Could this really be real? No. They were supposed to stay on earth and live their lives and be happy. How could this happen? How could they be dead? Was it the wraiths? Death?
How did they die?
“After you disappeared,” Cassian says before I can spiral any further, “the wraiths changed direction. They left us. But then Death appeared in their stead.”
“He appeared,” I echo.
I swear, if that fucker hurt them, I’m going to throw this entire paradise back in his metaphysical face. And then some.
“Physically. Or whatever passes for physical with him.” Nathaniel’s mouth curves slightly. “He said we had a choice.”
“He said,” Talon continues, “that the sight had been costing us something we didn’t know about. That we’d been half dead for a long time.”
I look between them. “Half dead.”
“The sight lets you see what the living aren’t meant to see,” Cassian says. “Apparently that has a price. It pulls you towardthe other side, slowly, over years. We just didn’t know it was happening. It’s also why we could touch you so early on.”
I’m speechless. Somewhere above, a bird crosses the sky.
“So Death offered you…” I try.
“The rest of the way,” Nathaniel says simply. “To cross over. To be here.” He squeezes my hand once. “With you.”
I should say something sensible. I should ask questions. I should verify and interrogate and hold this at arm’s length until it makes logical sense.
Instead I just sit there, feeling his hand in mine.
“Was it… painless?” I ask finally.
“Pretty much.”
Wow. Okay. That’s… great.
“And you wanted it?”
“Of course.” Talon scoffs. “Is that even a question?”
I mean, I don’t know. They’ve told me they loved me, many times, but to actually die for me…?
“What about your work?” I ask, perhaps stupidly. “The creed. The souls that need help.”
“Well…” Cassian starts. He glances at the other two, something passing between them. “What you did, it wasn’t just ending the wraiths.”
“You collapsed the afterlife,” Talon says. “Or rather, restructured it. What you did was significant enough that the whole system had to account for it.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
The three of them exchange a look.
“We’ll explain,” Cassian says. “Later.”
The way he says it settles low in my stomach.
I swallow. “Later?”
Talon huffs a quiet laugh behind me, and when I turn, he’s closer, close enough that I can see the shift in his pupils and the way his mouth parts.
“Yeah,” he says. “Because right now?” His gaze drags down my body. “I think you should give us a welcome kiss, don’t you think?”
