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He said nothing for a long moment, his eyes swirling with power. His gaze swept from my face down to my feet. “You hurt.”

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “According to Evie, my intestines were hanging out of my body, so soreness is to be expected, I think.”

He let out a slow breath. “You joke so callously about death.” Cernunnos swallowed and looked down at his feet. “I’ve been in this world for longer than most, and death never becomes easier. Life is not permanent. Death is the ending, and with it comes grief and suffering.” A slight smile turned his lips up but didn’t reach his eyes. “The dead have no idea the wreckage they leave behind.”

Guilt speared me for joking about what happened. I held out my hand. “Sorry,” I whispered.

The god crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He took my hand in his warm, calloused one and lifted the back of my hand to his lips. Cernunnos pressed his lips against my skin and lingered there, inhaling my scent.

I grimaced. “I need a shower.”

“Perhaps, but it’s still you under the grime, Moira, and I need to reassure myself you’re really here.”

My lower lip wobbled. We stared at each other, the silence stretching on.

“You died,” he whispered.

I closed my eyes. “I’m here now.”

“Barely.” He pressed his forehead against my hand. “You make me fight against my very nature. I want to keep you by my side at all times. Keep you safe.” He sighed.

I stilled. “Caged.” If he ever caged me, I would never speak to him again.

“Never,” he promised. “I would never do such a thing to you. But I struggle with the violent urge to slaughter anyone who looks at you askance.”

I smiled. “Everyone in this Keep is looking at me like that right now.”

Cernunnos grunted. “That’s because you died and came back to life, and shifters aren’t used to such magic. They’ll see very soon you are still the same ornery Moira.”

A thought occurred to me. “Ember? Where is he?”

Cernunnos smiled. “He’s outside the door. Ember is the one who found you.”

I blinked. “How?” A second later, I remembered the arctic fox I spotted outside my window.

“A network,” I breathed.

He nodded. “A confusing one. Quite like a spiderweb sometimes, but the message made it.”

“I planted a seed.”

His smile fell. “Evie told me. A rye seed. Watered with mush and Earl Grey tea.” He slowly shook his head. “Evie is still beside herself with fear over how close she came to losing you. That seed saved you from Liaza.”

“I fertilized it with waste, so it warms my heart to know Evie stabbed him with a shit stick.”

Cernunnos chuckled. “Necessity is the mother of invention, as the humans say.”

He gently nudged me over and stretched out beside me, holding his arm out. I scooted toward him, wincing at the pain in my stomach and lay my head on his chest.

Cernunnos smelled like wild things and ancient magic. I inhaled him and snuggled against him. He pressed a kiss to my hair. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry about what happened between us.”

“Water under the bridge. You and I are very different. I don’t expect this will be the only time we butt heads.”

I smiled against his chest. “I’m just glad we’ll get the opportunity.”

He ran his hand over my hair. “There’s something I must tell you.”