Chapter Twenty-One
Limos
Heaven had made one demand for their assistance—we deliver one of the Counter Souls for the apocalypse. Thanatos had agreed too readily, and I’d nearly cracked under the fury exploding inside my chest.
He’d sent one warning glare at both Zelus and I the second we took a step in his direction, unwilling to negotiate such a price. And I’d swallowed my anger.
Barely.
It wouldn’t be Nomi, I’d planned to argue as soon as we left to prepare for a breach of Hell.
When we were finally alone, Thanatos had stared at both of us, his expression nearly as unreadable as mine. “We will not honor their terms,” came his surprising vow. “Even if it comes to a fight with Heaven.”
Zelus had insisted Thanatos had changed, but I hadn’t believed it until he said those words.
The one they called Death didn’t break the rules, but yet again he was.
He was the first to rebel against our duty as Horsemen, and now he actively rebelled against a vow he made to the archangels of Heaven.
But I didn’t have any qualms with deceiving Heaven or going back on our vow. I’d do whatever it took to get my little wisp back.
Our angel companions flanked ahead of us, destroying any demon within reach, their powerful light near-blinding.
Demons both attacked and retreated at the sight of them.
Soon, the fight would call attention to bigger foes.
Which was our hope. Enough deaths at his doorstep and even Lucifer couldn’t turn a blind eye. He’d be forced to show himself.
But as we made our way into the crowd, a warm sensation I’d recognize anywhere struck me. I hadn’t believed it at first. She couldn’t be here. Lucifer would never allow it. He’d keep her under lock and key. She wouldn’t have any way of escaping even should she get away.
Yet, Nomi stood just outside the collecting mass, her eyes wide and searching. Glacies flickered next to her and joyfully swayed in greeting at the sight of me. I was immediately in front of my Counter Soul, the terrible void in my chest filling with the mere closeness of her.
“Little wisp,” I breathed, taking hold of her.
“Oh god, Ghost. I thought for sure…” her voice croaked.
She touched my face, smiling, and the mere feel of her soothed the burn that had raged inside me since finding her dead.
“We need to leave before those bastards melt. I hope you know the way out of here, because I did nothing but fall for the last hour.”
I peered down at her with an eyebrow raised in question.
She shrugged. “Glacies turned the Fallen Brothers into ice, even Lucifer, and then I tumbled from one frozen fight to the next.”
My eyes widened just enough to express shock before I decided the conversation could wait. “Arms around me, little wisp. Don’t let go.”
She pressed her face into my chest and did as she was told. “I’ll never let go again.”
“Good,” I said into her hair, kissing the top of her head and transporting her away from danger.
I hadn’t released Nomi after we left Hell. Thanatos mentioned tethering her soul or she might wander before we went to rescue her. He permitted us access to his realm but asked that I keep a hold on her until he returned. I didn’t need the excuse. I couldn’t imagine letting her go ever again.
Still, I’d explained as much to Nomi so she wouldn’t let go before Thanatos could tether her soul, and she hadn’t argued. If anything, she expressed visible relief that I didn’t want to immediately separate.
After making our way into the towering fortress Thanatos kept in his realm, Nomi curled on my lap, her face in the hollow of my neck.
Glacies and Ignis were tucked under her chin, having refused to leave her side since we left Hell.
Their unfaltering loyalty to her matched their loyalty to me.
I was forever in their debt for keeping her safe.
I’d nearly lost her.
She’d whispered as we’d made our way into Thanatos’s home about how she escaped and the strange meeting before she did.
I never thought she’d find a way to use Glacies’s powers, or that it’d be powerful enough to freeze an entire room of Fallen Brothers, including Lucifer himself, but I’d never been so happy to be wrong.
Nomi stayed quiet against me. I sensed her distress and carefully selected my words.
I didn’t have to guess why tears burned down her cheeks and her body trembled in silent grief, despite no longer being mortal.
She’d seen the man she considered her father attacked, and by the way she danced around talking about him, she likely thought him dead.
“Felix is in the hospital,” I told her softly.
Her head jerked up and her eyes searched mine. “What?!”
“He was severely injured, but Thanatos has assured me he’ll recover. His soul is strong and not calling for collection,” I explained. “It’ll take time for him to heal, but I’ll take you to him once it’s safe.”
I wasn’t prepared for all the kisses raining down on my face. Nomi dropped one everywhere she could reach before finally pressing those sweet lips over mine. Cradling her face, I deepened the kiss and gave myself over to the passion I’d battled since seeing her in Hell.
She was safe. She was back in my arms.
Losing Nomi had been life-altering. I finally understood what Ares meant when she said fighting for love was the most powerful thing anyone could do. Because the love I had for this much-too-kind woman made it clear that I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy.
Nomi was the soul I was meant to take, but falling in love with her had given me a soul instead.
“He’s really okay?” she croaked, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t let this be a dream…”
My lips lifted into a gentle smile, brushing her tears away with both thumbs. “He’s really okay. And this has never been a dream. If you remember, I’ve told you that a few times.”
Her laughter eased the tension in my chest, but her tears came faster. “Thank you for coming for me, Ghost.”
“I always will,” I promised her.
She pressed her forehead to mine and wrapped her arms around my neck. “What happens now?”
My hands went to her hips, but I didn’t answer her. I sensed the sudden fluctuation inside the room before a man and woman blinked into existence.
Thanatos seemed confused when he peered down at me. His Counter Soul as well as her long red hair fell around her shoulders. She searched the room for something or someone, increasingly worried.
The other Horseman stared at me, his jaw clenching. “Where’s your Counter Soul, Limos? Were you not able to bring her to my realm? Had you told me, I could’ve—”
I blinked, genuinely confused, and cut him off, “She’s right here.”
Nomi’s head turned to stare at the other two. “Are you guys playing a prank on us after everything we’ve been through?” she demanded.
Their eyes widened. The two shared a glance, but I’d already put the pieces together.
“She can cloak herself from you the way I can.”
Thanatos nodded, his eyes taking her in with open curiosity. “And her soul is strong. Much stronger than it had been as a mortal. She doesn’t need to be tethered.”
Both his Counter Soul and mine blinked their owlish eyes between us, but it was my Nomi who asked a question first, “What does that mean?”
“It means, little wisp,” I murmured, drawing her pretty blue eyes back over to me, “that you and I are bound together as one. Two souls of the same Horseman.”
She blinked. I blinked. The others blinked, clearly not used to the smile on my face or the term of endearment I’d used for her.
I never imagined Thanatos would be right. I regretted leaving, but I wouldn’t have killed her no matter what promises he made. I was, however, glad that he’d discovered the secret behind our Counter Souls.
“I’ve become fucking Famine?!” she finally belted out.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed and nearly sent the other two in the room scurrying back at the sound of it. Zelus and his Counter Soul appeared next to Thanatos, immediately seized by the sight of me laughing.
“What in all the realms is happening?! Did you guys break Ghost?” Zelus asked, smile dropping in shock.
I ignored everyone who wasn’t my beautiful Nomi and kissed the shell-shocked woman, overwhelmed with happiness that I didn’t have any hope containing. So, I just continued to explore her mouth, laying claim to her in the best way I knew how, and ignored the cries and murmurs of the others.