I shouted.

“I don’t know. Hold on!”
 

We reversed away from the castle, but not quick enough. There was a rumbling and shaking, a great earthquake. The ocean seemed to vanish before us, replaced by mountains. Everywhere I looked cracks expanded in the ground. Suddenly, we dropped.
 

It wasn’t a long drop. We landed in water and began to sink.
 

“We’d better bail out,” Kord said with a sigh.

“What is this?”

“A moat, I suspect. Out. Now.”

The water was halfway up the door. With great effort I pushed it open enough to swim into brackish water. It stank of stillness and bacteria. I found shore and swam. Only it wasn’t a shore, but a steep wall of dirt, impossible to climb. I couldn’t even find purchase to hold on to, and ended up treading water.
 

Kord appeared at my side, the ends of his hair wet and clinging to his neck. He’d managed to keep hold of his sunglasses, but our things were lost at the bottom of the moat. I looked back to see nothing but a surge of bubbles where our car had been. “My key,” I muttered.

“Let’s survive the dragon, first, and then we’ll get your key.”

“Dragon?”

Kord shrugged apologetically. “Told you it was a great tourist spot.”

Just then, there was another rumble. The land around us had settled. This sound was a roar, and the air around us grew warm.
 

We clung to the mud wall of the bank, digging holes with our fingertips to keep from slipping further into the water.

“We’re in the safest place, trust me,” Kord said.
 

A burst of flame shot from somewhere on the bank over our heads and into the water not ten feet away from us. Steam sizzled forth from the point of contact. I looked at Kord.

“Well, perhaps we should work our way over to the drawbridge. If it’s down, we can hide under it.”

Another burst of flame hit the water a little to the left of before. The fire had a profound impact on my soul. “This is how I’m going to die,” I muttered, unaware of the words coming from my mouth.

“Nonsense. Come on, now. That way.”

Fire. Of course I would die by fire. I was being punished for all those living bodies I’d burned. “They were alive and I burned them. I didn’t even have feelings about it after a while. Just shoved them in the furnace and burned them.”

Kord’s cold, muddied fingers wrapped around my chin, turning me to face him. “You’re not going to die. We need to get to shelter.”

Gradually my eyes focused on him. “How do you know there’s a drawbridge?”

“This is a mote. That’s a castle. There’ll be a drawbridge. And it’ll be down because Bay is probably already charging for the dragon. Let’s go.”

My heart thundered in my ears and it wasn’t because of the dragon. “I think I might be a murderer.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case, but let’s talk about it later.”

Tears stung my eyes. “No. This is how I’m meant to die.”

“For God’s sake, come on!” He gave me a shove, dislodging me from the mud wall. I sank into the water before bobbing back to the surface. This time I swam, Kord close behind, both of us staying close to the wall.

The drawbridge came into view. It was, indeed, down. Flame torches lit either side of the opening and the turrets of the castle. The light rippled in the waters of the mote. There was a loud roar followed by another burst of flame, this one landing hard on the stone castle walls across the mote from us. I swam faster, at last reaching the shelter of the bridge.
 

Underneath the wooden contraption, the darkness was nearly complete. I felt Kord before I saw him, his arm coming round my waist as he led me to the mud wall. This time we were able to hang on to a metal crosspiece beneath the bridge.
 

“Well,” he said, breathing hard, “this is quite an adventure, don’t you think?”

I was still catching my breath.

“Really, I haven’t felt this alive in years.” He laughed, grabbed me by the back of the neck, and planted a firm kiss on my lips. “Thank you, Brenna. You always were good for this sort of thing.”

My crisis of conscience momentarily forgotten in the shock of his kiss, I asked, “Good for what?”
 

“Adventure. Remember our adventures?”

For a moment, there was quiet. The water rippled and the wind blew, but I could hear our breaths, and so I lowered my voice. “I remember playing in your window sill.”