Page 191 of Fallen Nocturne

A fracture splits one of the towering bone pillars from top to bottom. Another appears across the arch, then another, branching through the structure like veins. The river of souls surges harder against it. They stumble over one another, pouring through faster than the realm can receive them.

The ground trembles beneath our feet. Great pieces of bone break from the gate and crash into the ash-sand. Shadows spill through the widening cracks, writhing across the sky as the entire structure begins to buckle.

Death sees it and curses.

“Fine! You win! Both of you!” he shouts and points at me. “You can return with her.”

For one suspended moment, I cannot react. Then relief surges through me so fiercely that my grip on Rhianelle tightens.

I keep my expression still, unwilling to give Death the satisfaction of seeing it.

Rhianelle cannot hide hers. Her heartbeat spikes beneath my hand with sudden hope.

Death raises one finger. “But there are conditions.”

It’s too good to be true. I fucking knew it.

“Conditions?” I ask warily.

Death’s expression changes. A slow, sinister smile spreads across his face, reminding me far too much of Blight whenever she is plotting something terrible.

“You will return as a Strigon, but you will no longer be truly immortal,” he says with a smirk. “If you return, your life will be bound to hers.”

“What does that mean?” Rhianelle asks.

“It means that when she dies, you die,” Death says, staring straight at me. There’s something almost smug in his voice now. “The moment her heart stops, yours stops.”

Rhianelle gasps and raises one hand to her mouth.

I blink once.

Then I laugh.

Death thinks this is a punishment. A clever clause that will make me reconsider. But he’s wrong.

“That’s perfect,” I say. “That’s more than I ever hoped for.”

Death blinks. “What?”

“I wouldn’t want to live without her anyway,” I explain. “If she dies, I want to die too. So your ‘condition’ is actually a gift. Thank you.”

Death stares at me, then at Rhianelle. He takes another look at the overflowing gate breaking apart behind him.

“I hate you both,” he mutters.

The Un waves one hand. The gray realm begins to shimmer, and warm golden light spreads across the lifeless sky. A dark passage opens through the brightness, its interior deeper than shadow.

Death points toward it. “Walk away from the light. The path home lies through the darkness.”

He is sending us back.

The fucker is actually sending us back.

Rhianelle lets go of me and runs to Death. She hugs him tightly.

Death freezes, his arms awkwardly at his sides. He looks completely bewildered.

She begins to pull away, then hesitates. “I need to ask you for one more favor.”