Page 28 of Monsters of Midnight

“It’s not often we get a monster’s wife down here,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we’ve never had a monster’s wife down here because monsters don’t tend to marry.”

“Am I dead?” I asked.

The demon nodded. “Yes. For the most part you were dead. You can no longer return to earth. You’re stuck in Undirheim, and with a bit of luck, we might be able to pass you on to one of the other afterlives. Right now, though, you’re in the landing station. Typically, you would stay here and we would cleanse you and prepare you to go into the afterworld, depending on which direction you’re headed.”

“I don’t want to go to the afterworld,” I muttered. “I want to go back to earth.”

“That’s impossible,” he said. “Your physical life ended when you passed through the lava portal. They only move in one direction. “

“So, I’m going to live as a charred husk here in the afterworld?” I asked.

“No, you will heal,” he said.

“How long will it take me to heal?” I queried. “And to what end. I’m just going to be dead.”

“I can help your body to heal faster,” the demon lord explained. “Though, it’s going to take a moment.”

“Can you please just stop the pain?” I asked. “I thought death meant the end of all pain and suffering.”

“I don’t remember ever hearing that,” Thrain said.

“Then you haven’t hung out on Earth very much at all,” I muttered. “You have magic right? Ratchet had magic. You can do something about this pain.”

“Every demon, like every witch, has their own special brand of magic.” Thrain said. “I mean, we can all do the normal things like create portals, but no, I don’t have the magic to heal your pain.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at me. “It’s most unusual a fae would be in pain in the underworld.”

“I’m a banshee,” I said.

“Well, that might have something to do with it. Banshees are sensitive to death, and Undirheim is steeped in death and decay.”

“Can you get me out of here?” I asked.

“I already told you, you can’t go back to earth,” Thrain said.

“I can’t stay here, forever,” I murmured. And then, suddenly, I looked at him fear tightening my throat. “Can I?”

“No, only demons and Valkyries stay in Undirheim forever,” he said. “This is our home. Everybody else is just passing through.”

“Passing through to where?” A shiver ran up my spine at the thought of what else might be in store for me in this unexpected afterlife.

“Well, you aren’t a Viking, so you won’t be going to Valhalla,” Thrain explained. “You’ll have to have your spirits weighed, and then they’ll determine if you’ll go to the world of the fae or return back to earth.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t return to earth,” I argued. “Wasn’t that the whole point?”

“You can’t go back as you are,” Thrain shrugged. “We can wipe your memory and return your spirit. You can return to earth that way…in another body.”

“Reincarnation,” I frowned, shaking my head. The last thing in the world I wanted was to go back to earth again and deal with what went on there. Especially with no knowledge of what was truly happening on the planet. I had spent my entire life, forty some odd years of it, not even realizing there was magic in the world. I couldn’t imagine going back and being in ignorant again and maybe this time never finding out the truth.

“I don’t want to go back there,” I said. “Not like that.”

My heart ached at the thought of Ryder, but I knew he was stuck on the earth plane. He was a monster.

“I’ll wait for Ryder.” I closed my eyes.

“Even if he dies, which is unusual for a demigod and takes a long time, he wouldn’t come to Undirheim. He wouldn’t go this path. He will return to the monster void.” Thrain explained.

I looked at him solemnly, my neck aching as I craned to see him. “I want to move on,” I said. “I need the pain to stop.”

Thrain looked at me seriously with a nod. His nostrils flared end slightly. “I don’t understand why you’re still in pain,” he said. “I will send a healer. You may think that in the underworld we are heathens, but we do know being in constant pain is not the way to live, even in this realm.”

---