Page 45 of Definitely Dead

Hades dropped his hands and shrugged one shoulder. “Essentially, yes. And no more crossing the river.”

“No.” Sunne shook his head. “That’s not fair. He didn’t—”

“Enough,lelien.” Taking his mate by the shoulders, he turned him, waiting for the male to meet his gaze. “I knew the risks when I crossed, and I’m prepared to accept the consequences.”

The mortal world had lost its appeal the moment he’d met his little ray of sunshine. What could it possibly offer him without Sunne by his side?

“But you can’t go back to the village either. What about Rune and Sindri? What about Orrin?”

Yeah, that part stung, but it wasn’t like he would never see them again. Even immortals eventually met their end. In the meantime, while he waited, he had everything he needed right there in his arms.

“We’ll meet them again,” he promised. “Besides—” He glanced up, smirking at the god over Sunne’s shoulder. “Orrin is very much allowed to cross the river.”

“Clever bastard,” Hades muttered under his breath.

Sunne frowned and spun around, head cocked and hands resting on his hips. “This seems a little too easy. What’s the catch?”

He was smart to question it. With the gods, there was always something lurking in the fine print.

“No scales. No judgment.”

And no Glade. No eternal sunshine in the Underworld’s version of heaven.

“Then where do we go?” Tyr asked.

“You stay here.”

“In this fucking field?” Sunne demanded, his lip curling with revulsion.

To everyone’s surprise, Hades chuckled at the outburst. Hell, even he looked a little startled by his reaction.

“No, not the field. Just…in between.”

“In between what?”

Sensing the god was reaching the end of his tolerance, Tyr pulled Sunne back and tucked him against his side. “We accept. Thank you.”

“Good answer.” Then Hades swept his arm out to the side, manifesting a glowing emerald trail that led across the field and disappeared into the night. “Follow the path. It’ll take you where you need to go.”

Yep, definitely time for them to leave. Tyr gave Sunne a gentle push to get him walking, but they made it only a few steps before Hades called them back.

“If you break the rules again, I will erase you.”

Tyr clapped a hand over Sunne’s mouth when he started to speak and dipped his head in understanding.“Let it go,”he told his mate.“It’s not worth it.”

Sunne glared back at him.“Fine.”

Still, he didn’t remove his hand until Hades had disappeared, leaving them alone in the meadow.

They walked in silence, following the illuminated path out of the field and through more woods. Understandably, Sunne clutched his hand as they navigated the trees, jumping every time the wind kicked up or a branch cracked in the distance.

Beyond the forest, they descended into a lush valley filled with wildflowers, and as they crested the hill on the other side, the first light of morning broke over the horizon. It wasn’t really the sun, but that didn’t matter. Tyr still lifted his face to the golden rays, soaking in their warmth.

“Maybe you should shift,” Sunne suggested as they trudged down another hill toward what looked like a quiet, sleepy hamlet. “You’re naked.”

Otherlings in general didn’t have a lot of hangups when it came to modesty, and shifters had even fewer boundaries than the rest. In fact, he had forgotten about his nudity until Sunne had brought it up.

“I think a tank-sized bear wandering through town might cause more of a stir than my naked ass.”

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