Chapter 9
THANATOS
With Anastasia’s hand in mine, all felt right with the world.
My heart was at peace and excitement soared through my body.
My dearest friend was finally with me. I ghosted us through space, covering us both in my power and putting us directly back in our home.
I dropped her hand and she spun in a slow circle taking in her surroundings.
The room was the same with plush comfortable furniture and a fire in the hearth.
She ran the tips of her fingers over the books on the shelves.
“Home,” She whispered.
Echo leapt at her. Anastasia caught her in her arms and held her closer to her chest.
“Echo.” She hugged the little dog tight. “I’ve missed you.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “You remember?”
“I remember. From the moment I died everything came rushing back.” She placed Echo on the floor between us, then reached her hand toward me. “Everything.”
For so long. not knowing if she would remember me, or Echo, or the years we’d spent together tortured me.
I took her hand and pulled her closer to me.
She rested her hand on my chest, and her eyes went wide.
“Oh, Thanatos.” She took a step back and pressed her hand over her mouth. “What have you done?”
“I won’t be parted from you, Anastasia.”
She shook her head and her eyes glinted. “No, you’re supposed to take me to be judged, and I’m to be sent into the afterlife.”
“Do you think you’d make it to Elysium after living as Ana the Deathless?” I wanted to believe that she would. But I wasn’t willing to take the risk of sending her to the judges.
She pressed her hands over her face. “I can’t say that I would, Thanatos. I helped so many people, but I also harmed just as many. Possibly more.”
Gentle Anastasia was back in our home, back in my life. I never wanted to let her go. “We can’t chance it.”
“But it’s not fair.” She dropped her hands and shook her head. “And the fates . . . There will be consequences this time.”
I shook my head. “No, no one knows you’re here and we will try again. Just like before.”
“What if I come back . . . worse?” Gentle Anastasia was so many things—more than gentle, more than brave, more than adventurous.
I chuckled. “Then I look forward to meeting another side of you.”
“You make it sound like a good thing.” She motioned to our home. “But how can it be good when you’ve hidden me back here?”
“Anything with you is good.”
“I fear you are just saying that to be kind.”
I wrapped my hand around her back and her eyes widened at the contact.
In all the years we’d been together, I’d never touched her in such a way.
Nor has she melted into my body so completely.
“I’m saying it because it’s true.” I swallowed.
“Hypnos told me to think about why I would risk so much to save your soul. Why would I take such pains to ensure you were with me for eternity?”
“I sometimes ask myself the same thing. What makes me so worthy of your friendship?” She rested her hand on my chest once more, and I realized I never wanted to lose her touch again.
“Because you are everything, Anastasia.” I sighed. “I would keep you with me always if I thought you would be safe from Hades and the fates. But I dare not take such a risk.”
“Why?”
I swallowed. “Because, my dearest friend, you have become so much more to me. And I can only think of you as my dearest love.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Love?”
“Yes, my Anastasia, Ana the Deathless, I love you.”
“Then I must go back again.” She lifted her face to catch my eye. “I pray it will not take so long for me to come back to you, my love.”
I held her tighter. “As will I. But for now, we have tonight. We have this moment. We have us.”
“Us.” Her lips curled in that sweet smile, and I cupped her cheek and drew her closer.
When I pressed my lips to hers, power spread over my body, covering us both in blue and black sparks.
My heart raced in my chest as I felt her warm, soft mouth against mine.
Her lips tasted of the sweetest treat, and I couldn’t imagine any kind of lifetime without her.
I needed my Anastasia, no matter what part of her I got.
As our lips drifted apart, I could only think one thing.
. . . Until next time, my dearest love.