Page 16 of Wicked Ties
Thanatos shoved his hand into her chest once more and gold light exploded outward, and Tilly’s ghost was shoved back into her body. She sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes flashed wide open. For a few minutes, she patted herself making sure she was real.
“That was . . . that was awful.”
“Eh, death isn’t so bad.” Thanatos waved us away. “There’s your answer.”
I walked over to Tilly and ran my hands over her hair and cupped her cheeks. When her cheeks heated, I knew she was intact. I dropped my hands and turned back to him. “Yeah, but how do you fix it?”
He shrugged. “The only thing I can think of is you need to somehow heal what’s broken.”
Nova sighed. “Who can heal a soul and return a spirit?”
“The only person I can think of is Apollo.” Thanatos grabbed his book off his chair and sat back down. “He likes to heal shit. And lately he’s a bit more willing to help.”
“Lately?” When dealing with the Greeks it was a good idea to be on guard.
He thumbed through the pages in his book. “Like the last hundred years or so, he’s what humans like to call reformed. I just think he’s boring . . . like most things.”
Tilly gazed at me. “Are you up for making this trip a bit longer?”
“Where you go, I follow.”
“But where do we go?” She glanced to Thanatos, but he was already ignoring us and buried in his book. She turned to Liesin. “Do you know where?”
“Yep.” He didn’t say anything else.
I was running out of patience with this guy. My magic answered to my annoyance and flared to life. “Mind telling us?”
“For a price.”
Nova put her hands on her hips. “Tell them.”
He smirked. “For a price.”
“What do you want?” She shifted from one foot to the other.
He chuckled. “A date.”
“No.”
“Then I can’t help you.”
Tilly marched up to him and cracked him across the face. His head snapped to the side, and he rubbed at his cheek where she hit him. Then she glared at her hand and back up at him like she couldn’t believe she’d done that. “I would say sorry, but I’m not.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Nova snapped. “We all wish we could do it.”
Liesin dabbed at the small drop of blood on his lip. “The price has been set.”
Nova rolled her eyes. “Fine. One date.”
“Nova, you don’t have to.” Tilly glared at Liesin.
“No, but I will for you guys. I’m still trapped down here but at least I can help like this.” She tossed her white hair over her shoulder.
“Deal.” Liesin smiled full out, and blood clung to his teeth.
“Deal,” Nova agreed.
Liesin turned and walked for the door. We followed him down the hall and past the waterfalls out into the entrance of the cave. He stood next to Nova, looking pleased as shit with himself. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
