MARS
“Please, just take me to see Ares,” Aurora said, staring up at me with less haze in her eyes.
My heart hurt as I stared down at the want and desperate need on her face. It felt like an eternity since I had last seen Ares, and I had been wanting to find him too.
We might’ve been two different people, but we belonged together. We inhabited one body and shared one mate, who loved both of us for who we were. I just didn’t know if we would be able to … join up again.
Much time had passed since our personalities had physically split. And personalities never split like this with humans. No research had been done about us, and none had been done about us merging back together. Is it even possible?
“I want us to be a family again,” she whispered. “Please.”
After tucking some hair behind her ear, I smiled gently at my mate and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go find Ares and get back home to our daughter.” I glanced around at all the people who had come down to the underworld with us. “And get you all back to your families as well.”
“But, Aurora—” Acesca started.
“It’s fine,” I said to her. “She just needs her mates again. She’ll be fine.”
But I wasn’t sure if what I had said was the truth or not. I didn’t know the first thing about what Aurora had experienced and didn’t understand how she could still see those dreams and thoughts after she’d killed Nyx.
Once I took Aurora’s hand, I headed toward Hella’s castle. Unlike when we’d arrived, this place looked eerily desolate, which hopefully meant that Ares had defeated Hella without much of a problem. At least, I hoped because Aurora didn’t have any energy left inside her to fight.
And we were so close to heading back home.
As we made it to the edge of the castle, someone opened a side door. “Kitten.”
Aurora snapped her head toward our right and stared at Ares, who looked exactly like me, except his body wasn’t ghostlike, like mine, but solid. Aurora let go of my hand and ran over to Ares, letting him pick her up into his arms and be spun around in circles.
When he placed her down onto her feet, he looked over her shoulder at me. I stood there for a good long while, just fucking grinning like a dumbass because for the first time in what seemed like forever, he was back.
“It’s been a long fucking time,” Ares said to me.
I smiled, my heart finally feeling at rest. “A long time.”
Aurora pulled away from him and tugged him over to me, glancing between us and smiling. Unable to stop myself, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged that man tight. He had been with me for so long that when I’d died, I’d lost a part of myself.
We both had.
As we touched, I slowly felt my ghostlike body dipping into his, almost becoming one again, but not fully compatible at the moment.
“Do you think you’ll ever be one again?” Aurora whispered, staring between us.
We looked at each other for another moment until I said, “Maybe one day.”
After Aurora grinned, Ares pulled her into another long hug, his arms wrapping around her shoulders, and his body finally relaxed for once. He had always been tense and pent up with anger, but tonight … he looked like he was at peace with everything.
“It’s time to go home,” I said to Aurora, grabbing her hand and guiding her to the others. “To find our daughter.”