The name sounded familiar, and it took me a moment to realize Sephtis had said it before.
I think he goes by the name Aiden now.
I groaned as I lifted myself to my feet and looked at the man standing at the edge of the barrier glaring daggers in Gethin’s direction.
“Uh, so you’re… Fate.”
He turned to me, and the swirl of his eyes shifted from a pale violet to a beautiful prismatic that I nearly got lost in. I swayed forward, my hand coming up to press against my chest.
Against my heart and the wound still bleeding.
Over that red line that trailed into nothing now. His gaze dropped to it as well, and honey-colored brows snapped together.
“Hm. Surprising things keep happening when my cupids play with Ardor in ways they shouldn’t.” Aiden’s eyes drifted from my chest and back to Gethin.
“Cole, what the fuck is going on? I thought you wanted to find Death. Not… I… Fate?” It was like his mind was just catching up to the word. “What the fuck?”
Aiden stepped forward, and his walk was liquid, graceful like a dance. He moved like the very air around him was some great stage and he was here to perform. He stopped with his fingers pressed to the edge of the barrier… and then, with a tilt of his head, he pushed through it.
“You know, Gethin. I didn’t realize you were quite so… clever.”
Shit. I hadn’t meant to do anything that would get Gethin into trouble. I’d honestly thought he’d be safe behind his barrier, safe after he nearly killed me. I was hoping this whole thing with temptingFatewould happenafterthe Vitality was spilling from my chest.
I was moving before I had time to think about it, and I caught the man’s arm and spun him to look at me.
There was a moment where his eyes focused on my face, and I felt it tear straight through me, dip into my bones and turnthem to ash. That look unmade me and put me back together a million times in a single second.
He was…
Old.
Older than anything.
More frightening than any nightmare I’d ever had, because he’d seeneverything, and he was seeing through me now. And then he tilted his head and wiped the expression away with a smile, reaching forward and plucking at the string on my chest.
“And you… you’re causing quite a stir, do you know that? I’m sure Death isn’t happy that his Reaper’s gone rogue. I’m not even sure how you called me here.”
“He was here.” I shot the words out before I lost my nerve, and Aiden froze.
“What?”
“Death. He was here. He came, and he took Sephtis. He’s the reason I havethis.” I held up the petal Caiden had handed me. A connection to the dead—something that shouldn’t have existed.
Caiden’s life, contained in a red petal that I never should have been able to hold. Proof that Death had been here to give us that moment. I hadn’t needed a book or instructions to tell me how to do this—I just had to believe in my brother. To believe in Sephtis.
I had to believe in Fate.
Aiden looked at it, and his eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get that?”
“I talked to my brother,” I said carefully, and I heard the sound Gethin made, even though I couldn’t see him.
“Isn’t he dead?”
It wasn’t Gethin I looked at when I answered. “Yeah, he is. So… sounds like someone’s causing more trouble than I am. Really fucking with the balance, right?”
I was being braver than I had any right to be, but there was nothing else I could do. It was either be brave, or give in to the fact that Death had taken Sephtis and I didn’t know where to start looking for him. I’d kind of hoped that if the Vitality in my chest started to spill, he’d come to collect… and if Fate was here.
