Kyrian released him, then Julian offered his hand.
"For the record," Kyrian said before he left. "This only makes us friendly enemies."
Tabitha came into the kitchen as they left. "You okay?"
He nodded. "Kyrian decided to grow up."
She looked impressed. "I guess immortality agrees with him."
"Apparently so."
The two of them stayed at the wake until just after midnight when they decided to head home in Tabitha's beat-up Mini Cooper.
As they entered the foyer, they found Ash waiting for them.
"What are you doing here?" Valerius asked.
Ash came forward and handed a small box to Tabitha. "You know what to do. Just remember: Don't drop it."
Tabitha was aghast as she held the box that contained Valerius's soul in her hand. "We had decided that we weren't going to do this. I don't want to take Valerius's immortality from him."
Ash let out a long, tired breath. "Until you return his soul to him, Artemis owns him. Is that what you want?"
"No."
"Well, there you go." Ash headed for the door, then paused to look back at them. "By the way, Tabby, you're immortal now, too."
"What?"
He shrugged. "It wouldn't be fair to Amanda to lose you to old age."
"But how? How can I be immortal?"
Ash gave her a wry grin. "It's the will of the gods. Don't question it."
He slipped out the door and left them alone.
"Wow," Tabitha breathed as she opened up the box to see a royal blue medallion inside. It was vibrant with swirling colors that made it seem as if it were living.
She closed the box. "Well, what do you think?"
"I think you'd best not drop it."
She agreed.
Later that night when it came time to stake him so that she could return his soul to him, she learned something horrible.
She couldn't do it.
"C'mon, Tabitha," Valerius said as he sat up on the bed, shirtless. "You stabbed me the night we met without even blinking."
"Yeah, but you were a dirtbag then."
"I think I'm offended."
Weeks went by as Tabitha attempted to stab Valerius, only to meet with failure.
She even tried to pretend he was a Daimon.