The woman stopped singing and her head snapped toward me. Her pale white eyes locked onto mine. She didn’t have any pupils.

  Creepy, but at least they weren’t all cloudy and corpsy, I guess.

  Kuba gasped and stumbled backward.

  I looked at him, then at her again. “So… anyone care to tell me what’s going on here?”

  The rusalka smiled softly. "I was just singing to my fiancé."

  I squinted at her. "Alright then. So you weren't trying to steal his soul or drown him? And you’re not some kind of evil monster?" I pointed at my eyes. “No offense, but you have no pupils, and that gives a bit of monster energy.”

  I paused, taking in the swamp water lapping around her shoulders and felt a shiver down my spine. “And you’re sitting in that. That can’t be good for you.”

  She gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. "I would never harm my beloved!"

  I raised my hands. "Hey, just checking. You never know what the... people? In this swamp are up to. I mean, I saw some guy wearing furry pants a while back. Can you believe that?"

  Her brow furrowed and she opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. Poor woman probably couldn’t believe it. I still didn’t fully believe it myself. The audacity of those pants will haunt me for the rest of my life.

  I closed my eyes and nodded reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I took care of it.”

  The [Rusalka] only looked more confused.

  “Anyway,” I said. “How do you guys know each other?”

  The [Rusalka] brightened immediately. “Our souls were always meant to find one another. Across lifetimes, across waters, across every sorrow. Fate carried him to me. I knew the moment I saw him—my heart recognized its other half.”

  Oh gods. She was one of those girls. Burk. I suddenly found myself almost hoping she had been trying to drown Kuba. Or steal his soul. Anything but this.

  If she started reciting poetry, I was going to drown myself and hopefully traumatize her.

  I sighed. “Alright then. I’m Hecate, what’s your name? Since Kuba has apparently lost the ability to speak.”

  “Hecate, that’s a very pretty name! My name is Moryana.”

  I reconsidered my earlier assessment. This woman was clearly very intelligent. Hecate is a pretty name.

  "Well, it was nice meeting you, Moryana,” I said, aready stepping back. “But we have to get back.” I turned to Kuba. “Kasia is worried about you.”

  "KASIA?!" Moryana hissed.

  That was an odd reaction.

  Moryana folded her arms under the water. “Who is Kasia? Why is she worried? You said you were unmarried!”

  "Yeah… his sister," I said slowly. Something felt off. "How long have you two known each other, exactly?"

  "It feels like we've known each other through many lifetimes," Moryana said, her voice softening again. "Our souls have been intertwined since—"

  "Right, right. But for real though. How long?"

  "We just met today, but when you find your true soulmate, time becomes meaningless. The moment our eyes locked, I knew—"

  "I see," I said. I looked at Kuba, who was still just sitting there, looking dazed. "Kuba. I think this would be an excellent time to weigh in on this discussion."

  “Yes,” Kuba managed. “We… just met today.”

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  “Damn, Kuba,” I said. “You move fast. Did you really propose to the first pretty girl you ever met? I mean, you’re already a [Carpenter]. How many questionable decisions do you plan to stack on top of each other?”

  I shook my head at him. “What’s wrong with you? Should I be worried for my safety?”

  “Uhh…?”

  I turned back to Moryana. “Are you sure you didn’t eat his brains or something?”

  Her mouth fell open. “I—No! What?”

  It made sense now. Nothing sinister was happening here. No brains had been eaten. They were just both… mentally under-equipped. This was just what they were like.

  “Kuba, are you going to marry this… woman?”

  “I… maybe?”

  I clapped my hands together. “Great!” I pointed at Moryana. “You. Get out of the water. Don’t you know what water does to dead bodies?”

  Moryana cocked her head. “But… I’m a rusalka… we live in the water.”

  Live in the water? That gave me an idea.

  I had a whole bwotnik hoard nearby that needed to be not in the water. If I could convince her to come with us to the cathedral I could probably convince her to dive in there and bring it up.

  Did the power of love actually just solve one of my problems? Did love just hand me (potential) untold riches? I wondered if rusalki also liked opening locked chests, because that would be perfect.

  I put on my best thoughtful expression. “You know, since you two are apparently engaged now, I think it’s important Moryana meets Kasia. And, uh… the others. Since we’re all basically family now.”

  “I… guess,” Kuba said.

