“Your... mates,” he says in that weird way, “better have burned your body. Not buried. Burned. Your body is wasted. You can’t go back to it. But it’s still yours. If you cross into the human realm and there’s no body, the portal will create one for you. If there is a body and it’s wasted, you won’t be able to get into it, so you turn into a ghost. You’re stuck to the human realm, but body-less.”
“That sounds... awfully specific. So,my mates have to burn my body?”
“Yeah. It’s why the reapers work so hard to keep the spirits down here. Humans nowadays love to bury instead of burn. If a spirit escapes, they’ll only become a haunt up there, and the reapers will have to chase them down and bring them back. Too much work. Better make sure they never leave.”
Even with Zaki’s body so close making my head dizzy, worry eats up inside me. If my mates are in trouble, how can I guarantee they will burn my body? If they’re running for their lives, how am I going to ask them to go back and burn my corpse?
Shit. It sounded simple, but it’s just getting worse and worse.
CHAPTER13
CASSANDRA
With the Devil hosting a party, there’s no distinction between day and night. Even when I feel like we’ve been walking for a week. Zaki and his ludicrous stories keep me distracted and make me laugh, but I grow tired. Not bone tired, and my muscles don’t ache,and my brain doesn’t plead for some sleep. It’s just the tiredness of doing the same task for too many long hours, nonstop. My inability to tell the time doesn’t help. That,plus the increasing cold, and I just want to lie down and close my eyes for a bit.
I just want to not walkfor a while.
Oreo stumbles, hitting the side of my leg. I look down at him, narrowing my eyes. He’s slogging, isn’t he? It looks like he’s having more trouble walking.
I stop and get to my knees, holding the hound. He’s closed his third eye, and the other two are heavy. I thought he had put out his fire, but it’s still here—burning weakly, like a dying flame. Worry shoots into my chest.
“What’s wrong, Oreo?” I ask, holding him against me. Is he sick? Is there something like a hound vet? My heartbeat races as I look for wounds.
Zaki stops, too, but he doesn’t kneel. “We’re almost in the portal to the Abyss. He’s feeling the proximity.”
I shoot him a doubtful look. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Zaki sighs, then squats next to me. His knee touches my thigh as he reaches for Oreo. “Your hound is an Underworld creature. He’s not meant for the Abyss. It weakens him too much.”
“But he was in the Light Realm with me.”
Dry laughter escapes his lips. “The Light Realm has nothing to do with the Abyss. The place I come from is pure magic. Hard magic, dark magic. Hellhounds follow reapers into your realm to hunt spirits if they so wish. But the Abyss? None but demons go into the Abyss.” His yellow eyes burn with warning.
I swallow hard. “So,Oreo can’t tag along.”
“No.” And he gets to his feet, pulling Oreo into his arms. “Come on. There has to be an entrance to these hills. You’ll rest before we cross into the Abyss.”
Zaki carries Oreo without being asked, adjusting our path toward the hills, climbing the side into the darkness. Hesitation churns inside me like a living thing. I’ll have to send Oreo away. Gods, I don’t like this idea. I’ll be alone with the demon, without Oreo’s care, his help, his concealment. At least he can go back to the others. At least he won’t be alone.
An idea slowly dawns on me as Zaki leads us higher, almost to the top of a hill.
“Oreo can take a message,” I blurt, the idea bubbling inside me. “I can tell the others to burn my body.”
Zaki looks back over his shoulder, his brows rising. “Agreed. Having a hound is quite convenient.”
“But I don’t have paper and pen. I’ll have to think of something else.”
Zaki clicks his tongue. “Leave that to me.”
We reach the top of the hill. From here, I look down at where the road leads. No trees or anything else that’s living. No birds or insects. Just silence. Ahead, on the road, there’s a house. One window, one door. And then... nothing. A huge wall of blackness reaches toward the sky right after the house.
“Is that the Abyss?” I breathe out.
Zaki stops and stares. “Yes. A barrier blocks the entrance.”
Another barrier. And this one I can’t break. I nod at Zaki and try to ignore our destination for now. Zaki makes his way down the side of the hill, exclaims under his breath, then changes his direction. I skid down the rocks, following him. A narrow path takes us to the mouth of a shallow cave.
“Finally,” he says, putting Oreo down. “There. Bid your hound goodbye.”