“I don’t know how he did it, but yeah,” Zephyr said with a smile.
“Is ‘at Zephyr ah hear?” Ethel called from the kitchen.
“HeyMitera,” Zephyr said as she appeared in the hallway. He released me before she gave him a monstrous hug. It was amazing how quickly immortals healed. To be on his feet so soon after the wound he’d suffered was incredible.
“Ah wis jus’ makin’ tea. Wuid ye lovelies care fer a cuppa?” she asked.
“Tea would be lovely,Mitera,” Calista said, her smile lighting up her delicate silver eyes.
“Ah’ll hev em ready in no time,” Ethel said as she disappeared back into the kitchen.
Damien turned to me. “Back to the couch, now. You’re supposed to be on bedrest,mea luna.”
“Yes, m’lord,” I teased, and Damien huffed a laugh.
“How’s Anna holding up?” I asked as Damien helped me to the couch. “She worked so many hours that night. I know it can’t be good for her and the baby.” Air rushed from my lungs in a heavy sigh of relief as I eased onto the couch, but it was short-lived as my back met the cushion, my fractured shoulder blades still tender.
“She’s home with Vincent now, resting,” Zephyr said, settling onto the couch beside me.
“Johnson has her on a week’s vacation,” Calista added. “She resisted it of course, wanted to help anyway she could, but she gave in. There’s only twelve more weeks until her due date. Our kind tend to go on bedrest at thirty weeks, as the toll grows heavier, and complications can arise.”
I prayed she’d be okay. No, shewouldbe okay. Medical procedures were better now, immortal deliveries more successful. It had been a huge topic at the meeting with The Council.
I wondered what sort of changes were coming after everything that happened. The Complex seemed to have been a central hub for the immortals, not just for The Order. It had been a place to live, a refuge, a command center, a medical facility... perfectly located too, in the middle of the city.
“She really took charge,” Damien said, sliding me a glance. “I’m glad she was there.”
That single look told me enough of why he was relieved she’d been there, and I was too. From what Damien told me, she’d taken no chances, and with Johnson stuck in surgery, she was likely the only reason I’d survived. She’d saved my life.
“Any news on Thalia?” Calista asked, and my stomach twisted.
Damien’s eyes flitted to me, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “None. Vincent tried to follow her, but she lost him in the woods. We’ve been looking for any tracks she might’ve left behind, but the snow’s making it nearly impossible. She could be anywhere by now.”
I hated that she was alone, terrified of what she might do in her grief, and I feared for how she would hold up in the winter cold.
“I hope we find her soon.”
51
CASSIE
“Aleirenetouen enlisno en solos.”
Peace embrace his soul—that’s what Damien had told me it meant. I dipped my head briefly as the warrior paid his respects, shrouded in black. Every immortal brought a single lit candle and laid them at the base of the intricately woven pile of wood surrounding the stone bed where Barrett’s body would have been. On the stone bed lay bountiful arrangements of delicate flowers in place of his body.
I glanced over my shoulder and past the pyre to Moira’s body resting beneath the moonlight from the crescent ceiling window. I knew the immortals believed in an afterlife, but I was still learning their customs and beliefs, so I didn’t understand it fully. Thalia had been distraught when she’d learned we couldn’t recover Barrett’s body. There was no way we could’ve, not when the entire building, brick and all, had been reduced to ash.
“Aleirenetouen enlisno en solos.” I slipped from my thoughts as another immortal approached, clutching a single candle in her hand. I recognized her as I lifted my gaze. She was the mother we’d encountered at The Complex, the one with an infant. She’d survived.
“My young and I are alive, thanks to Barrett. We will never forget his sacrifice.”
“Thank you,” I said, dipping my head as she gave a bow before continuing to the pyre. Countless candles sat around the base, casting a warm glow throughout Moira’s Rest. Damien told me the flames were meant to offer a guiding light for his soul to find The River Styx. There seemed to be a bit of divide between the immortals on whether or not souls could be guided without the remains. Some believed their souls would wander with no rest, that they’d never reach the afterlife they called Elysium unless they were released from their body during the ceremonial burning, that ceremonial flame guiding their souls.
He'll never find peace!
Thalia’s words tore through my mind, her fears etching their way into me. I couldn’t let myself think that could be possible, not for Barrett.
A hollowness filled my chest as I stood at Damien’s side, my eyes swollen and tired. I’d cried so much over the last few days, every tear exhausted at each step of planning this funeral.
