I wasn’t sure that a spirit boat would be the answer, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. And who cared if I felt a little stupid for doing it? I was dead. Not like anyone was going to judge me here.
Taking a deep breath, I forced my legs forward. The sand gave way under my feet, and water tickled my toes. I kept going until the water foamed just below my knees. I stopped, staring down at my boat. I’d done this before. Hadn’t I said that Mom was in a better place? She was—I saw her yesterday. We pulled weeds in the garden together. So wasn’t I in a better place now? No more looming threats of death or dismemberment. No more messed-up Fate or duty. No more loss.
There was just the loss I’d already suffered.
But maybe that too would fade one day. And I’d see my friends and family again. I knew that. And maybe when it was time for Aiden, Hades would take pity on us. After all, the rotten S.O.B. owed us. He most definitely owed me.
Letting out a sigh, I bent down and placed the spirit boat in the ocean. My fingers lingered for a second, and I said the only thing I could think of saying. “Goodbye.”
And so I let the boat go.
Straightening, I watched the waves carry it off, further and further out until I couldn’t see the boat anymore. I wasn’t sure I felt any better, but I thought it was a step in the right direction. It was something, which according to my own personal motto was better than nothing.
I turned around, about to yell back at Apollo and ask him if he was happy now, but as my gaze flickered over the god, something else caught my attention.
My heart stopped.
Dead or not, it was possible.
Air froze in my lungs. I couldn’t blink, because I was terrified that if I did, what I was seeing would vanish, because it couldn’t be real.
He couldn’t be real.
Aiden stood at the shoreline, the water curling around his ankles, dampening the hems of the jeans he wore. The breeze caught the edges of his white shirt, lifting them slightly, and played with his locks of dark, wavy hair. Rays of sun kissed his broad cheeks, and from that distance, I could see that his eyes were a breathtaking, fierce silver. He was smiling.
He was smiling at me.
“Hey,” he said, and oh my gods, it was his voice. A voice I’d thought I wouldn’t hear again for a very long time—or maybe never again.
I placed my hand against my chest as my throat worked. “Is this… is this real?”
His smile spread, revealing those deep dimples in his cheeks. “This is real, agapi mou.”
I couldn’t move.
“Alex,” he called, laughing softly.
“How are you here? Oh my gods…” My gaze darted to Apollo. “Is he dead? You said he would be okay! That he wouldn’t do anything—”
“I’m not dead,” Aiden interrupted, stepping forward. Waves lapped up his calves. “Come out of the water and we’ll explain. Come on, agapi mou.”
I was held immobile for another second or two, and then it seemed to sink in. Aiden was here. A cry parted my lips as I sprang into action. Holding my hair back from my face, I half-stumbled and half-ran toward the beach. He came forward, meeting me halfway.
Throwing myself at him, I nearly knocked him down, but he regained his footing, wrapping his arms around my waist as he pulled me against his chest. The feel of him, warm and real, against my chest was wonderful and sent a thrill through me. His scent, the mixture of sea and soap, filled me.
It also ripped me right open.
Tears fell from my eyes as I burrowed against his chest, squeezing him so tightly I was surprised I wasn’t hurting him. Though he held me the same way, whispering in my ear words I couldn’t understand above my sobs. And I was speaking, but the words didn’t make much sense.
But finally, his hand slid up to my cheek, leaving a trail of fire in its wake, and he made this deep sound in his chest a second before his lips brushed across mine. Another cry came from the depths of my soul, and the kiss deepened. The kiss reached into me, wrapped its way around my heart, and jump-started it in a way that it never had when I was alive. And I kissed him back, tasting the salt of my tears and of the sea on his lips.
Apollo cleared his throat.
Slowly, as if we had all the time in the world and didn’t have an audience, Aiden slowed the kiss down at his own pace, nipping at my lower lip as he lifted my head. I was breathless as I opened my eyes.
He kissed my forehead and then eased me down onto my feet. Keeping an arm around my waist and tucking me close to his body, he turned us toward Apollo and we waded back to the sand.
The god was smiling. Not the creepy smile that he usually graced the world with, but a real one.
“How?” I asked, clutching the front of Aiden’s shirt as if I planned to hold him there. “How is this possible? Is he visiting me? Is he—?”
Aiden chuckled as he smoothed his free hand under my chin. “I’m not visiting.”
My heart almost imploded at that, but I didn’t understand.
Apollo took pity on me. “Remember when I told you that I would take care of you? It was a promise I wasn’t going to break, but this—this is not all me.”
“It’s not?” I still held onto Aiden’s shirt.
“I knew that this could be the outcome long before you agreed to it,” he explained. “A lot of things in life aren’t fair, and there are lessons to be learned from that, but there was no lesson to be gained in your death. So when I took you to Olympus after your first fight with Ares, I made sure that, no matter what happened, you would be rewarded.”
“By giving me Aiden?” I asked, and well, while I really appreciated that, it didn’t seem fair to Aiden. Elysian Fields was nice and all, but it was the Underworld.
“No,” Apollo said. “I gave your mother a drink to give you. Remember? I told her it would help you heal?”
I remembered that. “It tasted good, but…strange.”
That smile was back, tipping his lips up at the corner. “It wasn’t a normal drink. It was ambrosia.”
My lips slowly parted as I stared at him. Ambrosia? The nectar of the gods? Those who were gifted with ambrosia became immortal. “I don’t understand. I’m dead. That couldn’t—”
“You had a mortal death, Alexandria, but you are not truly dead, not like those around you. By setting the spirit boat free, you set the next stage of your existence into play. You are immortal. To get technical, you are now a demigod.”
My jaw was on the sand. There were no words. None at all.
“But for every gift, there has to be an exchange,” Apollo continued. “You did have a mortal death, and my brethren were not aware of what I’d done. They say it will upset the strands of Fate if there is not an exchange. Follow me?”
Uh, no, but I nodded.
“You will have to spend six months in the Underworld—six months Underworld time—and then you will be allowed to spend six months—six months mortal time—in the mortal realm.”
“Like Persephone?” I shook my head when he nodded. “Holy gods, I don’t know what to say. Thank you and—wait!” My heart jumped as I looked up at Aiden. “If I’m immortal, then what about Aiden? He can’t stay in the Underworld for six months. I don’t understand.” Not that I was ungrateful. If I could see him and my dad and friends just for six months topside, I’d take that, but I was thoroughly confused. Aiden had said he wasn’t visiting, and I knew I was missing something. “Someone help me out here.”