Chapter 23
Cole
I didn’t like Gethin, but I had a feeling that stemmed from the fact that I didn’t trust him.
Wren hadn’t really told us much about him, other than that he was an old coworker who had run afoul of Fate once upon a time and now he was suffering the consequences.
It wasn’t exactly a satisfying explanation, but I wasn’t going to argue with it when I could see the tension spill from Sephtis’s body the second we stepped into the house where the strange man led us.
It still didn’t mean I had to trust him, and I knew at least part of that came from the way he was looking at the man whose hand I was still holding like he was the keys to the kingdom.
I needed to figure out if it was a price I was willing to let Sephtis pay for my safety.
The thought made me flash back to the way I’d picked up that gun and shot a man to make sure Sephtis wasn’t the only one paying a price when it came to me. The memory nearly tore a whimper from my chest.
I’d never done anything like that before—I’d never hurt anyone before. But in that moment, it had felt so natural.
In that moment, there’d really been no other option. I’d needed to do it because I needed to be on even ground with Sephtis.
I needed to share the weight of what was happening with him, to protect him the way he was protecting me.
I needed…
“I’m not sure how much I can help you, other than the barrier. And if you really are being chased by Death, I can’t promise it’s going to hold up against him. It’s strong, but that’s a whole different level of fucking screwed that I don’t really want to go up against.”
Gethin’s sardonic tone brought me out of the spiral of my thoughts, and I flashed him a look.
“But you are.”
Maybe it was the defiance on my tongue that caught him off guard. “I’m what?”
“You’re going up against it. We’re here, aren’t we?” His eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, looking me up and down.
“You’re here for now because I want a favor. If Big Daddy Death comes knocking, I’m not sacrificing myself to keep you safe.”
The statement sounded so final, and I wanted to argue, to tell him he wasn’t any help… but Sephtis brushed his shoulder against mine and spoke before I could. “I don’t know anyone who can really stand against him. We appreciate you letting us stay here.”
“Oh, you’re not staying here.” Gethin gestured around the house he’d led us to.
It was a little thing, with a kitchen and an offshoot that I had to assume led to his bedroom.
“The last time I let that happen, I was picking feathers out of my couch for a week. No… you can stay in my library. I put a fold-down couch out there just in case I ever had guests again. But first, I want to make sure you understand my terms.”
I didn’t like the way he said it, or the almost desperate look on his face when he turned to Sephtis.
Shit, I wanted to say this protective feeling was only because I’d broken down and touched him…
but it had been this way from the start.
From the first time I’d put myself between him and the Enmity that had attacked us.
Even when I was busy hating him, my instincts had known where my heart wanted to be.
Maybe not my instincts…
Maybe it was my soul.
“I already told you, I’ll do whatever you want within my power.
” Sephtis’s voice was calm for someone who was bartering without any idea what he was giving up.
“I know who you are. I know what you’ve done.
” Gethin’s eyes widened slightly at the accusation.
“I’ve cleaned up your messes, cupid, and I’m willing to promise you whatever you want anyway.
Does that tell you how serious I am about this? ”
In front of him, Gethin raised his hand, fingers biting into his shoulder for just a moment before he nodded. “Fine. I want a favor. Whatever I want, whenever I want.” And before Sephtis could quantify, he added, “Within your power. I understand. Do we have a deal?”
I eyed the hand that the man stretched out between them warily. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like him. There was something off about him… dangerous. Or maybe it was just the fact that Sephtis was bartering the keys to the kingdom without knowing what that really entailed.
“We do.” He stretched his hand out and I saw a flare of white between them, chased by a swirl of black. Gethin winced, his eyes going wide.
He was the one who jerked back first, and I caught sight of a black sigil burned into his palm before he tucked his hand into his pocket like he was afraid someone would snatch it away.
“Okay.” He finally turned those eyes back to me, and I’d been close enough the entire time to see that they were a little dazed, that they went a little softer when he glanced at me. “How do you humans keep getting tangled up with us?”
With us.
I knew he meant Theo and Wren, but us meant him too.
I had a feeling I knew what his favor would be… I just didn’t know how a Reaper could possibly help him with a human, unless he wanted them dead. Or… like me.
I dropped my gaze, my brows knitting together. I wasn’t even sure if I really was human anymore. And I hated being here. In this place.
Not with Gethin, though he creeped me out.
In a graveyard.
In this graveyard. I knew where this place was, though I’d never come here—this was where they’d put a headstone for Caiden. He wasn’t here… I’d taken his ashes and never looked back after I’d picked this place arbitrarily off a list.
Maybe because a part of me had known that if I looked at his name on stone, I’d have to finally admit all the guilt, all the grief, all the pain.
Maybe some part of me had been worried that if I confronted that part of me and overcame it, Sephtis wouldn’t show up in my dreams anymore.
I really was a broken kind of fucked up, but it didn’t matter. Not when Sephtis reached out and took my hand, and his fingers squeezing mine forced me to inhale.
His eyes were soft when he glanced at me, and I knew we were actually going to have to talk about what had happened—what was still happening.
What it all meant now that we couldn’t pretend anymore. And now… well, now it seemed like all we were going to have was time, and this place, and the undercurrent of dread in knowing that eventually…
Eventually, Sephtis was going to have to kill someone else to keep me here with him, and I had to decide if I was going to let him.