Xander told me how to get here, but I didn’t know what to do next.
“Grim,” I tried to call, my voice cracking.
The mass of light didn’t respond.
“Grim, I know you’re in there,” I said, trying to sound stern, but my words quaked. I neared the pool, but the atoms of my being shook more violently until I thought I would dissolve, so I backed away. I paced back and forth, struggling to think my way through the situation. Once I’d phased into this room, my phone became as useless as a brick. Zero reception. So I couldn’t call Timothy or Fallon for help.
Wracking my brain, I tried to recall all I’d absorbed about the resurrection of Osiris from the books I’d read. It had to be a similar problem, right? Isis, his wife, asked Anubis to help her resurrect her husband and his father. There were accounts of Isis gathering all the bits of the chopped-up god and putting him back together like Humpty Dumpty. But Grim’s body had turned to dust. I didn’t know any resurrection spells, and Grim couldn’t help me.
Sudden anger spiked in me. I was annoyed that I didn’t know what to do. Angry that Xander and Timothy sent me here without telling me what the next step would be. Angry at myself for not asking more specifics before getting on a plane. Angry at Grim for leaving, and angry I didn’t tell him I loved him when I had the chance.
I hoped if I showed up, Grim would magically appear. But yet again, my need to jump into things short-circuited my smarts. I hadn’t thought this through.
Returning to the wall where I entered, I pressed my back against it and slid down until I was sitting. And the other bad news was I didn’t know how to get out of here either. Would Miranda and Timothy give up hope and leave me here? Would I try to chip away at the rock to free myself?
No, I couldn’t think like that. I wasn’t leaving here without Grim. I just needed to be smarter than I was.
I shut my eyes and tried to think my way through this.
After two minutes, I sighed and rubbed my face. Was that burning smell my own brain?
“This isn’t going to work,” I said to myself. No one would accuse me of being the brainiest vampire around. But right now, I could really use some smarts to work through this.
The sound of a yip made me jerk. I looked down sat at my feet.
“Cupcake!” I cried in joy. I gathered her into my arms, grateful to have a friend with me. Of course, the little reaper puppy was already incorporeal and could go anywhere.
Still hugging the pup, I spoke to the room as if he were here. “Grim. Anubis,” I corrected, feeling like I was talking more to myself than to him. “The world needs you. Your family needs you. I need you.”
Then an idea came to me. It might have been a stupid idea, and it was definitely forbidden, but if I worshipped Grim, could he hear me? I set Cupcake down and rolled to my knees. Next to me, my furry companion leaned down while sticking her tiny wagging butt in the air.
I used to do this a lot. For a long time, I’d tried my hand at praying my way out of a house where the hands were too mean or too friendly. It never worked, and I eventually gave up.
I clapped my palms together and closed my eyes. “Anubis, I pray to you.”
Something in the room shifted. It was subtle, but I didn’t open my eyes, not wanting to lose concentration.
“I didn’t bring you gifts. I don’t have mummified cats, or treasure to show you how much I adore you. But I can also tell you, no one has ever adored you more than me. I’m calling on you, Anubis, for help. To come back to the mortal world, to protect the souls you care for, and to be with me.” The last part came out as a ragged whisper.
Again, something shifted in the room. This time, I opened my eyes. Cupcake sat next to me. Her gaze set on the pool of light.
My prayer turned to a whisper, but I couldn’t stop the words from spilling forth. “I pray to you, Anubis. I pray you come back. Come back to me.”
Anticipation built up in my chest as the liquid churned and splashed over itself, making waves. They spilled upward in a vertical motion. My jaw dropped as I took in the magic display of swelling glow. I grabbed hold of Cupcake to help ground myself and she didn’t fight me.
The liquid turned into a reverse fountain as it rose into beautiful sheets until it nearly touched the ceiling of the alcove.
A foot stepped through the pearlescent sheets and landed on the stone ledge of the pool, then another broke through, stepping down onto the floor. Familiar bronze skin curved up over muscled calves and legs, and then Grim emerged, standing there before me, whole and alive in the flesh.
Power shifted around him in waves of gold and black. The same sizzle of power I detected from Xander hit the air, but tenfold. And dark hair fell into a pair of deep amber eyes that held no recognition for me.
18
Grim
I’d been drifting, one with the universe and beyond. Without form, I experimented with the stars, dipped my fingers into time, and tasted the echoing cacophony of sounds that rang throughout all of space. But someone called my name even though I could not remember it.
The call penetrated my formless consciousness, tugging on me like a petulant child. Part of me didn’t want to go, but I had to. The prayer, more powerful than any other I’d known, drew me until my atoms rearranged back into solid form. I hurtled up from the center of the universe.
