Page 68 of Titan’s Mate

“We don’t have to,” Mari said, looking up at Titan with her perfect faith. “He can call them out. Can’t you?”

He could, he realized. The ritual spell would call them out. “I think I can,” he said, hope rising in him.

“Sweet,” Colt said. “Let’s do it.”

Jaeda asked him, “What do you need?”

But it was Mari who answered. “What he always needs. For us to have his back. Because the kind of bond we have?” She winked at Brock. “It’s unstoppable.”

They lined up behind Titan, one behind the other, hands on each other’s shoulders. And Titan, no longer a lone shaman, buoyed by his crew and his mate, began to chant.

His words rolled out through the spirit world, through the gates of Hell and beyond. And they came.

One by one they appeared in the gateway, glowing with light, growing more and more solid. One by one they walked through, out of the flames and into safety.

Until they were all there. His family. His people. And last of all, his shaman master, Grayling.

Titan fell to his knees as the power dissipated, leaving him overcome. He’d done it. They were here.

He started to shake.

And then they were all around him, solid here in the spirit world, hugging him and each other, all talking at once.

Just the way he remembered them.

Grayling walked up to him and laid a hand on his head. Titan, still on his knees, looked up to him, the way he had for so long.

“How can they be so happy to see me? I let you down. I wasn’t there. I didn’t keep you safe.”

Janelle ran up and threw her arms around him. “We knew you’d come. We knew you’d never stop trying.”

“He never did,” Mari said.

Grayling raised him to his feet. “I’m proud of you.”

Brandon said, “I don’t want to break up the reunion, but if we’re taking you all to the realms of the polar bear gods, we better get a move on. We’re unconscious, back there on earth, and even though Tyr and DB are watching out for us, we can’t stay here indefinitely.”

He glanced pointedly at the doors to the demon realm, which were still open. Grayling gave him a nod, and began to shepherd the clan into some semblance of order.

Just then, a bright spot appeared in the air in front of them. The space around them seemed to stretch and warp, and suddenly they were very small, in front of a huge cave opening hung with giant icicles.

A gust of arctic wind blew out, thick with dancing snowflakes. The snowflakes coalesced and turned into a huge polar bear, easily five times the size of Titan, with a blue-white glow around him.

They didn’t have to go hunting for the polar bear god. He’d come to them.

They all knelt before him, except for the Wild Bloods and the dragons. Mari hesitated a moment, and then she knelt too.

The polar bear spoke in a voice like an avalanche. Rise, my people. I have come to welcome you home.

Titan wished desperately he could have had just a little more time with them, but they’d waited so long for their eternal reward, he wouldn’t begrudge them a minute of it.

They formed a line, each of them hugging him and saying a few words before passing between the bear’s giant legs, into the cave.

Last of all was Grayling, still caring for his flock. They hugged each other tight, holding on for long moments before Titan made himself let go.

When they were all gone, Mari moved up next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning against him as tears rolled down his cheeks.

The bear god said, I would offer you a place here as well, but I see you have already chosen your path. It will be many of your years before you have reason to return here.