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His Shadow Self lies down beside me on his back, eyes closed.
Then Death does the same on the other side of me. He’s breathing hard and I can still hear thunder crashing in the distance.
Magic dances in the air.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, my words coming out in a slur.
He blinks slowly. His eyes are iridescent silver for a moment until they fade back to gray. “That was…an experience I have never had before,” he says slowly, licking his lips.
I smile lazily at him. “I bet you thought you’d tried everything.”
“I truly did. To know that life can offer you something new as a God…is something else.”
Even though my body is completely wrecked from what we just did, excitement drums in my chest. “Want another surprise that will rock your world?”
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Hanna, I never thought I would ever say this, but at the moment, I’m a little tired.”
I laugh and reach out, using all my energy to smack him on the chest. “No,” I tell him. “I have something to tell you. It’s why I came up here to find you.”
He frowns. “You weren’t looking for sex?”
“Not exactly. Vipunen told me something.”
Now I have his attention. “What?” he asks, eyeing me sharply.
“He told me who my mother is. Well, not specifically who. But that she’s a Goddess. I’m half a Goddess, Tuoni.”
He stares at me for a moment, taking it in, then cracks a smile so wide his dimples show. Dimples! Ugh, my heart is melting on the spot.
“Of course you are. Of course. I knew it.” He sounds so validated and so happy at the same time. “My fucking Goddess of Death. I knew you weren’t just a mortal, or half a shaman. You are a Goddess through and through. It is in your blood, and it is finally coming out.”
“You’re bringing it out of me,” I tell him.
“It’s the land,” he says adamantly. “It’s your land. Relish it, Hanna.”
He takes my hand in his and holds it on his chest, pressing it above his heart. He looks so happy that it makes the fact that I don’t know who my mother is a little easier to handle. Still…
“Do you have any idea who my mother could be?” I ask. “Vipunen wouldn’t tell me, of course. He said I would find out and it would save my life when I did.”
He scoffs. “That fucking giant. No. I have no idea.” Then he frowns, a look of horror dawning on his features. “It’s not—”
“No,” I tell him quickly. “It’s not Louhi. Vipunen confirmed that.”
He closes his eyes and exhales with relief. “Thank the Creator.” He stares up at the ceiling in thought. “Okay, so if it isn’t Louhi…there’re only so many others. I think maybe I’ll call a meeting and get to the bottom of this.”
“A meeting of the Gods?”
He nods.
My heart rate increases. Sounds like a big deal.
“Did Vipunen tell you anything else?”
I shake my head. Then stop. “Wait. Yes. He told me to take off my mask and look at him.”
Death goes still, then looks at me with widened eyes. “And did you?”
I flash him a boastful smile. “I did.”
“You saw Vipunen and lived to tell about it?”
“The girl who lived,” I say, though he doesn’t get my Harry Potter reference. “He looked like a great big being of light, hundreds of feet tall,” I add, knowing what his next question would be.
Death looks like his mind is blown. He gives a subtle shake of his head, mouth opening and closing as if trying to find the words. “All this time,” he says quietly. “All those years, I was never allowed to lay eyes on him. Only that very first day that I appeared in the cave as the new God, when I swear I saw giant red eyes, but now I’m doubting it because I was never allowed to be without my blind mask after that. I was kept in the dark by the one who trained me, made me the God I am, and yet you…you were able to see him. More than that, he asked you to see him. Hanna…”
I wince. “Does it make you mad?” I figure I would be all sorts of jealous if I were a God, unable to see a father figure I’d had for eons, and then some mortal girl just waltzes into Tuonela and gets a look on one of her first visits.
“No,” he says. He brings my hand up to his lips. “I’m not mad, little bird. I’m impressed. I’m more than impressed…I’m in awe of you.”
And that’s the difference between me and a God. He’s in awe, I’d be stewing in pettiness.
Death gives me a most wicked grin that makes my toes curl. “I think I’ll let my Shadow Self sleep, but I have to tell you…I’m not so tired anymore.”
