The next thing I knew, I was back inside the silver spire, sprawled on the floor.
Blinking under a beam of light cast down from above, I sat up and looked around. I'd been in Hell for a hundred years; I expected to see the spire's interior rimmed with cobwebs and frosted with dust. Perhaps Lillian's mummified remains would be tumbled nearby if she hadn't managed to escape during my century away.
Instead, I saw something even more incredible. Something that made me gasp.
There wasn't a cobweb or layer of dust in sight. There wasn't a trace of a mummy or pile of bones, either.
What I saw instead was this: Lillian standing exactly where I'd left her, still surrounded by the misty ghost fish.
"Stag!" As soon as she called my name, the ghost fish swirled away, setting her free. She
