Chapter Twenty-Three
Elliot
The forest was familiar to me. I grew up in the farmhouse my mother owned, which she left me in her will.
I moved out of Hollowbrook after high school and stayed away until my mother died.
After that, I moved back and only regretted it three times a week, when I was on shift at the hotel.
Andre, my boss, killed whatever joy was in that place.
I definitely regretted accumulating debt. Spending money had been an outlet for my grief. For a moment, I didn’t have to think about my mom not being with me anymore. But it had been fleeting.
When I was a teenager, all I’d wanted was to be closer to my friends and to town so I could hang out and have fun. That was what I loved about living in the city. Everything had been closer. Restaurants. Clubs. Even the grocery store.
After moving back, the forest helped save me from myself.
The workshop had helped, too. Whether working with wood or walking among the trees, the calm quiet helped me work through the pain.
I’d begun to face it instead of burying it beneath the things money had bought.
Silence and familiarity were what I needed.
The birds and the wind rustling the leaves were the only sounds. The path was a grassy clearing, well-traveled in the middle where dirt showed through.
I smiled, even as the ache in my chest grew with each passing second.
I was being ridiculous. The separation from Grym felt like thousands of miles and countless years. I had a better understanding of why Gary had wanted to go to the afterlife. At least there, he had hope of seeing Charlie again.
Maybe the miles were accurate. I was in another realm.
I wasn’t physically close to Grym at all.
But the feeling that it had been a long time since I’d last seen him was far from the truth.
It had been fifteen minutes. My body’s response was a lie.
I’d lived my whole life without Grym until a few days ago.
I shouldn’t be missing him as much as I was.
I should be able to live the rest of my life without him, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to.
According to Grym and the rest of the reapers, I was immortal.
Forever would be unbearable without him.
I stopped walking when I realized what I was actually feeling.
“Fuck.” My chest hurt even more, as if my body were reacting to the acknowledgment. I rubbed at the pain. A part of me didn’t want it to ease. The pain was a reminder of the love I felt so clearly. But damn it. Love? Already? And why did it have to be so painful?
Something growled off to my left, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I turned in time to see a bird so large it was twice my height. It was pure white, with paws for feet, like a cat. Even its beak and claws were white. Its eyes were blue and piercing.
The creature growled again. The sound was more of a purr. For a moment, I thought it was trying to make friends, but then it snapped its beak at me. Whether it was a warning or a prelude to eating me, I wasn’t sure.
“Whoa.” I held up my hands in surrender. “Good birdie.”
It snapped its beak again, trying to take off my hand.
I backed away, and of course, it followed me. “Shit.”
My back hit a tree. I suddenly realized I’d trapped myself.
The bird’s beak was all I saw until it opened its mouth and I saw the inside.
It was dark and red. I’d be its food in 5.
5 seconds. Being eaten by a giant bird was not how I wanted to go out.
Also, this whole being the beloved of Grymley Reaper was not supposed to end with me being swallowed by a bird.
And again, would I even die? Being immortal meant nothing, except that Donnie Death and his minions could kill me.
Right? Unless this bird was a demon, which I doubted, given how undemon-like that thing seemed.
Would I live in a bird creature’s belly, bitten to pieces, just parts, still alive but in massive pain?
I closed my eyes, not wanting to find out or see when the bird took its first piece of me.
The bird squawked in a watery way, and then the air displaced right before I heard a thunk.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the bird lying in a heap on the ground and Cael sheathing a bloody sword.
I stiffened. “How did you get here?”
Cael rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to ask you that, do I? I see you and Grym are bonded.”
“You’re an asshole.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Cael smirked. “I just saved your life. You should be more grateful.”
“I’m immortal, so you didn’t save shit.”
“You’d be stuck here. Forever. Considering I can smell Grym’s cologne all over you, I doubt you’d want that.” He was right about that.
I sighed. “If you saved my life, that implies you will not kill me. Am I right?”
“And piss Grym off even more. No, I’ll keep you safe while you’re in this realm.” Cael gestured toward the path. “I assume you’re here to see Aengus.”
I started walking. Cael kept pace beside me. “A demon visited twice. Some guy named Ezul. He may or may not be on our side. I guess the god of death knows about me and is throwing a gigantic tantrum because he’s not getting what he wants. Like the fucking world is a gigantic toy.”
Cael cursed under his breath. “Donn will do anything to prevent change. Even fuck over someone he confesses to love.”
That stopped me. And also, the giant gray brick building beyond the trees was coming into focus. It was kind of exciting and scary at the same time. “So, wait. You never answered my first question.”
“Why am I here?” Cael smiled.
“That would be the one.”
“I’m Aengus’s son.”
I sucked in a breath. “You can walk between realms, too, because you’re a god.”
“Half-god, but it still grants me access, especially to my childhood home.” He gestured toward the trees and the castle ahead.
“Grym doesn’t know?”
“No one but Morgana. And that’s because she caught Donn and me fucking in his office once.
” Cael’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Donn was the first beloved. You can probably guess how that went. I found the book with the prophecy in Dad’s library after Donn rejected me, then gave it to Morgana. She was my boss, even back then.”
Like a lead balloon. “Did you meet him before you became a reaper?”
“Sort of. We met and fell for each other. I didn’t realize until after we’d made love that he was my beloved.
I didn’t realize until after we’d bonded that we’d only bonded partially.
Donn stopped everything once he realized.
I didn’t understand why until I came back home to lick my wounds.
My father showed me the book and then got pissed when I took it and didn’t bring it back. ”
“You became a reaper to be close to him, didn’t you?”
Cael hummed in agreement. “It was unbearable. That’s why I left.
I thought you’d break Grym’s heart and reject him the way Donn rejected me.
I wouldn’t have blamed you. You didn’t even know about reapers until last week, and now you’re a catalyst for the end of life and death as we know it.
Not every change will be good, by the way. ”
I rubbed my chest. “I’m sorry for what Donnie Death did to you.”
Cael smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Love hurts, doesn’t it?”
“I also feel amazing. Like I can fly. And Grym...” I couldn’t help but smile thinking of him.
“He’s kind and patient. He’s so steady with all this shit being thrown at us.
He didn’t bat an eye when my ex turned out to be a beloved and ended up at my house.
He also likes my best friend. Grym thinks he’s funny, which he is when he’s not doing or saying the weirdest shit. ”
“Grym worked too much before all this. And since you’re not going to reject him... you’re not, right?”
“No way. He’s stuck with me for as long as he wants me.”
“Then I’ll just say I think you’re good for him.”
“Thank you. I know you’re friends.”
“He’s going to punch me in the face when he sees me again.”
“Does that mean you’ll help me talk to your dad?”
“I’ve been trying. He isn’t listening to reason. Maybe seeing you in person will change his mind.”
Before I knew it, we were at the castle's door.