Page 41

CHAPTER 41

AURORA

A urora dressed quickly, not in the black ball gown but in a dark riding habit. She was sick. Sick from heartache. For what still needed to be done. It was an illness that could be felt in her bones and in the matter that connected her to those bones. Thane was right about one thing: this had to end. And she was going to end it.

She made her way to Thane’s hall. The sky above her shone with the first blush of daylight. The stars whispered. “ Where is he?” she demanded of them.

“Waiting,” the stars whispered back.

“Death!” Aurora yelled. “ I know you can hear me. Show yourself, you coward.” The souls cowered in the corners, shivering as the air became thick with Death’s presence.

Death appeared before Aurora like smoke. “ Coward ? Is that the best you could come up with?” He filled out his form until he was there. Flesh and bone. His features shifted and twisted as he walked up to her. He stood before her with eyes like Thane’s .

“It worked, didn’t it? You’re here.” Aurora stuck out her chin. She had survived a frozen queen, a year in the mortal world, and ten lifetimes of broken hearts. She could face a god. Because that’s what Death was. A god like her.

Death smiled at her. “ You young gods must do better at hiding your emotions. Thane’s were written all over his face.”

“Thane was there?” She let the words slip out before she could stop them.

“Yes. I gave him the night off. There is only one soul that needs to be collected tonight.” Death stalked about the hall. “ He does this because of me.” Death motioned to the unfinished floor and ceiling. “ He thinks if there is no end to this, I will stay away.”

“I don’t care if you don’t like how Thane decorates. That’s not why I summoned you.” Aurora straightened her spine. This was it. This was what she wanted. An end.

Death lifted a dark brow. “ You did not summon me. I have the last name.” A small piece of paper appeared between Death’s dark-tipped fingers. He held it out to Aurora .

Aurora stared at it. Her breath was stuck in her throat as she reached for it.

“On second thought, what fun would that be?” The paper turned to ash.

“Dammit, give it to me,” Aurora cried. “ This has gone on long enough.”

“Wrong,” Death hissed. “ I could play this game for another lifetime. Watching you and my beloved son tear each other apart. It’s very entertaining. Things have been a little dull.” Death’s smile was sharp, and his silver eyes burned bright.

Aurora fought the tears that clogged her throat. Not tears of fear but of frustration. Frustration that she had no control over any of this. Her life, Thane’s . Those mortals she had grown to love. “ Just give me the name.”

“No,” Death shot back.

“What?” Aurora pulled back.

“Are you also hard of hearing? I said no.” Death poured himself a shot of lightning.

“If you don’t give it to me, this never ends.”

Death smiled. “ I know. Funny how that works. I didn’t put a time on the deal I made with the mortal either. I could demand you reap the soul today or in ten years. I must confess I was surprised you made it this far. I thought that frozen queen would be the end of you. But here we are. The last is always the hardest.”

“Not if you don’t give it to me.” Aurora was growing tired of this. Tired of the sickness that sat at the base of her throat. “ Tell me now.”

Death swallowed down the lightning. “ First , how was your time with the mortals?”

“Miserable. This is not a social call. The name.” She didn’t have all night to play this stupid game with him. The soul would have to be reaped before the sunrise in the mortal land.

“I have a better idea. Since you figured out what it took to reap the queen’s soul, I’ll give you another riddle.” Death stepped closer, his features shifting to the god he was. His silver eyes turned dark amber. His beauty was almost mesmerizing, his voice low and bewitching. “ Once there was a god who lost her memories. She wished them away. The silly god found herself in the mortal realm. There she found a boy and a girl, both wishing for the same thing: love. Then came a mother and daughter, both with a heart big enough to love everyone. But as curses go, one must die, and one heart must break. Who it is only I know.”

Aurora’s mind spun with all the options. Mrs . A and Lillian . Had Sissy or Clara found someone to love?

Death circled around her. “ Can you do it? Can you cut the cord of the one who made a deal with me while you were here with Thane ?”

The sickness worked its way further up her throat. It threatened to spill out onto the floor. She wondered what it would look like. If she did, would it be black like death or red like heartbreak? “ I hate you.”

“Yes, most do. I am Death . I am the end. No one likes the end.” Death looked to the sky again. “ It’s getting late. Good luck, daughter of Life , or shall I say, bringer of heartache,” Death taunted before fading into the nothingness.

Aurora screamed to the sky before she fell to her knees. She pressed her forehead to the cold tile, breathing through the sickness that coated her throat and mouth. She gagged on it, swallowing it back down. She would not let Death do this to her. She could not. Aurora lay down on the tile, letting the coolness seep through her clothing, making her numb to what she had to do. One of Ella’s loved ones would have to die. And she’d have to be the one to do it.

“Aurora?” Cadel called.

Aurora rolled over and looked up at the sky. A few stars had slipped off to tell her secrets to any god who would listen. “ Run off, you stupid little cowards. And when Death knows your secrets, then what? Will you be so bold?” she yelled. “ I should lose just so you can feel what real pain is.”

“Why are you lying on the ground?” Cadel came into view, looking down at her.

“Because I was stupid and fell in love with a god.” Aurora could feel the tears run down her cheek.

“I know the feeling. Come on. I know where Thane keeps the whiskey.”