Page 69 of A Single Thread Of Hope

I sucked in a breath between my teeth, and Cy went pale, but let out a quick, relieved breath. “No one raised their hand,” he whispered.

Yama grumbled. “Those in favor of gifting her immortality and sending her back to the living world?”

Cy was now crying. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

A force pushed him away, and Osiris was there above me, my heart in his hand. He pushed it back into my chest, and the pain stopped immediately, making me cry out with relief. Reaching down, he helped me to my feet. His skin felt both cool and hot at once, like there was fire living inside him, barely contained by a physical form.

Anubis was holding the feather from the scales, which he handed to Osiris. “The Assemblage of Death have seen your heart, Wren Mahone, and have agreed to gift you withimmortality. Eat the feather of our revered Ma’at and begin your new life.”

I opened my mouth, and Osiris placed it on my tongue. Like a wafer, it disappeared into nothing, but I could feel the power flood my body, chasing away the lingering aches, chasing away anything that felt like mortality. It felt like all my cells were vibrating together. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

I clenched my teeth, praying I wouldn’t break them all. Eventually, I collapsed back to my knees, and for an indeterminable amount of time, my body transformed.

Finally, I felt alive in a way that I couldn’t even explain to a mortal person. Nothing ached. Nothing felt wrong. It was like a day where you felt your best, but then a hundred times better. Climbing to my feet, I felt like a newborn deer. My knees trembled, until Cy wrapped an arm around my waist, anchoring me to his side.

I looked over at Brân and then Donn. “Thank you two, especially.” Donn waved a hand, like it was nothing.

Brân looked so happy. “It was an honor, girlie. Come and visit the Tar Pits next time you’re in the neighborhood.”

I turned to the rest of the Mythics in the room. “Thank you all. I appreciate the gift you have granted me.”

Hel lifted a perfectly arched brow at me. “It’s the will of the universe.” She turned toward the door. “Oh, when you make it back to the mortal plane, be sure to anchor yourself there.”

I looked at her, wide-eyed. “How do I do that?”

It was Hades who answered. “The way all the Old Gods liked to consummate things. An orgy.”

Then he snapped his fingers, and I disappeared.

Chapter 37

ERUS

“ERUS!”

I was just putting Zale down to sleep when Tryp’s shout echoed through the house. I had a moment of indecision. What did I do? What if we were being attacked?

I looked at the boys’ animal companions, and the half-dozen dogs in here. “Guard them with your lives,” I commanded as I ran from the room toward Wren’s suite, where Tryp had been bathing Wren’s body. I couldn’t do it. It hurt my heart too badly.

I screeched around the corner and into the room, where a white-faced Tryp stood over the bed. But that wasn’t what made me fall to my knees with shock.

It was the fact that Wren was sitting up in bed, smiling at me. “Hello, Erus. I’ve missed you.”

I fell forward, rested my forehead on the cold tiles, and cried with relief.

She was back. She wasback.

Launching myself to my feet, I was on the bed in seconds, kissing every inch of her warm, alive skin I could reach. “I love you. I love you. I’ve missed youso much.” It was an understatement, but there wasn’t a word for how I’d grieved her.“I love you.” I continued to kiss her until Tryp pulled me back so he could rub his cheeks and lips over every inch of her skin.

A low chuckle had me looking to the left, at an awake Cy.

“You brought her back to us,” I sobbed, and he reached out to squeeze my shoulder.

Shaking his head, he smiled at me. “No, brother. She brought herself back. She wouldn’t contemplate an existence without you all. Speaking of which, we need the rest of the guys. We need to anchor her to this plane for a little while.”

I wasn’t sure how we did that, but I wasn’t going to risk being too slow. Leaping off the bed, I raced through the house, calling for everyone as I went. “DEMKE! MILO!”

I ran straight into Griff, whose head was whipping around frantically, like he knew she was here somewhere. I gripped his neck, a gesture I never would have done before, in case the beast bit off my head. But I was too happy to worry about offending him now.

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