Whisper suddenly darted away, his glowing eyes narrowed with accusation. Excitement at finding us vanished under rage that we’d left him. He roared, telling us exactly what he thought about us abandoning him.
With a sneeze, he slinked to Dillon’s bones and nudged one of them with a keening cry.
Emotions flooded me: snippets of Dillon laughing and sharing a haunch of venison that they’d caught on a hunting trip. Flashes of sharing a tent together when a thunderstorm rattled the mountain. Of Dillon’s blond hair turning snow white as age marched him closer to the end.
“Do you...do you see that?” I turned to Lucien, awe making my voice shake.
Lucien never took his eyes off Whisper as the panther paid homage to his friend who’d cared for him while we couldn’t.
“I do. It’s similar to how I first started sensing you through the bond,” Lucien murmured quietly. “We’re picking up on him, right?”
“I think so.” I never looked away from Whisper as he licked one of the bones as if saying goodbye.
Moving closer, I slung my arm around the panther’s massive shoulders and closed my eyes. I focused on Dillon’s soul like I had on Whisper’s. I waited for the history and murmurs of death, begging my bodyguard to answer, but...he never did. I could feel himsomewherebut I couldn’t summon him—almost as if he was hidden through a veil.
Lucien came to my side and rested his hand on my head.Running his fingers through my hair, he sent goosebumps down my arms. “What do you think that means?” Lucien asked, following my inner thoughts. “Do you think Dillon’s soul is lost?”
My heart hurt at the thought and Whisper whimpered.
“It’s okay, Whisp.” I kissed his cheek and stood. “We’ll figure it out. I can hear death all around me. I’m bound to talk to him eventually.”
The panther nodded dejectedly.
“But what if he’s not dead?” Lucien frowned. “What if he’s passed into a different realm like the dreamscape or been reincarnated into another body...seeing as his old one is long gone?”
“You think he’s still alive?”
“I don’t know what to think.” He smiled wryly. “Everything I thought I knew flew out the window the moment I opened my eyes and found you again.” His voice turned heavy. “I have a hundred questions about what we are, what we’re capable of, and what happened while we were ‘asleep’—if that’s even what we were. Did we die? Did the Requiem power kill us or merely knock us out while it broke us down and built us back up again? What does that make us? Immortal like everyone kept saying? Are we still human when we can bring the dead back to life and have light in our veins instead of blood? Is the world still functioning? Did other Requiem carriers survive? Are we the only two people alive? What—”
“Lucien.” I pressed my fingers against his lips. “Calm down.”
Grabbing my wrist, he pulled my touch away from his mouth and smirked. “Sorry. It’s just...the longer I’m awake, the more I need to know. But I also have a horrible feeling that no one will be around to answer our questions.”
“I know.” My heart pinched at the thought of so many decades passing. If I concentrated enough on the death whispers, I could hear Frank, Auntie Mei, and Uncle Wen. I could even hear my parents in the babble of constant noise, and I had no idea what any of that meant.
Whisper chirped and scratched at the hard rock where Dillon’s final resting place had been for so long. Lucien and I didn’t say a word as the panther tried to bury the bones, only managing to claw up hunks of moss and grass.
He snarled in frustration as I went to him. “Do you want to bury him, kitty cat?”
His eyes snapped to mine. His whiskers flared as he looked from the bones to me and then to Lucien. Growling quietly, animage of a fire appeared in my head. A fire freeing whatever was left of Dillon’s energy in his earthly remains.
Lucien sucked in a breath as if he’d seen the image too. “You want to cremate him?”
Whisper nodded, giving us no doubt whatsoever that our bond with the beast was no longer normal but elevated...just like everything else.
We’d brought him back to life by sharing our energy. Did that mean he was now immortal too? Would he one day fade again unless we kept sharing that energy? Why had I been able to summon his soul when I couldn’t summon Dillon’s? Was Dillon okay wherever he was? Why could I hear so many histories and stories of those who’d passed on? What did that make me—?
“Now who’s asking too many questions?” Lucien chuckled. “Your thoughts are ringing in my ears.”
“Ugh, you’re right.” I laughed under my breath, pushing away the endless theories. There was time to figure it out. If we truly had survived the Requiem ascension, then...we had nothingbuttime.
“Perhaps we’re all connected thanks to whatever Snowflake Corp injected us with.” Lucien shrugged. “Maybe we formed a trinity—a bond that’s unbreakable, even in death—and that’s why we were able to bring back Whisper. I know I would do absolutely anything to bring you back to me. I never stopped loving you, wanting you...and now that I’ve found you again...” He shook his head. “I honestly don’t have the words for how fucking happy I am.”
Smiling, I stepped into his arms. “Same.”
He hugged me tightly, pressing his lips to my hair. “I’m not in pain anymore. The fire isn’t killing me. The power is eager and willing to do whatever I want. I feel better than I have in my entire life. And having you back in my arms...knowing that nothing can take you away from me again.” Nuzzling his way down to my throat, he whispered against my skin, “I love you so fucking much, Rook.”
My heart overflowed with affection. My body lit up as if he’d turned on a silver lightbulb inside me.
