Free Destined (Desolation #3) by Ali Cross Page B

hearts and tears had pretty much done their thing. When the alarm on my phone—the one I’d set when li’Morl said he’d be back after five—went off, I rolled over and swiped the screen, plunging the room into silence once again. Miri propped her head up on one arm and watched me. I reached over and brushed my knuckles over her cheek. She smiled, a sad and lonely smile that I knew she meant to be brave. And she was brave. She was brave enough for both of us.
    She clasped my hand to her cheek and held it there for a second, her eyes closed. I got the feeling she was saying a little prayer and she tugged on another one of my heartstrings. I didn’t know who she prayed to, whether it was Odin or Heimdall or . . . or even to her Catholic god. I didn’t know, but her faith, her belief in help beyond ourselves, was one of the many things I loved about her.
    Someone knocked on our door. Miri got up off the bed, never taking her eyes from mine. We walked toward one another, me trying really hard to take a mental picture of her, to get her image so ingrained on my brain that I’d never, ever, forget her no matter what might happen. If I were to be separated from her for an eternity I didn’t want to do it with fuzzy memories. I needed her eyes to shine as bright for me every day I remembered them, as they did right this very second. 
    We left li’Morl and Horonius waiting in the hall while Miri stepped into my arms. She hugged me and I hugged her—except it was less like hugging and more like trying to make our bodies melt together. She kissed my neck and I kissed her hair. She told me she loved me. I told her I loved her. She kissed me with tears on her lips, and she tasted mine. I held nothing back from her—she had all of me, always. Forever. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I’d be doing it with her on my mind. And wherever I was, I would never rest until I was back with her—even if I had to be a shadow clinging to a corner of her room, I’d return to her.
    I will return to her.
    I walked on wooden legs to the door and opened it in slow motion.
    Miri grabbed my leather jacket—the warmest thing I had. It’s not like I’d expected to go traipsing through the freezing caves of Hell when I packed for our summer in France. She helped me slip it on while Horonius closed the door behind him. He and li’Morl looked away, to give us our space, but Miri and I had already said our goodbyes. 
    I squared my shoulders, my hand squeezed tightly around Miri’s. “I’m ready.”
    The sound of my voice had barely faded when a bright, shimmering light cut the air between me and li’Morl. I stepped back, pulling Miri to my side and wrapping my arm around her. I was scared out of my freaking mind.
    Right there in front of me, a hole opened up in the room, like a door being cut with a white laser directly through the air. li’Morl and Horonius stepped forward. 
    “Heimdall will take you as close to the river as possible. Horonius will already be there—but will serve you better as a Hound, so he’ll look like the dog you met before.” 
    I tried to swallow in my super-dry throat. I nodded. 
    “He’ll lead you to the Ferryman—I do not know where he is or how to get there, but you must find him. Do not try to cross the river on your own.”
    I nodded again. Miri squeezed my waist so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want her to let go of me for anything.
    “Once across the river, move as fast as you can. Find Desolation, set her free, then make your way back as quickly as possible. Heimdall will be waiting to open a Door the moment you cross the river. Do you understand?”
    I nodded, and then thought I ought to at least say something. I cleared my throat. “Got it.”
    To my surprise, li’Morl reached out and clasped my forearm like I’d seen Michael do with Longinus a couple times. “I wish Heimdall could take you deeper. However, the bottom of Ygdrasyll does not respond to Heimdall’s