Page 68 of A Single Thread Of Hope

My eyes had snagged on the last person, though. His power was immense, and his presence filled the room. I knew who he was, the same way I knew who the Greeks were. Possibly one of the most famous Mythics of all time, and I guess it made sense why he was here.

“Anubis,” I breathed, and Brân made a noise of agreement. The Weighing made sense now, and honestly, I felt like a bit of an idiot not figuring it out before. “Weighing. He’s going to weigh my heart.”

Looking at me sadly, Brân merely nodded.

Like they’d all been waiting for Anubis to arrive, the collective rulers of the afterlife all turned to look at me. I felt like just their gaze alone might incinerate me. They were all so different, so varied in not just appearance, but in power and beliefs. The silence was both heavy and deafening all at once. The people at the edges of the room, who’d stayed to watch my weighing, were so quiet, I didn’t even think they were breathing.

The jackal-headed God, Anubis, stepped forward. “Wren Mahone. Do you still petition for the Weighing?” It sounded like a question, but there was only one answer. I had a feeling that I’d wish I was dead if I wasted the time of all these powerful Gods.

But I hadn’t changed my mind. I bowed low. “I do.”

Anubis inclined his head. “Osiris will remove your heart, and I will weigh it against the feather of Ma’at, the Goddess of Truth, Balance and Fairness. If your heart is heavier, I will take your soul and feed it to Ammit, removing your soul from the weave and the wheel permanently. The process is not pleasant. Your soul being torn out is not a gentle caress.”

I licked my lips, my throat suddenly dry. “And if I’m found worthy?”

Anubis’s eyes told me he didn’t see that happening, but not in a condescending way. I think he just believed this whole thing was rigged. “If you are found worthy, your heart light, then you will eat the feather of Ma’at. You will become immortal and be returned to the human plane, until you die in the way of the immortals.”

I nodded. My heart was thundering in my chest as I second-guessed every single thing I’d ever done in my life. That time I’d gone out underage drinking—would that be the heaviness that tipped the scales? The way I’d raged after my parents death? The fact I was banging at least seven guys might be bad.

Still, there was no other choice for me.

Osiris stepped forward. So far, he hadn’t spoken, but he lifted his hand in question. Was I ready for this? To let this Mythic remove my heart? My knees were shaking, but I held my chin high. I met his eyes, so black they may as well be pits of tar themselves.

Sucking in a breath, I closed my eyes slowly, reaching for the connection I had with Griff. It was quiet and still now, and I’d thought severed, but I hoped as I poured love to the place where it was, he’d feel it. Let them all know that I loved them.

Opening my eyes, I inclined my head respectfully at Osiris. “I’m ready.”

There wasn’t any pomp or ceremony. His hand shot forward and burst through my ribs, before he dragged my heart back out. I gasped, falling to my knees. I knew I was already dead, my heart no longer beating, but the pain was real.

It felt like hooks were being dragged from my veins, my blood being replaced by acid, and I screamed. I screamed and screamed until the room around us disappeared, and all that was left was a rapidly flashing reel of my life.

Everything was there in a flash. My first steps. My first friend. My first sadness. My grandmother dying. Saving a baby squirrel when I was eight. But more than that, there were inconsequential moments flashing in front of me. Spilling milk on the floor when I was four. Catching the bus at twelve. Random things. On and on it went, until we got closer to the end. That damn watermelon. The apple. Java Llama. Nate. The guys. Dying.

It stopped as suddenly as it had started. I sucked in a breath, like Osiris’s hands had been around my lungs and he’d finally let go. I lay on the floor, looking up at the chandelier over the bar. I needed to turn my head. Needed to watch.

I saw Cy fighting against the hold of Hades, who was gripping him tightly, probably to stop him from doing something stupid, like attacking the God of the Egyptian Underworld.

I watched as Anubis placed my heart on a set of scales that appeared from nowhere. On the other side was a golden feather about the length of my pinky finger. It must have weighed basically nothing. They’d been right; I’d been full of hubris to think I could overcome this test. No one who had lived would have a heart light enough. I was about to be swallowed into nothingness.

I looked at Cy, and his eyes caught mine. I hoped he could read all the things I couldn’t say out loud. I apologized that I put him through this. I told him how much I loved him.

Someone made a noise, and Cy tore his eyes away from me, back to the scales. They tipped wildly in one direction, my heart heavier, than back the other way. Back and forward they rocked, the whole world moving so slowly that each rock of the scales felt like it took a lifetime. Or a deathtime.

Finally, it evened back out. Someone gasped in the background, and Lucifer glared in their direction. Anubis turned to Osiris. “It’s balanced.”

“But not lighter?” Hel asked, her voice soft and melodious. “Does that mean the challenge was overcome or not?”

“Surely not good enough to warrant eternal life. Put her heart back, and she can work the Tar Pits forever. Or go on to one of the afterlifes like an average mortal,” one of the Gods argued, which started an argument.

The whole time, I lay there, a gaping hole in my chest, waiting for my fate to be decided. Hades let Cy go, and he rushed over to me, his eyes continually dipping to my chest and then back up to my face.

I lifted my hand to his cheek. “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.” Just a small lie. My chest didn’t hurt, because my whole body was on fire. “I’m sorry you have to see this,” I whispered.

“I couldn’t have left even if I wanted to,” he murmured, kissing my cheeks and the tears I hadn’t realized were pooling there.

Osiris finally raised his hands. “The universe is about balance. Good and evil. Villains and heroes. Happiness and tragedy. We all know this. She has achieved the balance sought by the universe, and I believe that she should gain her immortality and be returned to the world. It is the will of the universe. We are not more powerful than the will of the stars themselves.”

Yama stuck his hands on his hips. “You aren’t the ruler here, Osiris. We vote. Those in favor of just putting her mortal soul back in her body and sending her on her way, raise your hands.” I couldn’t see who raised their hands. “Those in favor of feeding her soul to Ammit and going home?”

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