I was a grave witch. I’d bridged this gap hundreds of times. I could do it. Normally I opened myself to the grave. But I was already immersed in the grave and the land of the dead. Instead I opened myself to life.
Warmth rushed into me, color flooding the world.
“No you don’t,” the rider screamed in my mind. Something with claws grabbed hold of me as I crossed.
I gasped, lungs burning as if I hadn’t taken a breath in a long time. I opened my eyes, my real eyes, to Death’s concerned face, his hand planted firmly in my chest.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.
“It’s not over.” My voice broke in my too dry throat. I swallowed and looked around. Something was missing.
Crap. “Get the circles up.” The yell was more of a croak than words, but circles in purple and red popped up around me.
Just in time.
I arched my back as the rider moved through me. It had ridden me across, but it couldn’t take my body. It hurt, not in a physical way—it was too drained for that, but it ripped at my psyche to get through.
I tried to scramble to my feet, failed, and Death pulled me up. Held me there when I would have fallen.
“The box? Where is the box?” My gaze shot around the circle and I spotted it several yards away. I scrambled for it and nearly collapsed. Again it was Death who kept me upright. He reached for it and horror appeared on his face as his fingers slid through it.
I collapsed beside it because standing was too hard. The first two glyphs still glowed faintly blue. My throat didn’t want to cooperate, but I got out the name of the third and pressed my still bloody finger against the box, tracing the faint glyph. Magic ripped through my raw psyche.
The rider stalked along the opposite edge of the circle, looking for a weakness or a hole it could exploit. I aimed the opening of the box at it and named the final glyph, tracing its form.
I felt more than saw my skin heat and glow as Faerie’s magic filled me. A whirlwind caught the rider, dragging it toward the box. It struggled, its dark form twisting and fighting the pull.
It lost.
The whirlwind sucked it into the box and the lid snapped shut. I flipped the lock. Relief washed over me, mixed hard with exhaustion and I leaned against Death. “It’s over now.”
The circles dropped, my friends running forward.
Caleb hauled me to my feet, clearly unaware I was already in good hands. Holly threw her arms around me.
“I thought you were dead,” she whispered, hugging me tight.
I handed off the box to Rianna. “Somewhere in that castle is a secure place to store this, right?”
She smiled, her eyes full of relief. She tucked the spear in the crook of her arm so she could hold the box with both hands. “I’m sure we can find somewhere.”
Death stepped back as my friends crowded around me. I twisted, reaching for him.
“Don’t go. I need you.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I was sure at any second he’d vanish and I wouldn’t see him again. Then he stepped forward, swept me into his arms, and kissed me.
“Uh, is it just me,” Briar said somewhere behind me. “Or is she floating and glowing? Humans don’t glow.”
She’ll definitely put this in her report. I didn’t know if it would negate my OMIH license, and in that moment, I didn’t care. We were all alive, the rider was trapped, Tamara would be safe, and Death didn’t forfeit his soul.
We won.
Chapter 42
“Can he hold him?” Nina Kingly asked, looking from me to her husband’s ghost. She looked exhausted but she glowed with her new motherhood. She’d also taken meeting her husband’s ghost a lot better than I thought she would. A whole lot better.
She handed the baby to her husband and I kept a firm grip on the ghost, making sure he remained corporeal enough to hold his son. Iridescent tears streamed down his cheeks.
“He’s perfect,” he said, staring in the same wonder any new father would have. Then he handed the baby back to his wife. “I guess it’s time then?” he asked, looking toward Death, who stood in the doorway of the hospital room.
The soul collector gave him a small nod.
“I love you, Nina.” Kingly leaned down and kissed his wife’s forehead and then turned to me. “I wish I knew how to thank you, Alex.”
Considering he’d been one of the ghosts who’d led the assault on the rider and got me out of the land of the dead, I figured we were even.
With one last look at his wife and son, Kingly turned and walked to Death. The collector reached out, taking the ghost by the shoulder and the shimmery iridescence of the ghost turned to the bright yellow of a soul again before Death flicked his hand and Kingly disappeared.
“Thank you, Ms. Craft,” Nina Kingly said and the balance shifted.
I left soon after.
Death waited for me in the hall. “The mender told me what you did. He’s a dangerous being to owe that kind of debt.”
“It was the best option.” I shrugged. “So considering it’s been nearly a week, I guess you’re going to start vanishing on me again?”
His wince was slight, but I saw it. “There will be certain…restrictions. I may be away for some time.”
He didn’t give me a chance to ask how long or what restrictions, but leaned down and kissed me. Not a teasing kiss either. He stole my breath with a kiss full of promise.
Then he vanished.
I leaned my head against the wall and laughed, though it wasn’t a happy sound. When a nurse stopped in the hall to make sure I was all right, I decided it was time to head home.
Maybe I should have waited longer.
“What the hell?” I asked as I opened the door and found not only PC to greet me, but several boxes, a suitcase, and a certain blond fae.
Falin looked up from where he was unloading groceries into my fridge. He reached into his suit jacket, and walking across the room, wordlessly handed me a folded document.
The single page of text was signed with the Winter Queen’s official seal. I reread it three times.
“You can’t be serious. She’s making you move in with me?”