Page 31 of Where the Light No Longer Follows

When he spotted Silene sprinting down the hill from her home in his direction, he even threw his brother a wink.

“You think you’ve won over fates just because she now comes to you willingly?” Azriel asked him.

“The fuckers can go fuck themselves.”

“Don’t do that, brother. If not for the sake of you, for the sake of her.”

“Not a hair on her pretty head will be touched in death or in any life, that I can promise you.”

He shook his head. “How do you ever plan on making sure of that?”

“Threatening and begging. Loads of it.”

“You think the fates will listen?”

“Fuck them,” he said, and then added, “I’ve got friends in high places, baby brother. Many of them. Why do you think I’ve made a bargain with each and every God in these past five hundred years? They all owe me. You owe me, too, remember? Once she leaves here, every single one of them will make sure she lives like a God amongst humans. And in death shall she come again, here too she will be a God. You will make sure of it.” He tilted his head back, regarding his quiet brother. “Winter, wasn't that her name?”

Azriel stiffened, the skies on his side of the river darkening at the mere mention of the human woman who his brother had left his heart with. “Don’t.”

“Worry not brother, I mean no harm to her. I went through enough shit to find someone who can even tolerate your prickly ass. And for that you owe me.”

“You think she will still come to you when she finds out the truth?” his brother asked, and in turn, the skies over his side darkened.

Silene stopped beside Azriel, forcing Gabriel to seal his mouth shut. She handed him her timekeeper and patted his shoulder. “Consider this a holiday notice.”

Gabriel’s grin faded into a sneer when his brother turned to him, smirking as he pushed his glasses back with a finger, gloating at the fact that she could touch him. “Call if you’re sick of his unbearable arrogance, I will send someone for you.”

Silene waved over her shoulder as she crossed the bridge between life and death, almost running into his arms if he’d not caught himself and taken a step back. “What did you pick out of the list today?” she asked, giving him a little uncomfortable smile as if to deter him from what had almost happened.

“A surprise,” he said, bringing a rose from behind him and brushing the soft petals against her cheek and down her jaw before offering it to her to take.

“It will die,” she said, hiding her hands behind her back.

“All things die, Silene. All living things wish they could die by gentle hands. This rose will have the gentlest, kindest death of all. A mercy to wither in your hold.”

He saw her swallow, the way she regarded him with such desperate, woeful eyes as she reached for the flower, already knowing its fate.

The moment she held it, the stem began turning a pale shade of brown, drying out and dying, the petals turning stiff and a dark grey. She brought the rose to her nose, a feigned smile gracing her face. “At least it still smells good.”

He brought a folded piece of ribbon from his pocket, unfolding the silky black material and holding one end of it while handing the other end to her. “There will be a crowd where I’m taking you, I don’t want to lose you in it.”

Silene reached for the other end, wrapping her fingers around it, the closest they could ever come to holding hands. She followed after him as he stepped across the veil between life and death, right into the middle of a bright, loud and massive theme park—her second demand.

“Can they see me?” she asked, clinging close to him, as close as she could, and Gabriel contemplated lying to her.

“Only if you want them to.”

“You will look insane talking to nothing.”

“You’re worried about me?”

“Never mind,” she said, unravelling her hand from her ribbon and stepping back from him. “Make me invisible.”

“As you wish, my ruin,” he said, tugging on the ribbon they held onto and bringing her close to him again.

They stopped before a massive ferris wheel, waiting in line, and he could feel the dread dripping off her as she stiffly stood at his side, staring down at her boots. From the way her chest rose and fell, he could tell panic had gripped her.

“Silene,” he called to her, and she turned to him. “They can’t hurt you. They can’t even see you.”