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“I used them to maintain your garden.” He pauses, letting this sink in for me before continuing. “I was more gifted with death than with life, but I wanted to keep as much of you as I could.” A wave of his grief crashes against both of us, and I want to hug him and hold him. “Anyway, if there are other plants you want, we can get them for you, but let’s start small.”
I throw my arms around his neck, and he takes a moment to breathe me in.
“Let’s see what you can do, flower girl.”
Essos and I step away from each other, and I take a moment to think. I grab a small handful of seeds, tossing them at Essos and propelling them forward. They grow roots and bloom, and then I turn them to ash, so Essos is forced to inhale the remains of the flowers. It sends him to a coughing fit, his eyes watering.
I frown. I hate doing this to him.
When he doubles over, bracing his hands on his knees, I approach him. He must see my feet getting closer, because he holds out a hand, stopping me, then gives a thumbs up before he’s upright once more.
“Again,” he demands, his eyes still watery, but I comply.
He drills me for hours, and we work together, discussing what types of flowers and other seeds I can use and what I can do with them. We practice and practice and practice until I sway on my feet.
“I’m sorry,” Essos sputters, running to catch me before I collapse.
I grab hold of him. “Nothing to be sorry for. I was just trying to see if I could get out of more practice by feigning exhaustion. Looks like it’s working.”
His brow dips in concern. “I’m sure you’re not at all actually exhausted, but to go along with the charade, do you mind if I whisk you off to bed? After witnessing such impressive feats of power, I want to have my wicked way with you.”
He wipes the sweat from my forehead, and I cringe. “Don’t get rid of my glistening awesomeness,” I object.
Essos scoops me into his arms, hugging me to his chest. “Are you possibly delirious, love?”
I wrap my arms around his neck, knowing what comes next. “Possibly,” I admit, waiting for him to take me to our safe haven.
Before we can leave, Octavia approaches us. I thought I was exhausted, but now I’m squirming to get out of Essos’s grip to give his mother a piece of my mind.
She speaks before I have a chance.
“Your dog is here, back from the mortal realm.”
CHAPTER24
We don’t hesitate to walk back to the house, sweaty and exhausted. I don’t know how much more I can take of this seemingly endless day. The three of us enter through the back of the house to find Spot is curled up on his bed by the front door, watching Dion block the doorway.
“I don’t care why you’re here.Idon’t want you here,” Dion is telling someone angrily.
“This isn’t about you, Dion. This isn’t even about us. This is about Finn. Helene wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t serious, so tell mewhatis going on.”
We pause before walking into the foyer. Essos and I exchange a look. I feel a little guilty about eavesdropping, but thisismy house, and if what Spot needs to convey was urgent, he wouldn’t be lying there eavesdropping too.
Dion is standing at my front door, gripping the doorknob so hard I think I can hear the metal crunch. Before him, I can just make out the form of a woman in leather pants. I know that voice. I know exactly who is at my front door.
Bria.
Goddess of the Hunt.
I still don’t know what happened between Bria, Dion, and Finn while I was dead, only that they were together, and that ended during the time I was gone.
“Why did you stop walking?” Octavia asks from behind us. I forgot that I need to have words with her, and those words are going to be blisteringly angry words, but that needs to wait because now we’ve been caught.
Both Bria and Dion snap their attention toward us.
Bria’s red hair is styled in twin French braids, and her green eyes survey me from top to bottom. “The Phoenix Queen.”
There’s no inflection in her voice for me to determine how she feels about me and my return.
