Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
E veryone was standing around the bed as Clara and Phil took their final breaths, the friends, Martha, and Nancy all having said their goodbyes.
“I can take them now,” Han said softly.
“Umm, I don’t know if you can do it, but can you change and look like the skeleton Grim Reaper, then Phil will have got what he wanted?” Ash asked him.
Han nodded. “I can do that.” In the next moment, gone was the human face and in its place was a skull. Han pulled his hood up and held his hand out, his now skeleton hand. “Come,” he said.
They all watched two bright white lights leave Clara and Phil, rise up and float onto Han’s hand, his long bony fingers closing gently, keeping the two souls safe. “I will guard them well on their journey.” And with that, Han, and Clara’s and Phil’s souls vanished.
Nancy turned to Martha, who pulled her close and let her cry.
Ares had Jason in his arms, Paris had Ashton, Baylan had his arms wrapped around Blake, and Henry was holding Nick close, Nick having used the mate link to call him.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ares said to them, dropping a kiss on Jason’s head.
Blake cleared his throat before saying, “Thanks. We need to make arrangements for their funerals.”
“We can help you with that,” Baylan replied. “Do you all want to stay together or go off with your mates for a bit?”
“Would anyone mind if we stay together?” Ash asked. “We can share our memories of the fun times we had with them.”
“We can do that. Oz was creating food for us in the formal dining room unless you want to stay here?” Blake said. “I wonder if one of our magic users here could magic up two sheets for us.”
Two white sheets appeared in Paris’s hand. He held them out to Blake.
“Thanks,” Blake said, taking them. He kept one and held the other out to Jason. “Jas, Ash, you cover Clara. Nick and I will cover Phil.” Blake looked at Martha and Nancy. “Do either of you want to help?”
Nancy shook her head.
“No, baby boy, you four cover them,”Martha said quietly.
Nick and Blake walked to the other side of the bed. Blake shook out the sheet and handed some of it to Nick. Taking the bottom half, they covered Phil, just as Ash and Jason covered Clara. Each person had a hand on them.
“See Phil, the Grim Reaper came for you,” Nick said softly. “Bye my friends, rest peacefully.”
Each of the friends said something, then let their mates lead them out of the room. Martha and Nancy walked out last.
“I know this is probably the wrong time to say this but was anyone else surprised by how good-looking the Grim Reaper was?” Tudor asked. “And I didn’t know he could look human I thought he was just a skeleton.”
Mateo snorted out a laugh, having come and joined Puff earlier. “I know what you mean. You see all these pictures of the Grim Reaper, but never looking like that.”
“I think I want him to come for me when it’s my time to move on,” Frederick said.
“Can you die now I mean Jason is mated to a god now and he will only die if Ares does is it not the same for the two of you?” Tudor asked.
Alex placed his hand on Tudor’s back and he stopped talking.
They all laughed when they saw the look of shock on Frederick’s face as he turned to look at Hades.
Hades chuckled. “It’s true. You will now live as long as I do. Are you okay with that?” Hades asked, suddenly looking uncertain.
Frederick nodded and touched Hades’ cheek. “I am. I never even gave death a thought, but I’m glad I won’t die at some point and leave you.”
“Frederick the generals ...” Puff started to croak out.
Mathis looked at Puff. “I’ll tell him, you rest your voice.”
Puff nodded and leaned into his side.
“What Puff was about to say is that Shiloh, the super soldiers, and the two generals are having a meeting about everything if you want to go and join them.”
Frederick looked at Hades. “Would you mind?”
Hades shook his head. “No, go and have your meeting, I need to go and see my brother anyway.”
Frederick pulled Hades into a kiss. Ignoring the cat call coming from his pack mates, he smiled against Hades' lips before pulling back.
“I’ll come and find you when I’ve finished,” Hades said.
Frederick nodded. “Okay, see you later.”
With that Hades vanished.
Frederick turned to look at his pack mates. “What?” he asked with a smile.
“You and Lord Hades look so happy I’m really glad you both found each other once the time of mourning is over we should have a celebration for you,” Tudor said.
Puff touched his arm.
“I can pretty much guarantee there will be a celebration in the underworld soon,” Frederick told them.
“Please say we can come,” Mateo asked.
“I’m sure that can be arranged. Now, where’s this meeting?”
The friends were all sitting in the formal dining room, along with Martha and Nancy. The food created by Oz remained untouched on the table.
They had been sharing stories when there was a knock at the door. It opened before anyone could call out and Maddy and Kieran stood there with Tobin.
“Sorry for interrupting. We wondered if Nancy wanted to come and be with us,” Kieran said.
Nancy nodded and looked at everyone round the table. “Do you mind?”
“Not a bit, sweetie, off you go,” Martha said to her.
She got up and walked out of the dining room and as the door closed, they saw the children bundle her into a hug.
“I was so excited when I saw Phil was up and about. I was planning all sorts of mischief that we could have got up to. Can you imagine what he would have made of you being the Alpha King, Blake?” Ash wondered.
“He would have teased the hell out of me,” Blake said.
“Was his sense of humour the same as Ashton’s?” Baylan asked.
Martha laughed. “It was a combination of all of them. Can you imagine what having Blake as a son and this lot and Phil as friends was like? The one thing I missed the most when you left, Blake and then Ashton, and Nicholas, followed by you Jason, was the laughter that always followed you lot.”
“We thought all that might change when Phil met Clara, but nope, she sometimes joined in the fun,” Jason reminisced.
“And scolded us along with mum when we did dumb things,” Blake added.
Paris grinned. “You lot doing dumb things, I can’t imagine that.”
“Believe it. I have pictures to prove a lot of them,” Martha replied.
“When they got married and had Nancy, I became their favourite babysitter. Nance and I had lots of happy times together. No matter if I had something planned, I’d ditch whatever it was to look after Nancy,” Nick remembered.
“We need to arrange their funerals, they should be buried tomorrow,” Blake said sombrely, looking around the table.
“Do you have special funerals?” Henry asked. “Is there a special ceremony for shifters when they die?”
“It depends on the individuals involved,” Martha answered. “Some want a funeral pyre, others to be buried in the earth.”
“Do you know what Clara and Phil wanted?” Paris asked.
“They both wanted to be buried,” Jason said.
“Do you hold a vigil for them?” Ares asked.
“What do you mean?” Jason asked him.
“In olden times, the evening before a shifter was cremated or buried, the dead would be laid to rest on an altar and covered in a shroud. Family members would then shift into their animals and spend the night watching over the deceased. It was thought that by holding the space the earth would readily accept them, or the fire would cremate them quicker,” Ares explained.
Ash sat forward. “I really like that idea.” He looked at Blake. “Can we do something like that? Puff and Tudor have already said they’ll cover things, so how about from twilight tonight we start the vigil? We can keep it up until twilight tomorrow and then bury them.”
Blake nodded. “Yes, I like that as well. The five of us can all say something, as can Nancy if she wants to.” He looked at Baylan. “When we’ve finished here, will you help me look for the perfect resting place for them?”
“I’d be honoured,” Baylan replied.
“Thanks.” Blake leaned into his side for a moment before sitting up. “I’m going to update Puff and Tudor and then see where we can find that is suitable.”
“When you find somewhere let us know,” Jason said.
Blake nodded and stood up, Baylan stood as well. “Will do.” And with that, they both left the room.