Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“I can’t believe it’s you,” he cries into my shoulder. “I thought I lost you. It didn’t feel real, none of it felt real. I wanted to keep believing you were alive, that you would be found, and here you are.”
“Here I am,” I say. “And I have so much to tell you, so much to explain.”
He pulls away, sniffling, his eyes wet as he presses his hands against my cheeks, the way he used to do when I was a kid. My heart sinks, breaks, melts, until I’m just drowning on my feet.
“I have things to explain too,” he whispers, his eyes roaming my face. “Things I should have told you a long time ago. Come on in. I’ll get some tea going.”
He breaks away, and I think he notices Tuoni for the first time.
I expect my father to be scared or angry seeing him, but he just stares at him and gives me a shy smile. “And who is this man who brought you to me?”
I look at Tuoni, brows raised, both of us realizing that my father hasn’t just forgotten he was captured by Tuoni and held at Shadow’s End.
He doesn’t remember being in Tuonela at all.
Chapter 19
Death
The Father-in-law
Iwatch as the old man embraces his daughter, and I can’t ignore the guilt that I feel, the fact that I took him from her and was prepared to keep him for good.
I’m this close to apologizing, to doing something that might resemble groveling, but then Torben Heikkinen looks at me, and he doesn’t see me.
He doesn’t know who I am at all.
Then, I realize that when I sent him away from Shadow’s End with his memory erased, I didn’t just erase the part of Hanna taking his place in the Underworld—I erased all of Tuonela from his existence, including myself.
In a way, it’s a relief. For the time being, I can be Hanna’s husband and lover, hopefully without him being too bothered by it. He won’t know what I really am.
But I know that in order to find the portals back to my world, I will have to make him remember everything.
And then he’ll hate me once again.
Until then, though, I am happy to play the role of a mortal.
“Papa,” Hanna says to him as she gestures to me with a sweep of her arm. “This is my husband, Tuoni.”
His eyes nearly fall out of his head. “You got married?” he exclaims. At first, I think he’s going to disapprove, but I suppose he’s so elated that she’s alive, he doesn’t really care what she tells him.
“I did get married,” she says.
“So, this is why you disappeared?” he asks, his puffy grey brows coming together in a frown. “You got married?”
“It’s part of the reason,” she says patiently. “And I promise I will explain everything. Just know that I am happy and I’m safe and Tuoni is a good man.”
She gives me a secretive type of smile, and for some reason, it hits me right in the chest, her words following suit.
She’s happy.
She’s safe.
She thinks I’m a good man.
And somehow, I make her feel those things.
I swallow the strange lump in my throat, not liking these emotions that keep appearing out of nowhere. It must be the sentimental scene unfolding in front of me. Perhaps I’ve had too much coffee and cake, not enough sex.
She motions for me to come forward with a jerk of her chin, and I go to the trunk of the car, pulling out our bags. I have to assume he will let us stay the night, or it will be a long drive back to Helsinki.
I walk over to the cabin, and the porch groans from my weight when I step on it. Her father cowers slightly in a humorous way, a very Torben thing to do.
“You are a rather large man. Polynesian?” he asks, his eyes focusing on the silver lines on my neck.
“Mostly Finnish,” I tell him.
“I see,” he says. “Well, it’s freezing out. Come in you two.”
Hanna reaches out and gives my arm a squeeze before we follow him inside.
The cabin is toasty warm, bordering on hot thanks to a roaring fire, and it smells spicy, like cardamom and smoke. There are books everywhere, as well as a tiny kitchen with a wood stove, an old couch, and a couple of armchairs. There’s a small loft up above with a narrow ladder that’s about the size of one of my legs, and two doors, one that seems to lead to a bathroom, the other to a bedroom. I’m not sure where we’ll be spending the night, but if I go up that loft, I will make half the cabin collapse.
“Here, please sit,” he says, gesturing to the couch. “Water only boiled a few minutes ago, so I’ll make us some herbal tea. Perhaps you’d like a biscuit? Are you hungry? Did you come from Helsinki?”