But she was alive.
A sob tore from my throat, my body shook at the sight. Holy fuck, it had actually worked. I threw my arms around her shoulders, making sure she was actually here. Then, another set of arms wrapped around us, squeezing just as fiercely.
“Here, take her.” I struggled to my feet, desperate to get to the altar. To Grey.
“The place is going to collapse,” Cal grunted, summoning one last gust of wind to extinguish the remaining flames.
“Lyra, we have to go.” Cal gave a quick glance at Grey's lifeless body.
I shook my head, refusing to leave him. Not like this. I wiped at the blood on his face, only smearing it more. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks.
“No, please no,” I sobbed, violently shaking his shoulders. “It’s yours. My soul, my heart, everything. Take it all,” I begged, willing him to wake.
But Grey was dead.
CHAPTER 41
LYRA
The church was on the brink of collapse. Cal managed to extinguish the flames but the fire had eaten away at the wooden beams and supports.
I didn’t care. I wasn’t leaving without Grey.
I was the shepherd of lost souls and death would answer to me.
I placed the hellhound skull over my head, tugging at the magic thrumming through it. Standing before the entrance, I reached out, feeling Grey’s spirit lingering on the other side. I stepped forward, and passed beyond the veil.
An icy numbness overtook me. I felt nothing. No hunger, no thirst, no joy, no sadness. Only an all-consuming emptiness.
Death nipped at my heels, but my magic pushed it back as I walked the valley of death.
“Grey.” I called out, watching his soul wander aimlessly. “What are you doing?” I stepped in front of him, forcing him to see me.
“I’m looking for something,” he answered, his voice distant, his eyes lost in the void.
“What are you looking for?” Desperation surged within me, and I removed the skull, needing to see all of him.
His eyes lit with recognition. “You. You’re the one I’m looking for.”
Even in death our souls sought each other.
I held out my hand. “Come with me.”
Grey’s fingers laced with mine, and together, we began to walk back.
“There will be a price to pay,” a voice that sounded of death and nightmares spoke into my mind.
“I’m willing to pay it.”
“Are you sure?” the voice caressed my mind. “Your lives will be bound together. If one of you dies, the other will, too. Is a creature from hell really worth that high of a price?”
“Yes.” I looked at Grey and meant it.
“Very well,” the voice responded, its tone as cold as the void.
I dropped the skull of the hellhound to the ground, leaving it behind. With Grey’s hand in mine, we turned and walked back, stepping hand-in-hand from the realm of the dead into the land of the living.
CHAPTER 42
