Page 142 of To Ashes and Dust
Damien had offered to take care of everything, but I’d refused. I wanted to help in any way I could, yes, but the truth was that I needed to stay busy. I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t let the grief consume me. It would tear me down if I let it.
Damien comforted those who needed it as they offered their condolences, and countless faces I’d never seen passed in a blur. Little arms wrapped around my legs, catching me off guard, and my eyes fell to a little head of wavy black hair pulled back in two braids.
“Gentle, Aurelia. Lady Cas is still recovering,” Lydia whispered as she approached.
My heart squeezed at the sight of the child, her hands quivering.
“It’s okay, Lydia,” I assured her, laying a hand against Aurelia’s back, my chest swelling as she held me tightly. Lydia dropped her free hand to her side, her pale, reddened eyes falling to the tiny flame dancing on her candle. Aurelia lifted her head as I lowered myself to my knees before her. Her eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks stained with dried tears.
“Aleir...” She sniffled. “Aleirene tou...” She couldn’t get it out, her voice breaking every time she tried to say the phrase. The fact that she knew it broke something inside me, and I knew it was likely from her own father passing last year.
I pulled her into my arms, tears welling in my eyes. She’d adored Barrett, and they’d grown close over the last few weeks. He’d always taken time to entertain her when she needed, play with her, teased her.
She cried into my shoulder, and I tensed as she squeezed her arms around my chest, my ribs protesting. Damien and Lydia seemed to notice immediately as they made a move to pull Aurelia back, but I shook my head.
“I miss him,” she muttered, her voice shaken and hoarse. “I wish he didn’t have to suffer like this.”
“Me too,Mikros.” My voice broke.
Lydia bowed her head to Damien and me, saying what Aurelia couldn’t, the words of condolences Aurelia couldn’t get past her lips, the words I’d heard too many times now.
“Come on, Aurelia. You want to place the candle?” Lydia offered, holding it out to her. Aurelia released me slowly as she turned back to her mother, wiping her tiny hands over her eyes. She nodded, and Lydia handed the candle to her.
“Careful now,” Lydia whispered, and dipped her head to us once more before guiding Aurelia toward the pyre.
My eyes drifted across those in silent observance as I pushed myself to my feet, the movement taking every bit of my energy. There were so many immortals within these dark walls, so many who either knew Barrett or had been affected by him.
I caught sight of Semele consoling Eiko as she cried. I found Anna tucked tightly under Vincent’s arm as they stared at the candles surrounding the pyre, her beautiful eyes swollen and red. At their side were Zephyr and Calista. The color had returned to Zephyr’s tawny skin, and it was a relief to see him standing on his own again. Damien assured me he’d be fully healed and back to normal by the end of the week.
I continued searching for the one face I desperately wanted to see among the mourners, but she wasn’t there.
No one had heard from or seen Thalia since she’d disappeared from Johnson’s office six days ago. Her apartment had remained untouched in the days following her disappearance, and we all feared for her.
“Are you okay,mea luna?” Damien asked, and I blinked, realizing how tired I must have looked. “You can sit if you need.”
“I’ll be okay,mea sol. Thank you.”
I was healing all right, had managed to come out of the sling supporting my dislocated shoulder the day before. My healing wasn’t done, though. It would be six to eight weeks before my ribs and shoulder blades would fully heal and the bruising fade. The wounds weren’t the only thing that lingered, either. An exhaustion had settled into my bones. The fact that I made it out of Johnson’s clinic was nothing short of a miracle. I should, by all accounts be dead. Regardless, I knew the time I’d been originally allotted was far shorter now.
The room quieted, and I turned my eyes in time to find the goddess Selene emerging through the massive double doors. Her pale skin glowed against the black gossamer gown she wore, her silver hair hanging in loose waves. The immortals bowed lowly as she passed, her steps silent, her gown whispering along the black marble floor. Damien and I bowed our heads to her as she approached. She came to a stop beside us before the pyre, and everyone lifted their eyes.
“Revinia aleirene, mea belariôs. Leukós regis vôu solos etu Elysium.”
I couldn’t understand her words, but there was power in her voice, woven with a gentle calm, like a warm blanket. Her delicate hands rose from her sides, sweeping through the air in a wide arc across the mass of candles. The orange flames danced and shifted into a cool blue as all other candles lining the walls were extinguished.
She lifted her hands before her, and the flames of each candle rose, drifting to the stone bed surrounded by wood, the flames converging until they ignited into a pyre that sent blue embers climbing in the air.
Damien’s arm came around me as my hand rose to my mouth, and I blinked back tears.
Words danced from Selene’s lips, soft and delicate, like droplets of moonlight and stardust. “Emei charisti etu Celestia.”
Damien’s eyes lowered as he joined her, followed by a sea of voices echoing across the stone chamber. “Ge dorai en nemos esti lampei.”
“Mea bellarios, mea asidia.”
The words meant nothing to me, and yet... everything, and I could feel in my soul that I’d heard this hymn far too many times.
“Manýa èn nychtôs. Atresei ekein prin vôu. Vôu varyó èstin telôs.”
