19
Grim
After Vivien apprised me of all I missed, I led her out through the veil separating the cradle from where her friends waited in earnest. Miranda’s eyes rounded and Aaron took a step back as they saw me. His gaze bounced between my face and between my legs before his face reddened and he looked away. I adjusted the skull ring on my finger. It was the only thing I wore.
“Yeah, he didn’t exactly come out of the cradle with clothes on.” Vivien shrugged. “Just like a baby, a big hot baby.” She grinned at me, her hair a tousled mess and a flush on her cheeks.
I readjusted my grip on her hand, dragging her closer to me. I craved her, needed her near me. Vivien grounded me, and I needed that more than ever right now. My power still flared around and inside me, testing my control.
“How long was I in there?” Vivien asked, scrunching her nose in that impossibly adorable way. “Is it daylight yet?”
Aaron checked his large-faced sports watch. “About two hours, so no.”
“Did it work? Is he the god of the dead again?” Miranda asked, her demeanor cool, as if preparing for the worst.
I rotated my arm and made a fist. The tattoo of Ma’at’s feather rose to the surface on my forearm.
“I bet Fallon is relieved,” Miranda said, also relaxing her stance. It was then I saw she held the Blade of Bane.
“D-do the others know you are back?” Aaron asked. Then his eyes bounced all over the room as if he weren’t sure if he should meet my eye. They had obviously informed him of my divinity and was unsure how to act around me now.
I spoke to him directly to put him at ease. “Other than Fallon, no. The pulse of energy released when I rose may alert some of them, but I doubt it.” With that, I nodded to Vivien that we should go.
We made our way to my private jet. Our escort kept his eyes downcast, never looking upon me as he ushered us into his vehicle in the cover of night and drove us back. Vivien refused to release my hand, not wanting to let me go for even a moment.
On the plane, I was afforded the chance to change into my own clothes stored aboard. I donned a pair of slacks and threw on a button-up shirt, but I didn’t fasten it. My skin was still too fresh, and the fabric felt too tight.
With Vivien perched on my lap, the trio recounted all I missed while I slumbered in the cradle.
Galina’s betrayal stung my pride more than my feelings. I was used to my brethren vying for their own agendas, no matter the cost to others. And Galina played her cards so close to the chest for all these years, I never guessed her secret desire to release her sister upon this world again.
The threesome ended up crashing, having not slept on the way to retrieve me. Miranda fell asleep with her hands folded in her lap, seat still straight up, while Aaron had reclined his. Mouth slack, he snored. Vivien fought to keep her eyes open, but daylight had come. We shut all the windows to protect her, and the dim lights cast a warm glow across her beautiful, yet exhausted, face. I picked her up and carried her to the private cabin at the back of the plane.
“I don’t want to fall asleep,” she moaned in protest even as she pushed off her jeans. I lay down next to her. I didn’t need to sleep, having done so for long enough.
“It’s okay,” I said, pushing her hair back over her ear. “I’ll be here when you wake,” I promised.
I was true to my promise, though I cut her rest short, as she awoke to my mouth between her thighs. The desire to taste her was far too strong for me to resist. Her eyes fluttered open as she writhed under me until she fell apart under my tongue and fingers. Immediately after, she clambered on top of me and rode me hard until I feared I’d perish all over again.
Spent and sweaty, we splayed on the bed until I felt the plane descend. We got dressed and emerged just before we had to buckle in.
The limo waited for us on my private landing strip, headlights cutting through the darkness.
“D-do you think they are d-doing okay at the hotel?” Aaron asked.
I’d attempted to call my aide, but there had been no response from Timothy.
Aaron tried to cover up the concern in his eyes and failed. The words he didn’t speak rang out all too loudly. Vivien had regaled me with the unspoken love affair between Timothy and the barista. She and Miranda spent a surprising amount of time growing vested in the outcome. While I submitted to listening to their wild conjectures, I’d never broached Timothy about it. But now I could see what Vivien already knew. This man cared deeply for my aide.
We returned to Sinopolis and found caution tape covering the front doors. I ripped it off and entered the trashed lobby. My senses searched for life, for souls, but the hotel was empty of guests. My oasis of plants were uprooted and thrown about. Timothy and Fallon were nowhere to be found and all my staff were absent. I went down into my antechamber of judgement under the hotel to find my friends, but they weren’t there. At least Amit, the crocodile god, remained. He had no preference how he got souls and would not pick sides.
But my allies were all abducted.
I traveled through the scale of walls to the afterlife, seeking the council and aid of Osiris. But he was gone, as Fallon had already discovered. Only the ferryman was about, and he was of little help.
Back in the lobby, I stood with my sekhor and two mortals, seething from the audacity of Bast’s reach. Vivien changed into leather pants, boots, and a blood-red bustier. She threw Cookie Monster over the outfit.
A cold snake of fear wove through me at the thought I’d almost killed her. This vibrant, bold vampire, who’d do anything to get me back. She had helped guide me back to myself, even though I’d strayed so far away. Vivien proved to be more of a home to me than any other place I’d known. Even the cradle of birth could not compete with the power of my love for her.
