Page 31 of To Dwell in Shadows
“What are they trained to do?” Selene asked.
Ogrin eyed her suspiciously. “Who wants to know?”
Selene stuck out her hand to shake. “Hi, I’m Selene.”
When Ogrin looked at her outstretched hand like it was stick of dynamite, Vanthee said, “This living human is a guest of the king and queen.”
Selene couldn’t help but notice Vanthee didn’t introduce her as Sam’s mate.
“Humph,” Ogrin replied, picking at a rust spot on a nearby cage. “Some hounds go to the living world to guard graveyards or burial grounds, and others stay here. They’re supposed to herd lost souls who have wandered from their path.” She gestured at one of the wispy ghost-like people Selene had seen earlier. Then she pointed caustically at Vanthee. “Sincethis onecan’t do her job.”
“Those are souls?” Selene asked. “Why haven’t they moved on?”
Vanthee’s eyes flashed with defensiveness, but Selene saw a hint of embarrassment as well. “I do my best to guide them to where they’re supposed to go, but sometimes there are too many. Some get missed, and it’s nearly impossible to get them back again.”
As Selene processed her words, Vanthee marched up to a misty figure. She looked back at Selene and said, “Watch this.”
Waving her arms in front of the spirit, she said, “Excuse me—hi. You’re in the wrong place.”
The figure, who looked like a young man wearing a tuxedo, drifted past Vanthee without even looking at her.
“Sir, you need to go home!” she called after him, beckoning him with her hand.
They watched the spirit continue to hover around the kennels, looking lost and desperately sad. Then he faded into thin air.
“See?” Vanthee’s chin trembled slightly when she looked back at Selene. “Now he’s gone to haunt someone. Maybe one of your kind can make him move on. Have you had enough of a tour, human? I have other things to do.”
It was clear Selene had touched a nerve, so she didn’t press further. “Yes, of course. Thank you for showing me around.”
“Your chambers are that way,” Vanthee said, pointing toward the royal wing. With that, she turned and walked off without another word.
Chapter 16
When Sam felt well enough to leave the Sanctum, he found himself heading back to the Swamps of Sanctuary. The stillness of the space grounded him. He perched on a rock, lazily tossing pebbles into the water as he tried to sort through his feelings about his first experience delivering vengeance.
His initial thought was that something inside him was broken. Missing the crucial training he should have received as an adolescent must have damaged some internal mechanism. His second thought followed quickly: maybe even with training, he would have been an ineffective Vengeance demon anyway. Perhaps he was just using his lack of training as an excuse for a fundamental ineptitude.
His third thought was imagining the advice Eldridge would give him. He was fairly certain the Goblyn would tell him he was being too hard on himself. Prone to bouts of melancholy, he often needed Eldridge to pull him out of his dark moods with gentle reminders of how unreasonable he was being.
The Goblyn was probably right, even though his advice was only conjured from Sam’s head. It was just his first day in theUnderworld, and his first attempt at in the Sanctum. It hadn’t gone as he had hoped, but that didn’t mean he could never improve.
An imp swooping overhead pulled Sam out of his rumination. It dropped down to hover in front of him and said, “King say you must return to palace. They having celebration banquet for you tonight.”
Before Sam could respond, the imp shot back into the sky and flew off.
He rubbed his forehead. Celebration banquet? Why was he constantly plagued by others wanting to hold social events for his benefit? Being the center of attention had never been comfortable for him. What he truly wanted was to take a long nap and then have a quiet dinner alone with Selene.
But as his parents would say: duty calls.
Although it was still light outside when Sam returned to their chambers, Selene was sprawled across their bed, fast asleep. The hem of her dress was filthy, making him wonder how she had spent her first day in the Underworld.
He brushed back a lock of hair from her cheek and said, “Wake up, my darling.”
“Mmm,” she groaned and rolled over. “What time is it?”
“Evening. My parents are throwing a celebration dinner that we must attend.”
“Ugh. Do we have to?”
