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“Sage, that’s terrible. Those aren’t marbles—those are people’s freshly departed souls.” Kaleb side-eyed me, reminding me he had been a bird not so long ago. Reminding me of the not-so-great landing he’d performed—his feathers were still scattered on the floor. Yet another reminder of Von. I pushed away the thought, focusing on Kaleb.
“I don’t know how I would feel about you transporting my soul.” I chuckled softly, taking a long overdue jab at him. “I saw how you flew in here.” I clicked my tongue, shaking my head. “Feathers all over the place.”
“I know,” Kaleb drawled before he burst out laughing. “I’m terrible at it!”
I couldn’t help but join in, the image of the cannon-ball bird crashing into the wall replaying in my mind. “Oh, I’m sure I’d do a much better job than you.”
“I’m holding you to that.” He grinned.
“Deal,” I said, offering him the best smile I could muster.
A moment of silence passed between us.
“What did you think of my shift?”
“Your shift?”
He nodded, finger pointing to the floor, where he’d shifted from a bird to a man.Oh!
“It was . . .” I tapped my chin while I searched for an appropriate word. “Bright.”
“I’m working on that. Early shifts are usually bright—it happens to all fledglings, or so I’ve been told.” He slapped his thigh. “I’m just happy I shifted with clothes this time. You have no idea how many times I’ve shifted and found out I’m buck naked.” He sighed. “Fal has been working with me on shifting, although. . .” He grinned mischievously. “She told me she didn’t mind the view.”
“I’m so happy you think I’m one of your male friends. Thanks for sharing that last bit of information,” I said sarcastically.
“You’re welcome,” he teased, performing a single salute of a nod.
I rolled my eyes with extra emphasis, just so he could see. My brow darted up. “Who is Fal?”
“She is a reaper as well. She transported my soul to the Spirit Realm and helped me transition.”
I nodded. “I met her briefly. When she took your littlemarblesoul.”
He squinted at my usage of the word. I grinned.
“Without her, I don’t think I could have made it through the transition,” he said, his tone almost . . . dreamy. I felt the sudden urge to flick him between the eyes, to knock him out of his spellbound state.
My mouth dropped slightly.
“You like her!”
“It’s more than that, Sage.” His hands shifted uncomfortably in his lap.
I gripped the sides of my face, feigning shock. “Could it be? Could the so-called Meristone heartthrob be falling in love?”
He didn’t respond—his answer telling me all that I needed to know.
“So when’s the wedding?”
He grinned. “Mine oryours?”
I looked down, my eyes growing watery. It was impossible to fight the feeling bubbling up in me—the tremendous loss I felt. “So . . . you don’t know then.”
“Know what?” Kaleb asked, a blond brow lowering.
“Von—the God of Death is—” I choked on the bitter words, gagging on them. They were stuck in my throat, clogging it up, taking my ability to breathe away. I had not been able to putthosewords together. I feared that once I did, that once I spoke them aloud, there would be no coming back. It would be the final thread that led to my unraveling, so for now, I couldn’t say them. All I could do was look to Kaleb and let the tears sliding down my cheeks, born from the remnants of my shattered heart, convey what my tongue could not.
The love of my immortal life was gone.
That’s when it hit me—I loved Von—I loved him.
“No, Sage.” Kaleb moved, kneeling in front of me. He took my hands in his, gently cradling them as he spoke the very words I had never expected to hear. “Von is alive.”
. . . That sneaky bastard.
