Two souls, united as one
Forever bound ’til time is done
Retrieve this soul from time and space
And reunite them in this place.
What followed was a long, long silence. A lot of eye contact between me and Atlas. Hopeful, curious, impatient eye contact.
His hair was the first clue the spell was working. That perfect, golden hair ruffled under the breath of a gentle wind.
Then more, and more, until my hair was blowing wild, and Atlas and I were ensconced in a tornado of fire and light and wind. I closed my eyes, feeling as the fishing line was cast between the planes of this universe and those beyond, searching, searching, searching.
Two souls bound by blood, by brotherhood.
Come on, Atlas,I willed the Titan before me.Find him.
I felt the fishing line searching, hunting, radiating a signal like a lighthouse. Sending rays of bright into the darkness.
I urged Silas to find it from the other side, to latch on, to grab hold. I squeezed Atlas’s hand.
“Come on,” I whispered to Silas. “Show us where you are, and we’ll do the rest.”
The tug was gentle. A tiny latch, the bobber dipping below the surface ever so briefly.
A rush of relief, followed by a pull as Atlas and I began reeling him in. I felt the squeeze on my hand tighten. Atlas felt it too. He was hauling his brother back, slowly but surely. One inch at a time, bringing him home.
Then resistance. Terrible, horrible resistance from the other side. From Silas’s end came a jagged pull that sent a wave of ice water through my veins so sharpI felt like I was inhaling glacier water. My senses were overwhelmed.
Someone was fighting back. They were not letting Silas go.
“Alessia!” Atlas’s shout was strangled, manic. “I can’t—”
Mid-sentence, Atlas’s grip was dragged from my hand, the contact abruptly severed, and I was alone with the bond. The full weight of it crashed onto my shoulders, and I screamed, the horror and pain of the separation imminent. It twisted my gut and made my mind ache.
Then I felt it. An indescribable, gentle caress.Silas.
Tears flooded my eyes as I realized that this man, Silas, was prompting me to let him go. To save myself and to let him languish—alone. He believed only one of us could survive this, and he wanted the gift of life to be given to me.
My tears dried.Never.
I pulled back, feeling my power growing. I kept it steady, infusing the tenuous bond between us until the whole thing glowed as golden as the lasso with which I’d wrapped Hettie to the tree.
More and more, until it was thick and knotted, a rope that could not be severed by time or dimension or space. A stern, consistent reeling.
And then, without warning, Silas hurtled through the beyond and into my reality. Limbs, hair,hands, feet.
I felt Silas’s presence as the spell was broken. I lost my balance and fell backward, landing on a firm, hard body—arms circling me and bringing me back to safety.
“Silas,” I whispered, my head coming to rest on his chest.
Then, a soft, wry laugh. “Try again.”
I raised my head. I was sprawled all over Atlas.Allover him.
Silas watched from a distance, and he was: Not. Happy.
“Dammit.” Atlas moved swiftly to a seated position, curling me against his body so that I moved as he did.
