The Clarity Castle and the villa in England looked like a hospital. There were cots spread everywhere and healers walking around going from deity to deity to make sure their wounds weren’t fatal, or to speed up their already super healing.

The throne room had been cleared though, and Ceris, Levi, Izaera, Maho, Ronen, and I discussed our next steps.

The reflective pool was still destroyed, like the rest of the place. Our priority was to get everyone back to his or her full health, and then we would begin restoration.

After agreeing to take the less seriously wounded deities to the villa in England—and we made a note to seal the portal soon—Ceris decided it was time to bother me.

“Why isn’t Nadine here?” Ceris asked, sitting on her throne. After spending half an hour with a healer, Ceris deemed she was feeling well enough to start helping too.

Groaning, I paced in front of my throne. “Don’t.”

“Oh, I forgot.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm. “You’re avoiding her.”

“Stop,” I hissed.

“Ceris,” Levi said, his tone definite. “Stop bothering him.”

“But it’s true!” She became serious. “It’s your responsibility. You can’t avoid it forever. You know there are consequences.”

“I know!” I shouted.

Fuck. It pained me to stay away from her, but yes, I had been avoiding Nadine. I always kept her aura on my radar, so I knew when she was coming, and I turned the other way. She was probably pissed at me, thinking I was running for two reasons. One, because I didn’t love her anymore or two, because I wanted to delay the inevitable.

She was ready for the Soul Oath. I wasn’t.

Letting out a sigh, I plopped down on my throne. “I can’t … I can’t lose her. I can’t let her die.”

“That’s not your choice,” Nadine said from behind me.

“Shit,” I whispered. Apparently, I hadn’t been doing a good job of checking for her aura. I stood and faced her. “Please, Nadine,” I groaned. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Izaera, Maho, and Ronen leaving the room.

“No, Micah. You don’t get to do this.” She walked to me. “Please, don’t do this to me. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “You can’t ask that of me.”

“Micah, I asked for this months ago and you agreed. I don’t need to ask again; you just need to pay.”

I groaned. “How can you be so fine about this?”

“I’m not!” she yelled. Then she continued, her voice even. “I’m not. But this is something I have to do. And I will do it. We will do it. Right now.”

She was right. We couldn’t delay the Soul Oath or we both would suffer unspeakable pains until both of us were too weak to finish what we started, and both of us died in torture. Well, that was how it was supposed to go. Being a god, I would probably survive, but it would still hurt a lot. I didn’t mind the pain, though. What I minded was a life, an eternal life, without Nadine.

My eyes filled with tears. “Nadine …”

She stepped into me and my arms went around her, holding her against me. I buried my face on her neck and inhaled deeply, trying to etch her sweet scent to my brain.

“I love you,” she whispered in my ear. “I’ll always love you.”

“I … I love you too,” I said.

I moved my mouth to hers, kissing her soft and slow. It wasn’t a deep, harsh kiss. It was a lingering, caring, longing kiss.

Nadine broke us apart and took three steps, probably knowing that if she didn’t do it, I never would.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. “All right, what do we do?”

Pain seized my chest, but I pushed through it. For her, I endured it.

I conjured a dagger in my hand and pricked her index finger with it, drawing blood. I did the same with mine. I took her palm and smeared my blood on it, then did the same with her blood on my palm. Next, I placed her bloodstained palm over my heart and my hand over her chest.

“Ready?” I asked, my voice alien even to me.

“Yes,” she said, loud and clear. How she was hanging on like that, knowing that she would die any second, baffled me. “My Soul Oath is complete.”

“Your Soul Oath is complete.” I held my breath.

Nothing happened.

I clasped Nadine’s shoulders. “You’re still alive,” I said in wonder. “Are you feeling okay?”

She nodded. Then her eyes widened and she shook her head. “I feel … dizzy and weak.” Her knees shook and I caught her before she could hit the floor.

“No, no, no.” I knelt on the floor with her in my arms.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. She rested her hand on my face and tried to smile. “I’m happy we had a few days together.”

I kissed her hand, my eyes on her. Please, please … I didn’t even know to whom I should pray. “Nadine …”

She took a slow breath and her body grew heavier in my arms. It was as if her batteries were running out. “Be happy, Micah.”

Nadine closed her eyes and her hand fell to the side.

“No.” I knew what was coming, but I still couldn’t believe she was gone. I just couldn’t. I rested my head on her chest and tried to listen to her heart. Nothing. There was nothing. Her heart wasn’t beating.

I screamed.

Levi’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sorry, brother.”

I jerked my shoulder, making him release me. “No! It’s not over!” I stood with Nadine in my arms. “I’m the god of death. I can block her soul’s entrance to the underworld. I can bring her back. I can do something!”

Ceris approached me. “She’s gone, Mitrus. By the Soul Oath. You can’t cheat it.”

“But you can honor her,” Levi said. “By doing what you promised. Give her body to us, we’ll prepare a proper ceremony for her, meanwhile you can bring her family back to life.”

“No!” I roared, taking several steps away from them. “No. I’m not ready to let go.”

“Mitrus,” Ceris started.

I knelt on the floor again, holding Nadine. I buried my face in her hair and cried like I had never cried in my thousands of years.

“Oh, darling,” I whispered between sobs. “I love you. I will always love you. Forever.”

Her body trembled in my arms and I pulled away just enough to look at her face, to her arms, to examine her. When I was human, I remembered reading somewhere that some dead bodies jerk as if they had been electrocuted. It was a normal response. And yet, I couldn’t help but hope.

“Nadine?” I asked in a low, careful voice.

I dared not breathe while I stared at her for a long time, hoping, wishing the tremor in her body meant more.

A strong and powerful aura exploded from inside her.

I gasped and stared at Levi and Ceris as they gaped at Nadine.

Nadine’s eyes fluttered and she moaned. I let out a loud, happy gasp. Ceris and Levi rushed to my side.

“Hi,” she croaked, opening her beautiful green eyes and staring straight at me.

I touched her face. I caressed her cheek. She was here. She was alive! “You’re … you’re …”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m Diana. I’m Diana?” Her voice was still weak, but it was her voice!

“By the Everlast,” Levi muttered somewhere from beside us.

“How … how is this possible?” Ceris asked in a shocked tone.

“Right now, I don’t care.” I wound my arms around Nadine and pulled her to me. “I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am right now.” I inhaled deeply, savoring her scent. Gods, she was here with me.

“My sister … oh, my beautiful sister,” she whispered.

I pulled back and saw her eyes filled with tears. “Your sister?”

She extended one hand to me and I took it without hesitation. A cold seeped from her skin to mine, bringing forth hidden memories, memories I had no idea had been buried inside me. Nadine was Diana, the goddess of courage and wisdom, and she had had a twin sister, Neena, the goddess of justice and honesty. When Neena fell in love with a human, she abdicated being a goddess to be with the man she loved, passing on her powers to Nadine—Diana. That was how she had become the goddess of courage, justice, wisdom, and honesty.

“By the Everlast,” I muttered, suddenly overwhelmed with the burst of new information. “That’s … how could we forget you?”

“Forget her?” Ceris asked. “What are you talking about?”

Nadine pulled her hand from mine and gave it to Ceris. The goddess gasped. Then she repeated the process with Levi.

Wiping at her tears, Nadine pulled away to look at me. “I’m happy to be alive too, but honestly, I’m curious about a few things.”

The Fates popped in behind us.

“We can explain,” Nay said.