Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THANATOS
“But why does it pull like that?” My head jerked to the side as the bristles ran through the strands of my hair.
“It’s called brushing your hair and it looks like you haven’t in a while.” Serrina stood behind me pulling a thick brush through the long strands.
“Gods don’t have to brush their hair. It just is.” I shrugged.
“So let me get this straight, no hygiene needs? You really don’t feel heat or cold?”
“No, none of it. Even touching things feels different, sharper. Being human is quite the adventure.”
“I can’t even imagine that.” Serrina shook her head.
I motioned to the room. “Are these your rooms?”
We’d moved from their meeting room into one of the dorm rooms at the school.
It was actually more like two rooms combined into one to make a smaller apartment.
To one side was the bedroom with a large bed that had thick blankets spread all over it.
To the other side was a seating area with a worn-in brown leather love seat and TV.
A gaming console was set up next to it. Dozens of bows hung on the walls with a bin of hand-carved arrows in the corner of the room.
The other queens sat on the couch watching while I was on a stool in the middle of the room, like this was some kind of show.
“Mine and Ashryn’s, yes.” She continued her rhythmic movements, and I started to relax.
Astrid made a sound of annoyance. “Step aside. I got this.”
Serrina chuckled. “I think I know how to make someone look desirable.”
“I have no doubt you do.” Astrid waved her hand. “But can you do it in two seconds?”
“Fair point.” Serrina took a step back.
“Hold on, Death. Your fairy witch mother has got this.” Astrid rubbed her hands together and golden magic poured from the palms of her hands.
It wrapped around my body, making my skin glow with her power.
It grew so bright it was nearly blinding.
Warmth covered me from head to toe, and I found I liked the heat.
When she dropped her hands, the room went silent. I glanced around at them. “What? Bad?”
“See for yourself.” Astrid summoned a mirror to float right in front of me.
I wasn’t used to gazing at myself, but then a jolt of surprise went through me.
She trimmed my hair up to my elbows. There was a single braid on the side of my head that started at my temple and curved up and over my ear.
The rest of my hair was gathered in a messy tangle at the back of my head.
Gone were my robes and in their place was a simple white button-down and worn jeans.
The sleeves were rolled up to my elbows, and she’d given me a leather cuff on one hand and silver rings on the other.
I started to roll the sleeves down, but Astrid held her hand out to stop me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m cold.” I shrugged.
She rolled her eyes. “Beauty is sacrifice. Leave the shirt.”
I turned to the other queens and held my arms out to them. “Leave the shirt,” they responded in unison.
My brow furrowed. “Why would I sacrifice my comfort for clothing?”
Zinnia sighed and shook her head. “Don’t ask us. Women have been doing it for centuries.”
Astrid walked up to me and handed me a small black box. It was no bigger than one I’d seen humans keep their precious jewels in. “Just open it, think about any clothing you might need, and it’ll pop out of here for you.”
Ophelia stomped her foot. “I thought we were friends.”
Astrid’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“I want a clothes box.” Ophelia narrowed her eyes at Astrid. “Because rude I don’t have one yet.”
Zinnia nodded. “For real though.”
“Okay.” Astrid waved her hand and golden magic flowed to each of their waiting hands, leaving a little black box in the wake of her power.
I rose to my feet. “Okay, now we find Anastasia? I must go to her at once.”
“I don’t know. You kind of freaked her out the last time she saw you.” Ophelia examined her nails. “Maybe we just knock her out and bring her here? You know, force her to hear you out.”
“Are you serious?” My eyebrows shot up.
“She is deadly serious.” Zinnia nudged her sister with her elbow.
“What?” Ophelia flinched. “It’s the simplest solution to all his problems. Just take her and call it a day. Boom. Done. Happily ever after until death do you part.”
It was funny to consider that death would not be our parting and not our beginning. I’d always thought of her deaths as our beginning. Perhaps I got it wrong. Perhaps this was the way. “No, she doesn’t remember our past, and I want to keep it that way.”
“Feels a bit like a lie,” Zinnia hedged. “I feel like if you don’t have the truth and trust, what do you really have?”
“I will have a human life with her. Perhaps grow old.” I smiled at the thought of having that time with her.
“Awww.” They all sighed in unison.
“In any case, I will tell her when the time is right.” I ran my hand over the shirt, appreciating the feel of the linen material. “Can you help me find her?”
Tabi chuckled. “Oh, we can find her.”
They all headed toward the door, and I took their cue and followed them from the room and out into the corridor of the academy.
As they moved, the other students hurried out of their way, pressing themselves up against the walls to give the queens a wide berth.
Even the professors stopped and moved to the side for them.
The queens hardly seemed to notice the show of respect for their powers.
They chatted and laughed as they walked through the school and crossed the courtyard.
As a god, I’d lived a life of anonymity, being invisible in the living world and only moving back and forth to the Underworld.
