River of Shadows (Underworld Gods 1)

I don’t know if it’s sheer exhaustion or almost dying several times today or a new kind of jet lag from getting to this world, but I feel tears starting to creep up on me. Everything is so scary and so beautiful and I wish I had my father to share it with me. I wish he was here right now more than anything.

“She didn’t seem surprised that we’re going for my father,” I say through a sniffle. “She at least didn’t tell us he was dead.”

“He’s not dead,” Rasmus says quietly. “You know this.”

I swallow hard and wipe away a tear with the heel of my palm. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t even know where I am. I don’t even know who I am.”

“You’re Hanna Heikkinen,” Rasmus says to me. He reaches over and brushes a strand of wet hair behind my ear. “And you’re pretty incredible.”

I feel my cheeks flush, feeling anything but. “I’m not incredible. I’m not anything. I’m just trying to get my father back.”

“Because you love him that much. Isn’t that what’s incredible?”

I take in a deep breath and we both lapse into silence. I think that over as the ship sails through the night.

Chapter 7

The Hiisi Forest

A loud scraping sound wakes me up. For a moment, I have no idea where I am and then I feel it. I feel all the awful things at once, from the hard iron deck I’ve fallen asleep on, to the wet, frozen clothes covering my body, to my sore, aching muscles, to the fact that I haven’t gotten to pee in a really long time.

With a groan I lift up my head to see Rasmus on his feet, looking over the bow.

“Where are we?” I ask groggily.

“You were given safe passage across the Great Inland Sea,” a low, calm voice fills the air. Vellamo. So none of that was a dream.

I push myself up and get to my feet, staggering slightly in my heavy wet coat. I feel awful, but the sight of Vellamo is distracting enough.

She’s standing on a snowy bank, her long ice-blue dress seeming to melt into it, so I can’t quite tell where she ends and the snow begins. Her headdress is even more spectacular than the one I saw before, with fishbones and pearls sticking out of her crown like feathers, and a giant clamshell in the middle. Her ethereal gown is wet, moving over her body like sentient water, clinging to every curve, while silver and gold hermit crabs glide over her like moving jewelry. Two octopus rest on her shoulders, becoming one with the dress and finishing the look.

She’s glowing as she was last night, lit from within, but in the dim light of this misty morning, it’s more subdued.

The iron boat has lodged itself on the bank, right beside the River of Shadows, which cuts a dark flowing path through the frosted land, disappearing into the fog. Behind us is the wide expanse of the dark sea. I shudder and make a point to not look back there, as if The Devouress will come back for what she’s lost.

“We will fulfill our promise,” Rasmus says to Vellamo, grabbing his backpack and jumping over the side of the boat and into the shallow water with a splash.

“Where are you going?” I ask him as he wades through the dark river until it’s waist-high. He doesn’t answer me but he reaches into the water as if pulling down his pants.

“Here fishy, fishy,” he says in a sing-song voice with a strange smirk on his face.

I look at Vellamo, my brows raised. “What is he doing?”

Vellamo keeps her intense gaze on me, her irises flashing through different shades of blue. “He is occupied.” She walks to the water’s edge so she’s standing in front of the hull. “And it is just as well. I need to ask a favor from you.”

“Okay,” I tell her. I want to look at Rasmus to see what’s happening, but I’m ensnared in her gaze. “I’ll do whatever it is that I can.”

“Very well. A long time ago, Tuoni took one of my mermaids to keep as a pet. At least, that’s why I assume he took her. For all I know, she might be dead. Being with Death often ends that way. When you go to Shadow’s End, if you happen to come across a mermaid, please do what you can to free her.”

“You think that’s where my father is? Shadow’s End?”

She nods slowly. “I know that’s where he is. And he’s alive. I may not be an omnipotent God, but I do have contacts throughout the land. We all do. And it makes the news when a powerful shaman such as Torben has been captured.”

I try to swallow the brick in my throat. “He’s been captured?”