The moment Reid opened his eyes, a nagging sense of unease washed over him as several facts became blatantly clear. He was not at the hospital, nor was this one of their family estates.

  Had someone abducted him?

  Chills racked his body despite the cloying heat and Reid hugged himself for warmth, distantly realizing that although the scent of rotting eggs was almost overpowering, he didn’t catch even a whiff of blood from his clothes. Did someone clean them? It was too dark to tell. He sat up, craning his neck to stare at the emptiness above him, and regretted the decision when a fresh wave of throbbing pain burst through his skull. Thoughts raced through his mind as Reid clamped his eyes shut and waited for the throbbing to end.

  What was wrong with the sky? He had seen nothing but darkness, an empty black void. There had been no stars, no clouds, just the vague sense of nothingness.

  Where was he?

  Had he escaped to a cave or something?

  As the pain faded, Reid opened his eyes and looked around, his confusion mounting at the bizarre sight. He sat in a field surrounded by tall stalks of what looked like yellow grass. Was that wheat? He frowned, rising stiffly to his feet to see over the waist high growth. Behind him, a river split the field in two, winding through the fields to pass between two clusters of towering rock formations. A single, unmanned boat swayed on the tranquil water, drifting towards him as if pulled by an invisible force. At first glance, the boat appeared sturdy, but as the boat drew closer, Reid realized it couldn’t be. The wood looked aged, weathered and brittle by the passage of time. Deep gouges ran along its length and a broken oar protruded from the back.

  Reid stared wide eyed as seconds later, the boat glided into the bank and a hooded figure appeared at its helm. A lantern hung from the figure’s left hand, golden light shining from within foggy glass.

  What on earth was going on?

  Seeing no other option, he warily approached the stranger, eyes glued to the skeletal fingers clasped around the lantern’s base. All he could do is pray the man wasn’t behind his abduction.

  “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

  Reid followed the hooded figure’s gaze to the river’s edge, where he could just make out a cluster of lights.

  “Your answer lies beyond the river.”

  Not a single bridge crossed the still water, and while it looked shallow enough to wade across, Reid haltingly turned back to the hooded man.

  “Would you mind giving me a lift?”

  The figure nodded.

  Reid stepped inside without a second thought, his gaze glued to the lights in the distance. In this situation, the faster he could get across, the better. Whoever had taken him, he doubted a man barely more than skin and bones had anything to do with it, and he didn’t want to be weighed down by wet clothes should he encounter his abductor. Reid felt a little guilty for dragging the boatman into his mess, and when they reached the other side, he reached for his pocket, praying his wallet was still there.

  The boatman held up a skeletal hand, stopping him.

  “There is no need. The fee has already been paid.”

  Reid’s jaw tightened as he stepped onto shore, wondering if he had misjudged the boatman. Was he working for the Spades, or one of his father’s campaign rivals?Before he could confront the man, a woman cleared her throat behind him.

  Shuffling back with wide eyes, heart hammering in his throat, Reid tore his attention from the boatman and spun to face the newcomer. He’d thought he had pretty good hearing. Something had to make up for his crappy eyesight, but she appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t hear the steady tap-tap-tap of her stiletto heels on the paved ground, nor the impatient clicking of her pencil. The hair rose on the back of his neck and down his arm as a shiver swept through his body.

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  How had he not noticed her?

  The woman’s black robes hugged her body, covering all but her shoulders, and flowed around her tall, slender frame like a sheet of silk. He grimaced, realizing he’d walked right into a trap. She probably hired the boatman to bring him here. He braced himself for a fight,

  The woman smiled, but it didn’t reach her cold eyes.

  “Welcome to DiyU. Congratulations, you’re dead.”

  Reid choked, his thoughts stuttering to a halt.

  “What do you mean, I’m dead?”

  He glanced around, searching for a hidden camera. Was this all just some prank?

  Reid looked himself over, his hands roving across his body before freezing on the back of his head. There was no blood. If he’d been in a coma, the lack of wounds would make sense. Had Kilbern planned this after the doctors released him from the hospital?

  He shook his head.

  No.

  Even Kilbern wouldn’t do something this elaborate to prove a point. The last time, Reid had been a child, and his “kidnappers” locked him in what he later discovered was one of the family’s vacation estates. Kilbern had thought it best to demonstrate the hard way what happened if Reid became too trusting. Plenty of people had a grudge against his father, and would see Reid as an easy way to blackmail him.

  He sucked in a shaky breath, glancing at the river once more, realizing Kilbern’s lessons were the least of his worries. Now that he looked again, the water had a decidedly yellow tint to it.

  Reid swallowed hard.

  “You must be joking. Look at me. I’m fine. There’s no way I’m dead!”

  Despite his frantic outburst, her dark eyes never left the clipboard in her hands. Long, pointed nails scratched along the paper as she flipped through the stack, searching for something.

  “Says here you got beat to shit before you kicked the bucket. A right nasty blow to the head. That ringin’ any bells?”

  Reality struck him like the blow to his head, and Reid staggered from the memory. A jagged wheezing breath caught in his chest as he put together the pieces, recognizing the field, the river and the boatman for what they were, as well as the state of his own body. He felt no broken bones. His head no longer ached, and the nausea plaguing him in the car had vanished.

  Gut wrenching certainty tore through the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t one of Kilbern’s lessons, and it was too real to be a dream.

  He’d never once remembered his dreams in the past, anyway.

  He really was dead.

  As if she could hear his inner turmoil, the woman looked up, her almond-shaped eyes peering above the clipboard to regard him with a mixture of condescension and annoyance.

  “Yes, yes, it’s all very shocking, isn’t it? Best come to terms with it quickly. Death waits for no one and I have a lot more where you came from, so let’s get through this smoothly, shall we?”

  Her tone was brisk, and she promptly spun on her heel to march down the stone path. He could only trail after her like a lost duckling.

  Reid followed her in silence for a few minutes, his anxiety growing with every step. If he was dead, why did he feel so… normal? Shouldn’t he feel more, well, dead?

  And where were they going?

  To keep his mind off the steadily growing list of questions ready to burst from his lips, Reid watched the boat and its occupant float along the river as they walked, until finally, he could take the silence no longer.

  “What the hell is going on? Where are we going?”

  Slowing to a stop, the woman turned around, lips twitching. She drank in his confusion, clearly amused, before pointing a slender finger toward the bank.

  “You should thank Charon for seeing you safely across the River of Oblivion. Not everyone receives the honor.”

  The boatman returned to the other side just as an old woman approached the river. A skeletal hand gestured to the boat, but the old woman shook her head, wading into the river’s embrace almost eagerly. Her features eased into a peaceful expression, and by the time she had crossed the river, Reid had to tear his gaze away, unable to meet the woman’s now vacant eyes.

  His eyes narrowed, turning back to glare at the woman with the clipboard. She still hadn’t answered his question, and he really hated riddles.

  “Hudson and the others deal with new arrivals. You want answers? Talk to him.” She huffed, pointing to several long lines of people further ahead, where the yellow wheat stalks gave way to a stone path.

  “At least tell me where we are. Is this supposed to be the afterlife?”

  The woman’s lips thinned in irritation, but she didn’t ignore him this time.

  “Not quite. As I said before: Welcome to Diyu. Otherwise known as Hell.”