Page 49 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

ASCIAN

“ Wait for me!”

The tiny voice brought a wide grin to Ascian’s lips as he stopped his walk towards the meeting room and turned to find Asha racing towards him. Her dark hair flew out behind her, her arms outstretched for him before she even reached him.

He caught her and swung her up, the giggle that followed creating a pleasant pressure in his chest.

“Hello, my little reaper. Does your mother know you’ve followed me?” Ascian looked back towards their house. A cosy little treetop cottage with a wrap around deck.

Asha’s small arms wrapped around his neck, gripping onto him as tightly as she could. “Yep!”

“Raine!” Alora yelled, frantic. The door to the treehouse flew open and she appeared with Malachi cradled to her chest. “Raine.”

Asha — or as she liked to be called, Raine — ducked her head against Ascian’s body. “Nope.”

Ascian didn’t realise how often he’d need to hold in his curses with a four-year-old. It was as though she made it her mission to learn every bad word he said, and then repeat it in front of Alora.

“You’re in so much trouble, little lady,” he muttered as he sent a soothing message to Alora. ‘She’s with me. Must’ve raced down when she realised I was leaving.’

He felt the anxiety leave her as soon as his voice entered her mind.

‘Are you okay to take her today?’

Ascian narrowed his eyes as though that would help him see across the distance between them. Not that he needed to see her to know how she was feeling. A toddler and a baby? He wished he could breast-feed for her and allow her more rest than he knew she was getting .

‘Let me take Malachi, too. I’ll only be an hour or so, and I’m sure you’d like some uninterrupted rest.’

Alora’s shoulders slumped. Even from a distance, Ascian could see them fall, and a breathtaking smile took over her face. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely. You could’ve come with me to the meeting if you wanted to, but I thought you would prefer rest.’

‘How is it possible to love you more than I already do?’

Ascian laughed, placing Asha down beside Alamea. ‘My love for you grows every day, so it’s entirely possible.’

He crouched before his daughter, holding his hands gently within his larger ones. She played with his fingers, tracing the lines and scars that marred them, so much like her mother. “Stay with Alamea. I’m just going to go grab your brother and then I’ll be back, okay?”

“Okay,” Asha hummed back immediately.

Ascian straightened and watched her with narrowed eyes for a second before he sent Alamea and look and then headed back to grab Malachi. He managed ten steps and then heard the infamous, ‘Hey!’ He looked back over his shoulder to find Asha’s shirt in his guardian's maw as she tried to make a break for the forest. Never had he been more grateful for his guardian than when it came to protecting his children.

Hells save the day for when she discovered her own guardian and learnt how to escape that protectiveness. At least then, she’d have her own to keep her safe.

Ascian climbed the ladder to the wrap around deck and came face to face with Alora. Dark circles cradled her eyes, stains littered across her shirt, and she was more gorgeous than the day they’d reunited. He gently scooped Malachi from her arms, wrapping him against his own chest.

“You don’t want anymore, right?” She asked with a breathless laugh.

Ascian grinned. “No, but I’m happy to practise making them.” He winked and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Go and get some sleep, amorsa.”

Red bloomed on her cheeks as she hummed happily. “Yes, Commander.”

Ascian watched her disappear into their home before he descended the ladder and returned to his daughter and guardian. Asha stood, her arms crossed with a heavy frown. Her blue eyes shaded with annoyance.

“Come on, little reaper,” he hummed, holding a hand out for her and cradling the back of Malachi’s head with his other. “What would you like to learn today?”

Asha slipped her hand into his, her frown dissolving immediately at the question. She observed the forest around them with such an intelligent gaze, Ascian sometimes forgot how young she was. Then again, how young were you really when your soul had been reincarnated too many times to tell.

New souls existed, when others fulfilled their purpose, but they had a different aura to them. Asha was not one. Her soul had lived before. Ascian could feel it in the way she strode through the forest with ease. The way she held no uncertainty when facing a guardian three times her size, or how she’d use her body in a way another would when harnessing their energy, only to remember she didn’t have access, yet.

“Can I find my companion?” Asha asked. She looked up as she squeezed his hand. “Or, grow the flowers?”

Ascian’s brows raised. “The flowers?”

“The ones you call mama.”

“Amorsa?” Asha nodded. “You’ll need your energy for that, but once it’s come out, I’ll teach you.”

Asha sighed but nodded again.

“Your companion, though,” Ascian hummed. “You’ll find each other when you need to, and not a second after.”

“I don’t need them, yet?”

Ascian shrugged, running his thumb over the back of her hand. “I didn’t say that.”

Asha’s feet stopped, her grip slipping from Ascians as he continued another step forward. He turned to look at her, his own question on his lips when he noticed her attention elsewhere. That observant gaze stared a hole through a rustling, thick brush.

“Raine?”

She didn’t respond, her body turning towards the brush. Ascian moved towards her but Alamea stopped him with a paw at his leg. They were so close to the Grotto. Surely it couldn’t be anything dangerous. Nothing that should be the cause of the anxiety that filled Ascian’s chest.

The brush rustled more violently, and then out tumbled a little lynx cub. It straightened itself and shook fallen leaves from its body before locking eyes with Asha .

A lynx cub. A lynx cub.

Ascian stumbled back against Alamea who easily caught him and kept him upright. He looked at Asha with an entirely new perspective, everything shifting and sliding together like the different pieces of a weapon being made.

“Raine?” He asked with a shaky voice.

Asha’s head spun to look at him and she smiled, deep dimples sinking into her cheeks. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

There she was. His sister's soul. Right in front of him all along.

For Raine, and it had been. For his sister, and for his daughter. He just hadn’t realised they’d be the same.