Grecian style white pillars surrounded at least thirty square miles of jungle, right in the middle of the desert! A huge menacing white castle stood in the middle of the city, its walls so high it seemed impossible to penetrate. Ivy had wrapped itself around the structure, giving it a fairy tale look.
I tried to wipe the smile off my face—and failed. This wasn’t exactly the adventure I had signed up for when I started working at Soul—I had this immediate need to show Timber, to tease him, get a rise out of the grumpy sarcastic demon whose kisses felt like a drug.
Mason grunted. “You’re blushing.”
I scowled in his direction. “I was just thinking.”
“Penny for your thoughts,” Tarek mused. “Oh wait, I think I know exactly what you were thinking about. Odd that a demon bite would feel so satisfying, am I right?”
I wanted to crawl under my horse and hide. All three of them snickered like they knew every gory detail. I held my head high. “It was fine.”
“She’s blushing harder,” Tarek quipped. “Didn’t know Timber had it in him. Isn’t he missing his heart?”
“You’d think he would have asked for that instead of a used soul.” Tarek sighed in amusement. “But no, now we have to do the heavy lifting.”
I frowned. “Is he… I mean, he’s going to be okay, right?”
“As long as you don’t fail,” Tarek said cheerfully then added, “No pressure. And you’re going to find out very soon, because it looks like the solstice is starting, which means you’re about an hour away from visiting the temples of Osiris and Set.”
I frowned as we neared a creek that ran down the path leading into the city. Orange trees in full bloom surrounded us; it smelled like heaven!
“What do I do when I get there?”
Tarek stiffened. “Just be yourself.”
“Anything else?”
Mason reached over and patted my hand. “Try not to faint.”
That wasn’t helpful.
“What about my father? And mother? Here in this time? Will they know?”
“Doubtful.” Alex sounded confident. “You’ve been reborn, so you’re still you replacing you in the past, the same way you’ve been doing it in the future. Timber, however, will not be the same as he’s currently trapped in the present probably battling his own inner demons, if he’s even awake.”
Or still alive. He didn’t say what we were all thinking.
He couldn’t die.
I refused it.
The thought of it had me feeling so sick to my stomach I wanted to cry. It was weird how attached I suddenly felt.
The gates to the city opened, and we trotted the horses through. I tried to stay in between Tarek and Mason while Alex went ahead of us, looking every inch the god he was.
People cheered.
I could get used to this.
I smiled.
“Wave,” Mason coughed under his breath.
I lifted my right arm and waved, and noticed that I had jewels covering every single finger, black rubies to be exact.
Was that why my hand felt heavy?
I suddenly wondered what I looked like.