Page 67 of Deathless
Lips brushed my cheek with a whisper of my name, and then I was kissing him desperately. I kissed him like I needed his air to live, the press of lips and stroke of tongues making me more alive than oxygen ever could.
The unfamiliarity didn’t bleed in until we broke away. This mouth was different. The rasp of his beard was softer, the bristles longer than Torr’s or Santos’ stubble.
I pulled away to find Devin staring back at me.
The tenderness in his dark eyes gave way to full-blown panic.
“Shit. I’m sorry. Really, I’m sorry. I don’t know what—”
He stood from the bed, backing away on clumsy feet to crash directly into Torr’s chest.
The sight of him broke a dam of emotion that I hadn’t even been aware of. A sob breaking through my chest was all it took for him to maneuver around Devin and take me into his arms.
Always so strong, the love of my life held me, rocked me as I shuddered out tears and ugly sobs. I cried for his parents, the childhood that I now knew thanks to that parasite that had been in me. I had no right to know, but I did anyway. I cried at the sheer bone-deep relief that he was here. Mine. My north star, steadfast and constant.
“I love you,” he whispered repeatedly into my neck, stroking my hair and back with a heavy, comforting hand. “I love you, Aurora Wilder, and I will never let you go.”
“Took you long enough,” I said on a sniffle and shaky breath.
He laughed softly, pulling back to cradle my face in his hands and rest his forehead on mine. “It’s so fucking good to have you back.”
“I’m never leaving you.” My hands drifted all over him, like I couldn’t get enough confirmation that he was here, real and solid. And thatIwas in control of my own body again.Icould touch him, feel him with my own hands.
“I know.” He brought one of my hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “I know you won’t.”
A throat-clearing sound pulled my attention away from him, and I looked up, my mouth open with the intention of telling whoever it was to fuck off. The last person I expected to see looming in my doorway was my own damn father.
“Dad?” I choked. “What are you doing here?”
Shadow wasn’t alone. He was flanked by Hudson on one side and Devin on the other. There was more activity behind him, like people were coming up the stairs to see for themselves that I was awake.
“Rori…”
My name, choked out in a rough whisper, was the only warning I got before getting wrapped up in a tight hug that took me right back to childhood. Torr must have darted out of the way in a flash with how fast my father moved.
Shadow felt like an impenetrable shield surrounding me, his strength protecting me from all of the evils of the world. Worn leather and gunpowder filled my nose, and I burrowed into that safe, familiar place. After the hell I’d just endured, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.
All too quickly, he pulled away and straightened his spine. Subtly, he did the same to me, hands on my shoulders pushing back until I sat up tall enough to meet his eye.
“Welcome back, President,” my father said, his gruff voice returning. “It seems you have a lot to catch up on.”
“So the Dark Mother is gone?”
After being able to shower and eat, I was surrounded by my club just like in those early days that felt so long ago. Only now, Shadow and my uncle Grudge joined, watching us like judgmental chaperons overseeing a bunch of unruly kids.
Yes. The answer came from Tezca, sitting at the edge of the couch next to Santos, who all but held me in his lap. He and Torr were extremely reluctant to lose physical contact with me ever since I woke up. I could feel Devin’s eyes on me like a physical touch too. His embrace and kiss remained imprinted in my mind, even lingering on my skin like an echo of what happened. But that was not where my focus needed to be right now.
When we severed the Dark Mother from you, we also severed her personhood. She is no longer a self-aware entity.
“So that’s it?” The Hunter straightened in his chair, excitement brimming in his voice. “It’s over?”
“Not until the cult is eradicated,” I said. “Otherwise, they’ll be able to continue sacrificing men, rebuild their resort, and eventually bring their goddess back.” I cocked an eyebrow at Tezca. “Am I right?”
You are.
“So there’s still work to do.” I scanned the faces of my people, my riders. Even now, after everything they’d been through, they looked as solemn and focused as soldiers awaiting orders. “Seems these old men have been keeping you all in shape while I’ve been down for a nap.” I cocked my head toward Shadow and Grudge. “Are the Vengeful Gods ready for some action?”
A chorus of shouts rang out from the others, ranging from, “Fuck yeah!” to, “Goddamn, finally,” along with a bunch of crotch-grabbing and obscene gestures. I laughed at the antics, realizing just then how much I’d missed my crew of animals.
