Love's Resurrection, A Deadly Game

thick carpet. We walked down a long, dark hallway lined with portraits of stern-fa

nted, then turned and walk

seeped through the wood, making the hairs on my arm stand up. This was

oor open and s

out all light. In the center of the room, on a large four-poster bed, lay a figure under a

o to the be

her, but the tools of a Matchmaker. I pulled out a small, antique brass

un wildly, jittering back and forth. The energy in the room was chaotic, agitated. Not

feeling for incongruities. My fingertips brushed against a tiny, almost invisible hole

planning t

k wax from my pocket, warmed it between my fingers, and pressed it fir

ver my clothes. Then came the mask-a simple, white porcelain mask that covered the top half of my face, leaving only my mo

out a stick of my own hand-rolled incense-a mixture of sandalwood,

. The flame flic

nease tightened in my stomach. This was a bad sign. A

hite smoke curling up into the still air. The scent, calming and

the bed. I

ure, my heart pounding a slow

n you. I don' t know what' s going on, but your 'parents' are paying me a ridiculous amount of money to

w I coped. Talking to the deceased as if they were

ly, carefully, began t

, a symbolic cleansing. I uncovered his legs, his torso. He was dressed in a fine silk suit. The body was...

h every inch of sh

I took a deep breath and pul

was

him. His dark hair, the strong line of his jaw, the faint scar above his left eye

he pale, waxy fi

skin. A subtle, almost impercep

my ear hovering j

elt

warm puf

s bre

b. It was a setup. They hadn' t hire

t person in the room with a li

-