  “Oh, I’m so happy!” Moryana said. “After all this time I finally get to meet your family!”

  I raised an eyebrow. After all this time? By her pale grace, these people are something else.

  Moryana lifted a dripping hand toward me, palm up, the universal gesture for please haul my soggy undead body out of this pond.

  I grimaced. Absolutely not. I wasn’t touching a corpse that had been marinating in swamp water since… who even knew when.

  “I think that’s the gentleman’s job,” I said. “Come on, Kuba. Take care of your future wife.”

  Kuba blinked like someone had just woken him from a long nap, then shuffled forward and offered both hands. Moryana took them delicately, looking at him with complete adoration. He pulled her out of the water, and the whole time she stared up at him with that expression on her face.

  She was wearing a plain white dress. Long, simple, clinging to her from the water. I squinted at it. Was it enchanted? What kind of enchantments could be on it?

  I cast [Artifact Index].

  [Rusalka’s Plain Dress - Dress]

  + 12 Attunement

  + 50% Proficiency: Dance

  + 50% Proficiency: Singing

  + 50% Proficiency: Charm

  + 50% Water Mastery

  Talk about a poorly named item! That thing was anything but plain. It wouldn’t do me any good, but for someone who lived in the water and liked singing it was pretty sweet. Not that I would shoot her and take the dress if it did have enhancements that benefited me, of course. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

  "Alright, Kuba," I said. "Lead the way back to the cathedral."

  "You want me to lead?" he asked.

  “Yes, you. Obviously. I’ll guard the back.” I gestured vaguely at the swamp. “Not because I don’t know the way back. I totally know the way back. I could walk it blindfolded. The swamp is just… dangerous. And I wouldn’t want anything happening to two young lovers at the start of their… whatever this is.”

  “She’s so kind,” Moryana whispered to Kuba.

  Kuba nodded slowly and started walking. Moryana stayed close to his side, holding his arm.

  Eventually, the cathedral came into view, and as soon as Moryana spotted it she stopped and turned to me. “You live here?” She turned back to the cathedral. "Are you... no, that can't be."

  She shook her head, as if dismissing whatever thought she'd had.

  One part of me wondered what she was about to say, but most parts of me didn’t really care, so I decided to let it go.

  "I can't wait to meet your sister, Kuba!" Moryana said brightly, squeezing his arm.

  When we got inside Vasil and Kasia were having an animated discussion with Skelly. Phisto was nowhere to be seen. When they noticed us they all stopped and stared.

  “Hi everyone!” Moryana said, waving cheerfully.

  Vasil’s gaze was locked on Moryana. “Hecate, can I have a word?”

  “Sure.”

  He pulled me aside and whispered, “You know that’s a rusalka, right?”

  “Yeah she told me, and I cast [Soul Index].”

  “And you know what they are?”

  I shrugged. “Some kind of undead, I suppose. She seemed nice. Bit slow in the head, but nice.”

  Vasil shook his head. “Hecate… rusalki are spirits. Entities formed from the soul of a young woman who died an unnatural death. Usually by drowning.”

  “I don’t hold it against her. Not everyone is a great swimmer like myself.”

  He sighed. “I meant she didn’t drown herself. Someone drowned her.”

  “Wow. Rude. She may not be the brightest, but she seems friendly.”

  “Hecate,” he said slowly, “they lure men into the water and drown them. That’s literally what they do. They’re vengeful spirits.”

  I turned around and called out, “Moryana? Were you going to drown Kuba?”

  She lit up. “Of course! It’s the only way for us to be together forever.”

  “Oh.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, well, I can’t allow that. Sorry. Kuba hasn’t finished the doors yet.”

  “But… after?”

  “No.”

  Moryana pouted.

  “Moryana,” I said, “it’s not nice to murder people. How did you like being drowned?”

  She looked down, sheepish. “I didn’t.”

  I folded my arms. “So why are you trying to drown Kuba?”

  “You were going to drown me?” Kuba asked.

  She perked up again, reaching for his hand. “So we could be together forever!”

  I stared at her. Then at Kuba. Then back at her.

  “Right,” I said. “Well. You know what’s even more fun than drowning people?”

  She tilted her head. “No?”

  “Diving for treasure,” I said. “And bringing it to me.”

  “…What?”

  “Exactly.”