Chapter 31

"Is this the body?"

Christine's voice echoed through the chill of the basement.

He was standing in the morgue now.

At the northernmost edge of the imperial palace stood the oldest, most remote building of all — the Black Keep, which housed the mausoleum, the crematorium, and the morgue.

Of the three, the morgue sat lowest and coldest underground, to keep the bodies from decaying. Rumor had it the place had once been used as a torture chamber, and something of that history still clung to the air.

"You'd best prepare yourself."

The coroner gave the warning before drawing back the yellowed linen sheet that covered the corpse.

"Ugh!"

Zimmer, who had come with Christine, clapped a hand over his mouth before he could stop himself.

The body had been torn apart by some beast, and the state of it was gruesome enough to make even Zimmer — a man…