A Vigil in the Mourning (Soulbound #4) - Hailey Turner Page 0,122
pity I could not hone my teeth in your skin, but I know what is at stake,” Fenrir said.
“If only your sister and father felt the same way.”
Patrick pulled free of Jono’s grip, and Fenrir let him. Jono wanted to haul him back, but couldn’t. Patrick stabbed a finger in Odin’s direction. “So, what? You gods just reappear if you’re killed like nothing happened?”
“It is not that simple.”
“Then simplify the fucking explanation,” Patrick snarled. “Because Ashanti sacrificed herself on this very same dagger and she’s still dead.”
“Her body turned to ash, and her godhead had nothing to return to. Her myth has never been one mortals have remembered well. Ashanti is worshipped amongst vampires, and they are not nearly enough to call her back. There is nothing to call her back to.”
Jono thought it was a pity Lucien wasn’t there to hear the derision in Odin’s voice. He honestly wouldn’t mind seeing what the master vampire might try to do to the god.
“We are remembered and have been for thousands of years,” Frigg said, not unkindly, but with a warning to her tone Jono knew Patrick wouldn’t heed. “What happened Sunday was not our end.”
“It could’ve been your end because your greed enabled Ethan to try his favorite spell again.”
Go back to sleep, Jono told Fenrir. I want my body back.
Fenrir sank back into his soul with a growling laugh, and Jono shook his head, trying to reorient himself back in his own body. Wade squinted at him before nodding. “Oh, good. You’re back.”
Patrick looked over his shoulder at Jono, and Jono went to stand beside him so he wasn’t facing down the gods alone.
“If a godhead can return to you, what about Macaria?” Jono asked.
Patrick stiffened beside him. Jono reached for his hand without looking, interlocking their fingers together.
Odin’s gaze settled on Patrick. “He already knows the answer.”
Patrick wouldn’t look at anyone, staring off into the distance with a bleak look in his eyes. “There’s nothing left of Macaria’s vessel. That’s why her godhead is in Hannah’s body, but it already had Hannah’s soul in it.”
“Mortal bodies aren’t capable of carrying a godhead,” Thor said.
“Hannah is still alive.”
“Her body breathes. You can be alive but not living in this world.”
“Mortals can damage your bodies to steal a godhead. That’s what Ethan did with Macaria and what he’s tried every chance he gets when he finds you lot,” Jono pointed out.
“Ra during the Thirty-Day War. Zeus last summer. Now you,” Patrick said.
“Your father did so with the backing of the hells every time. Mortal power alone will never be enough,” Odin said.
“Your duty is to save Macaria. In saving her, you will save all of us,” Frigg said.
Patrick scowled. “I don’t know how you expect me to do that if she has no body to return to. Hannah’s wasn’t enough and still isn’t. That’s the entire reason Ethan bound himself to her.”
“You will find a way.” Frigg’s words carried a weight to them Jono didn’t like. She reached for Odin, placing her hand on his arm. “We should go, my love.”
“Leaving so soon?” Jono asked bitingly. “Not going to do anything about the mess you caused?”
“Aksel Sigfodr is someone I have ceased to be. We have worshippers in Oslo who call to us, and that is where we shall go,” Odin said.
Patrick snorted. “I guess dying is one way for you to get out of a RICO charge.”
The bitterness in Patrick’s voice had Jono wrapping his arm around Patrick’s waist. “Come on, Pat. Let’s go.”
The gods didn’t call them back as they turned to go, leaving the beach and the vigil for the dead behind them. The fog drifted back around them, and the clouds returned overhead. They walked in silence to the pedestrian tunnel that would take them back to the start of the Magnificent Mile.
“It’s not your fault,” Jono said, his breath coming out in white puffs beneath the street lights.
Patrick said nothing, but Jono could smell his guilt over every other scent drifting on the wind through Chicago. He tugged Patrick closer, holding on to him as they walked back to where they’d parked the car.
Patrick never pulled away. After everything they’d fought over and fought through the past few days, Jono would never take that closeness for granted, the same way he knew he’d never let Patrick walk away from him without a fight.
“I’m never flying commercial again,” Wade announced as he climbed into the back seat of the Escalade.