I’d grown so used to being invisible that when others openly stared at me, I found it slightly .
. . unnerving. Zinnia flicked her hand and silvery magic shot out in front of them, opening two large double doors and revealing a training room.
Tuck stood there with fire running up and down his arms. He held two balls in the palms of his hands while another guy stood across from him with blue smoke flowing from his hands and pooling on the floor around him.
I nodded my head toward him. “Beckett, good to see you.”
“Oh, you’ve decided to say hi this time.” He smirked. “I thought you were gonna kidnap Cross again.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? It was an emergency.”
“I stopped the emergency, didn’t I?” Cross stood on the other side of the gym with two daggers in his hands. He tossed them up and down, catching each one.
“Wait, am I the emergency?” Ophelia chuckled. “Because that tracks.”
A ball of fire flew across the gym and smacked into Beckett’s chest. Beckett staggered back and glared at Tuck. “What the hell?”
“Better pay attention.” Tuck chuckled. “Just a warning shot.”
Becket threw his magic out and a swirling blue portal opened right beneath Tuck.
The Phoenix shifter fell right into. Beckett chuckled and opened another portal in the ceiling and Tuck fell from it as if he were falling off a building.
His arms pinwheeled and his legs kicked.
Fiery wings exploded from his back and he caught himself a second before he smacked into the ground.
He pumped his wings and narrowed his eyes at Beckett. “That sucked.”
“You deserved it.” Beckett chuckled.
“Maybe.” Tuck nodded.
“Come on.” Zinnia caught my attention. I hadn’t realized they’d kept walking as I’d stopped to watch them train.
I hurried toward them, following them through a smaller door at the back of the gym.
We entered a small room with shelves built into each wall.
There were more free-standing shelves lining the center of the room.
Every single one of them held multiple crystal pendulums of all different shapes, sizes, and colors.
The eerie part about it was that they all swung in the same direction at the same time.
“Niche!” Zinnia called out, and a woman with fire engine red hair popped out from behind the shelves.
She looked at me with wide eyes that looked even wider because of her huge glass with thick black rims. She straightened her white lab coat. “What are you all up to now?”
“We are helping death find the love of his eternity,” Tabi said in a cheery voice.
I extended my hand out toward Niche. “Hi, I’m Thanatos.”
She hurried forward and took my hand. “So, you really are . . . death?”
“Not anymore.” I glanced around at all the pendulums. “I’m hoping you can help me find Anastasia.”
“Of course we can.” She turned from me and hurried toward a table at the back of the office.
A world map lay spread there, and Niche picked up an amethyst pendulum that lay beside it.
She handed it to me. “Hold the end of the pendulum and let it hang over the map. Think only of her and let Zinnia do the rest. Finding a human is child’s play. ”
I did as she instructed, and Zinnia flicked her finger. Silvery magic swirled around my hand and down the pendulum. It swung in wild circles so fast it turned into a blur. It flew from my fingers and stabbed into the map. We all leaned over the map to gaze at where it landed.
“Oh, that’s hot.”
“That’s fun.”
I smirked at the location. “That’s where I need to be now.”
“Say no more.” Ophelia pulled another vial from the potion bag at her hip. She threw it onto the floor just beside the wall. A clear, glittering portal rose up from the potion. I turned toward it, ready to go.
“Before you rush in there, a word of advice.” Zinnia stopped me from diving headlong into that thing.
“Yes?”
“If she doesn’t remember you, then you’re going to have to be patient and maybe give her a chance to get to know you.”
“That’s a good idea. Thank you all.” I couldn’t stop myself from going through that portal, even if I wanted to.
Anastasia was only a few feet away, and I needed to get to her.
I hurried to step into it. My body was jerked forward, pulling me so hard from one point to the next that my head whipped back.
I tried to reach out to gain my balance.
Instead of gaining my balance, I came to a shaky stop.
The room was dark with flashing light and loud music.
The dance floor teemed with humans grinding against each other.
The music was so loud I could feel it pounding against my chest.
The entire bar was one big room with only half-walls separating it from the street.
The rest of the walls were wide open with views of people walking by, watching the party.
If the pendulum said Anastasia was here, then she would be.
I walked farther into the club, weaving my way across the dance floor, and froze.
There she was with her arms thrown over her head and her eyes closed tight as though she were trying to get lost to the beat.
She was so lovely with her long dark hair and fine features.
I stopped, just staring down at her. Someone bumped into my back, and I stumbled forward, bumping into her.
Her eyes flashed wide open, and I was captivated by their vivid green.
As a god I knew they were beautiful. As a human they were awing.
I held on to her arm, catching her so she didn’t topple over.
My skin prickled at the touch and a jolt shot through me.
As a god I’d never been like this, but now it sizzled across my skin and through my body. Her eyes drifted down toward my hand, then back up to my face. “It’s you.”
I licked my lips and leaned in closer to her, just wanting to be closer. “It’s me.”