49. Chapter Forty-Nine
~Kalo~
As the blinding white light poured through the cavern, I found myself bracing for something monstrous.
Every story I had ever heard about Death and every fearful imagining that had crossed my mind throughout my life had led me to expect something terrible. A skeletal figure draped in shadows, perhaps, or a creature made from darkness and suffering, something cold and inhuman.
Instead, when the light finally began to fade, a man stood in the middle of the cavern. A man so beautiful that I nearly forgot to breathe.
Handsome didn’t come close to describing him.
His beauty seemed almost unnatural, as though every feature had been designed to appeal to whoever looked upon him.
His dark hair framed a face so perfect that it should have felt artificial, and yet it didn't. His eyes were warm, his smile gentle, and something about his presence immediately made me feel safe.
The pull towards him was instant and visceral, and just as I began to actually lean forward, movement beside me caught my attention.
Leo was also leaning forward, and an alarm bell began to sound in the back of my mind.
Without thinking, I reached for his hand.
The moment our fingers intertwined, he blinked rapidly, seeming to come back to himself, almost as if waking from a dream.
A flush appeared across his cheeks, and I suspected my own expression wasn't much different.
"You feel that?" I whispered.
His jaw tightened. "Yes. He’s magnetic."
‘Magnetic’ was exactly the right word for it.
"There you are." Death's voice washed through the cavern as he addressed Visenya, the sound rich and warm and somehow even more enticing than his appearance.
I understood it then. I understood how Aravander had fallen in love with him, how Visenya had fallen, and how an entire army of reapers might have done the same. It would be a very strong person who didn’t, at least if they didn’t already have someone they loved.
"Who is responsible for cutting you off from me?" Death asked, and although the question sounded gentle and almost affectionate, something about it still made me uneasy.
His gaze drifted across the cavern, passing over each of us in turn, and when it landed on me, warmth flooded through my body. It felt like sunlight, and comfort, and belonging, and for a brief instant, I wanted nothing more than to sink into that feeling and stay there forever.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced from the day Amanda wished me free. There, in the middle of the forest, I stood on the threshold of death and felt this same warmth surrounding me, urging me to let go. It felt wonderful… until it didn’t.
Until the warmth vanished and something far older and more frightening had revealed itself beneath it.
Leo said I’d suddenly seemed afraid that day, but I’d forgotten all about it. Now, the memory returned with startling clarity, and a shiver ran down my spine as Death’s gaze moved on.
"I wasn’t cut off from you deliberately," Visenya lied. “It was a temporary misunderstanding.”
One dark eyebrow lifted. "A misunderstanding?"
“Yes.”
Her usual stillness served her well, as I wouldn’t have been able to remain nearly as composed under his assessing gaze as she did.
“Why have you called me here, then? Have you completed your assignment?”
“Not exactly,” she admitted. “The bond between the two souls is still unfinished, as I explained to Aravander, but given the unusual situation, they’ve proposed an alternative instead. I think you might be interested.”
As they spoke and I forced myself to tear my eyes off Death’s enchanting face, something else caught my attention. Barely visible in the dark cavern, something connected him to Visenya, almost like a stream of flowing light.
Could it be whatever bonded them together? Was I actually able to see it?
“Do you see that green light, just beneath his ribs?” I whispered to Leo.
His eyes dropped but didn’t focus on anything in particular, and I knew his answer before he said it. “I don’t see any light.”
If only I could see it, just like only I could hear Tarron’s heart, it must have been magical. The werewolf bonds, I couldn’t see, but this one was different.
Even more strangely, the light seemed to travel in one direction only, flowing from Visenya into Death. Huh.
Evalina stepped forward, apparently having been summoned by Visenya while I was distracted.
"The heart in this box belonged to a fae prince named Tarron who used black magic to extend his life," she explained. "Even now, after being separated from the rest of his body, it continues to beat."
The heart grew louder than ever as Death’s eyes landed on the box, its frantic beating drowning out everything else in the room for me. Death said something to Evalina and she answered him, but I couldn’t hear it.
I did, however, notice the way that Felix kept one arm wrapped around his mate’s waist as she interacted with the ancient creature.
It looked affectionate, or maybe protective at first glance, but it dawned on me that it was more than that too.
Just as I’d grabbed Leo’s hand to stop him from leaning into Death’s pull, Felix was anchoring Evalina to him, keeping her connected to the living world.
It was also the way Leo had saved my life, binding me to him with his mark on my neck when Death sent Visenya to claim me. Without Leo, I would already be gone.
Everyone in our group had an anchor holding them back, be it their mate or their pack. Everyone… except Visenya. Nothing anchored her, and her energy continued to flow towards Death.
Having examined the box, Death turned away, and the heart’s drumming quieted enough that I could hear Death’s next question.
"Which of you was supposed to die?"
The question sent a ripple of tension through the group, but I immediately raised my hand. "I was."
His gaze settled on me with the same warm, inviting effect as before. "Tell me why you should be allowed to live."
I hadn’t been prepared to justify my existence, but put on the spot, I did my best.
“I was born thousands of years ago, but when I was still a young man, I gave up my mortal life to temporarily become a genie. At least, I thought it was temporary. It ended up lasting for millennia, stretching my life far beyond its natural limits, even though I didn’t get to experience most of that time.
When I was finally freed, it seems that death… that you… caught up with me.”
I squeezed Leo’s hand again, grounding myself to resist Death’s pull.
“Leo saved me. Our bond saved me, and I’d like the chance to live the life that he gave me.”
For several seconds, Death said nothing as he studied me, and suddenly, all the warmth of his gaze vanished.
The change was so abrupt that I almost stumbled.
The sunlight became ice, and although the beautiful face in front of me remained the same, I could see something else beneath it.
Something vast and ancient, and utterly indifferent to whether I lived or died.
The cold that rolled through me felt older than mountains, or oceans, or time itself.
Leo’s hand tightened painfully around mine. No matter what, he seemed to say without speaking, I'm not letting go.
For one terrible moment, I became convinced that Death was about to claim both of us, until Visenya spoke.
"What do you intend to do about the heart?"
Instantly, the pressure vanished. The cold receded, the sunlight returned, and the beautiful mask settled neatly back into place.
But now that I had seen behind it, I couldn't unsee it.
The beauty wasn't real. It was a lure, a carefully crafted illusion designed to draw people closer and make them go with him willingly.
And as I looked again at the bond connecting him to Visenya and watched the constant flow of magic pouring from her into him, the pieces finally clicked into place.
"Leo," I whispered.
His eyes snapped to mine. “Yes?”
"I think I know how to break Visenya’s bond.”